Noticed apprentice mudders leaving too much of a ridge on tapered edges

Been watching the younger guys on my crew finishing up board joints and I keep seeing them leave a hump about a quarter inch wide on the tapered side. They think they're filling the tape, but they're piling it on too thick. I ran my straightedge over one of their finished joints last week at a job site in Columbus and got a good three sixteenths gap under the center. That's going to take two extra coats to fix and it wastes mud. How do you explain the feel of a flat trowel angle to someone who hasn't done it a thousand times?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_robin1mo ago

Show them how to use less pressure on the leading edge.

paul_morgan1mo ago

yeah but how do you even get them to feel that difference though? like when you say "less pressure" do you mean on the front foot or more like a lighter grip with the fingers? i see so many beginners death gripping the handle and then wondering why the edge bites.