Weekend #5 brought skim coating and the return of the work crew!
Skim coating involves a lot of things: supplies, tools, mixing, patience, lots of arm and shoulder strength, and a pinch more patience. It also required some of us to let go of our perfectionist tendencies. 😉
First up: Supplies. We used quick set lite joint compound with a 90 minute set time. You can buy shorter set times, but we knew we would need a bit longer to work with it before it set. We learned what happens when the 90 minute window is up. The compound sets up hard and somewhat suddenly! Once it has set, there is no getting it back.
Mixing the joint compound only requires water. We got pretty good at measuring out the right amount of water for how quickly we could work.
We used a finishing trowel (pictured below hanging on the side of the white bucket) and a hock (the large silver pallet in the left of the picture). Scott preferred to work with a taping knife and the red plastic mud pan (to the left of the hock in the picture below).
We discovered after our first try at skim coating the previous weekend our trowel was curved. It wasn't the right tool for our project. We made a trip to Lowe's to get a finishing trowel with a straight edge. Lesson #4: The right tool makes all the difference.
The first step for mixing joint compound is measuring and adding the water to the bucket. Step two: add joint compound power. Step three: mix. We used the drill with the mixing arm. Important rule when mixing joint compound: Always add mix to water, never water to mix. The consistency of the mix is important for spreading it on the wall and also keeping it on your hock and trowel. We tried to get a consistency similar to a Wendy's Frosty on a day when the machine is running perfectly.
Another important rule: Easy does it with the drill and mixing arm. As the assistant in charge of pouring the compound into the water, my shoes and I can vouch for the importance of this rule.
Skim coating is a big process. It requires a first coat, called the scratch coat. The second coat is the finish coat. Following the second coat, sanding is necessary to smooth the walls. YouTube videos would try to tell you sanding is not required. They lie. Okay, maybe it isn't a lie...but we were beginners and beginners need the sanding step. 😊
Before the walls could be skim coated, they needed to be primed with the previously mentioned PVA. When I put the PVA primer on, I only did the back room. The rest of the house was ready - it just needed priming with the watered down PVA. We put Mom, Dad and Robin in charge of priming the walls and Scott and I set to work skim coating in the back room.
Mom knew the day would not be complete unless she was wearing some of the primer.
Scott and I got to work in the back room. We had to skim coat the ceiling in the back room because of the repair with plaster buttons and the cracks. We finished the scratch coat in the backroom and moved into Denny's room.
Denny's room: Before - these walls are primed only
After: Scratch coat complete in Denny's room
After: Scratch coat complete in back room
Skim coat: back room ceiling
Before: Denny's room
After: Same wall in Denny's room
We learned a lot during the first weekend dedicated to skim coating. We got a little better with each new wall and each new room. It is hard, physical work that tests your upper body and your patience with the process.
As has become tradition, I snapped a picture of the weekend work crew. From left to right: Robin, David, Karen, Scott, and Carla.
Weekend #5 saw the completion of scratch skim coating in the back room and Denny's room, and primer on nearly all the walls. We left the house tired and sore, but very proud of our newly acquired skim coating skills.
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