Fast Drying Drywall Joint Compound | Setting Type Joint Compound
One of the many challenges of hanging drywall and making it look good is dealing with the drying time for joint compound.
Most premixed “drying type” compounds require 12-24 hours to dry to a sanding-ready surface. Dry time can be even longer in high-humidity environments or below grade.
Given that a typical drywalling job can take 3 coats of compound to get a perfect, flat finish, the job could require up to four full days using these compounds.
Rushing A Drywall Finish is a Bad Idea
What we’ve seen is that since these pre-mixed compounds take so long to dry, homeowners tend to skimp on the coats, perhaps using only two coats instead of three when there are still imperfections on the wall.
Worse, they think that paint will cover those imperfections… It most likely will not… and if it’s a semi-gloss paint it will actually make the blemishes stand out like a sore thumb.
Setting Type Joint Compound
The proper alternative to this method is to use a “setting type” drywall compound like USG’s Durabond. Setting Type compounds set up using a chemical agent, and thus are much quicker than drying type compounds.
USG’s product is nice because it offers a wide range of drying times (20-30 minutes up to 120-240 minutes). The only disadvantage is that this compound dries rock hard and is difficult to sand, so you must avoid over-application or be prepared to put some muscle into finishing it.
Also, Durabond is sold in a powder form and has to be mixed with water using a drywall mixing paddle, much like Super Thoroseal or Self Leveling Cement. Once it’s mixed up, it applies very similar to the pre-mixed compounds. You can apply a second coat immediately after the first coat is dry.
We recommend starting with the 90 minute compound (bag shown above) to give you maximum work time.
An alternative for second and third coats is to use a drying type joint compound for the finishing coats as this will ease sanding but still give you a significant time savings on the project and allow you to apply a second coat quickly.
(Photo Credit: drillspot.com; Hat tip to Todd @ HCI for recommending this product…)
Originally posted on One Project Closer
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