Just finished a job where I taped with a 4 inch knife versus a 6 inch for the first coat. The difference was huge.

3 comments

3 Comments

Huge difference? I don't buy it. A knife is a knife for that first coat. The extra two inches just means you're moving more mud and probably leaving it thicker. A 4 inch gives you way more control to get it flat in the corners and around boxes. I've seen guys with bigger knives leave a wavy mess that just makes more work for the second coat. What's the real benefit besides feeling like you're covering ground faster?

gray61mo ago

Exactly, bigger knives just hide sloppy work.

black.joel1mo ago

Piperwhite has a point about control, but a six inch knife lets you feather the edges better on that first pass. Gray6 might call it sloppy, but it's really about keeping your mud flat across the whole seam. You just have to clean the knife more often to avoid leaving those waves.