Level 5 Drywall Tools (questions & suggestions)

[NeubCont]

Just a brief disclaimer: Saw these tools used on a job site and was very impressed. We very rarely do tape and spackle (called different terminology by region) after our drywall installation. I looked at a couple of U-Tube videos and seems like a good system. We are not looking to do this full time or put others out of a job, but hard to find anyone to do this work. At least the guys/girls that do this with quality are booked solid. So to improve a little better profit margin we purchased a few of the basic tools.

Now to the Topic of the post thread.
1- The corner roller worked better than I had visioned. We tried to use the corner finisher with corner box right after, seemed to tear the paper tape. Did we need to wait till the tape coat had dried before use of the corner tool????
2- The corner finisher didn’t seen to apply the mud very easily. What kind of pressure do we need to apply?? Mixed the compound to oatmeal consistency. What is your suggestion/recommendations of texture?
3- The flat box seems to work as it should. Same question of texture and consistency?

We know that there are different brands of this type of product. We are looking for pros and cons of these tools.
Please feel free to offer tips and suggestions and reviews, both good and bad.
Working tomorrow and we will experiment and advise.
SO NO I’m Not a one and done. Will check post first thing in morning and after work.
Thanx everyone

 

[NeubCont]

Follow up?

 

[solo machinist]

I personally haven't used Level 5 Tools, I have done level 5 work.
I would love Level 5 Tools, but at 1200.00 for our remodels I can't justify.
hard to find anyone to do this work. This is the reason I do ALL my own work.
I've watched the videos on utube and they make it look easy. I believe the more you use them the better and faster you will be.
Did we need to wait till the tape coat had dried before use of the corner tool???? Yes, apply 1st coat, let dry, apply 2nd coat, let dry, etc.
What kind of pressure do we need to apply?? Firm not hard.
Mixed the compound to oatmeal consistency. What is your suggestion/recommendations of texture? I thin mine a little bit more.
I started using 2-3 cups of cheap liquid soap to thin. My wall were so smooth. I had little touch up. (I know weird right, but it works.)

The last remodel, I thinned the mudd to a thick paint consistency. Then I used a 9" paint roller to apply to the walls and ceiling.
This was done, after I taped and second coat was on and dry!
I let the mudd firm up a bit, temp, humidity will be factors. Watch closely. Around 5 min? Then I used a knock down knife to smooth
the mudd. I had a little touch up to fill a couple of voids, then a light sanding. I impressed myself.

 

[NeubCont]

Thanks Solo
We had a trial and error session today.
Mud too thick, hard to work with the tools.
Mud too thin, just covered ourselves, tools and everywhere. Actually had a couple of laughs as was there more mud on us or the walls. Haha
Once we kind of dialed it in, for the primary coat we liked the way it finished.
We will see tomorrow and put on the second coat.
More to follow

 

[solo machinist]

Make sure to record some video! Laurel And Hardy in the Mudd !!
for sure try cheap liquid soap to thin the mudd. I was surprised how well it worked.

 

[NeubCont]

Will try
Hard to do with gunk all over.
Hopefully won’t be as messy with number 2 coat.

 

[acer66]

Will try
Hard to do with gunk all over.
Hopefully won’t be as messy with number 2 coat.

Good luck and my favorite drywaller on yt is the Vancouver carpenter.

 

[signcrafter]

I have a mud tube and the corner tools to go with it. I went from hating finishing to almost enjoying it. Mud consistancy is big as you found out. Once you get that dialed in you will learn the tools pretty quick. For inside corners I use my 2.5" flusher on mud tube to apply mud, dont push real hard or there wont be enough mud under it. Then put tape in corner and run the roller to bed tape in. Then use flusher again to smooth things out. Next day use 3" flusher and done. 3 ways take a little getting used to but can be done and then a little touch up by hand. Outside corners I use paper faced like no coat and have head for mud tube to apply mud. Then stick corner bead and use roller to flatten it out. Wipe off mud and next day feather out. I don't have boxes or nail spotters yet. They are on the list for next bigger drywall job. But corners were what I hated doing by hand so wanted to get tools to do them faster.

 

[pl_silverado]

I ordered the automatic taper, mini shot mud tube, and a set of skimming blades this week. Scheduled for delivery tomorrow, I have a large addition to mud, will report back with my findings after i try the tools out.

 

[Augus7us]

I thought a level 5 finish was skim coating the entire wall after taping and mud on the joints. Ie you dont need any of these tools for a level 5 finish. Am i missing something?

 

[M6erfan]

I thought a level 5 finish was skim coating the entire wall after taping and mud on the joints. Ie you dont need any of these tools for a level 5 finish. Am i missing something?

LEVEL5 is also a brand of drywall tools

 

[mobiledynamics]

On a older project, where just materials in the windows was $850K alone....

I still can't wrap my head around it to this day. It was speced to look this way. While all screws were mudded, it was purposely speced to have dents and flaws in the overall finish of the work.

I'm sitting here texting the archi, saying you gotta come out and see WTF is going on in. Someone's dropping the ball on this. Turns out it was speced as such

 

[NeubCont]

LEVEL 5 Drywall is a brand name as stated in my first post.
There are others as well.

LEVEL5 Tools LLC.

www.level5tools.com

 

[danski0224]

I only see these drywall tools used on a "big" job.

Not residential, unless it's over a few thousand square feet.

Setup and cleanup time is a killer on a small job.

The drywallers always add water to the premix mud so the pump can work.

There is a mud application tool for the paper faced metal corner bead, it looks like a bucket with a hole in it. The corner bead is passed through.

 

[solo machinist]

I did buy a banjo taper a few years back. It's a little messy, but faster.

 

[cgrutt]

I have a Tape Tech 7" flat box and a couple of nail spotters they work good. Had the automatic taper and loading pump but sold it before I had a chance to use it. Would like to pick up a 10" and 12" flat box. I used general use premix (cold) compound and just added a small amount of water and mix throughly. Most of the drywall projects I work on are relatively small and tend to just work by hand. Tape Tech is good stuff but pricey...

 

[NeubCont]

When I saw the drywall process on the previous job site, the taper was using a tool called the “Super Taper”

https://www.alstapingtools.com/platinum-drywall-tools-semi-automatic-drywall-taper.html

(same principle as the previous post -said “banjo”). It worked great, just need to dial in the texture of mud. One batch was to soupy mud - everywhere - Other batch came out with blotchy amounts of mud on tape backside. Would rather have more mud than not enough. Again not our wheelhouse.

So we put the second coat on today. Kind of dialed in the texture of the mud. Hard to describe but a stiffer blend of oatmeal. Note that to soupy is not what you want. Brother was a little camera shy so no video. We also want to get done and move onto the next project so no film of me either.
Found that the drywall box worked as well as the videos on U-Tube. The corner tool with applicator was not as easy to use. Found that it seems to get caught in the tape. Maybe should have used a wider tool as the one we used was 2 1/2” .

As Danski said, Would use these tools on bigger job -Full house gut out with multiple rooms. Not a small bathroom job. But trying these tools out has been a win-win so far

Looking for tips/suggestions on these tools.
Please keep them coming.
Will keep updating as we go, so far we are ahead of this project even with the learning curve.

 

[danski0224]

Pretty sure that it just takes practice.

There are different brands of tools, and each may handle differently.

Might want to seek out a drywallers forum.

 

[signcrafter]

I used to think the same thing about not using on smaller jobs. But now use them on small jobs also. Wife wanted a barn door for our bedroom closet. I'm not a fan of them but I've always told her she can do whatever she wants in the house. After I tore out the old prehung closet door I had to add a 2x4 to get the right dimensions and then wrap everything in drywall and finish it. This left both sides of the wall needing outside bead. Small job but I still loaded up the mud tube and put the outside bead head on and applied the mud and then used the roller to set the bead in the mud. Clean up was pretty easy since it only took a couple minutes to do it all. Squirt excess mud back into the pail from the tube. Take head off and rinse, rinse roller, then clean tube by sucking up water and squirting out a bunch of times. I used to think that clean up wasn't worth getting these tools out for small jobs but it is. I've done small bathrooms that I would think wasn't worth getting auto tools out for. But now I get them out for all corner jobs pretty much. Things like flushers just make the job so much faster that it's worth it. Yes, I can use a pan and knife to spread mud onto corner and then stick my bead, been doing it for years. But why when I have a head that will leave the perfect amount of mud every time without me even thinking about it really. And clean up really isn't that bad once you do it a few times.

 

[Al Borland]

WOW! More tools for me to covet!
Been doing drywall, usually small quantity stuff, (repairs/remodels) for over 40 years. Never used anything but hand tools.