# Learning drywall finishing on the side



## BiggieC (Nov 16, 2020)

I’m a skilled steel framer and hanger. I also hang residential. I’ve been in the trade for 4 years. I have goals and plans with how to make real money in the next couple years as my family is growing and I’m only getting more eager to position myself higher and higher in the construction game. I’m thinking of investing in some basic taping tools (hawk, trowel, sand pole, etc.) and slapping some mud on some board in my garage after kids are in bed. And get myself to a place where I can one day hang and finish my own residential jobs from home owners. I might also take some vacation time to tape with my buddy.

-did any of you learn finishing in the side? 
-any advise in how to teach myself?
-any advise on my first taping job?


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## John Farnsworth (Nov 14, 2020)

Yes I learned how to tape mud texture on my own. I also started on my own garage about 15 years ago. Since then I have finished 2 basements and finished a new home recently on my own. I would consider my work now better than most professionals/subcontractors. I started out by reading a how to guide book but now there are better how to videos on YouTube. I think the hardest part of hanging drywall is cutting around the outlets. I tried many of the products out there like Blind Mark and Mark N Guard but I was not completely satisfied with any of them so I invented my own product. It is called the Cut & Guard Gang Box Lid. It is less expensive and does more than any other product to help you locate the electrical box and cut around the box and protect all the wiring. Below is a quick youtub link if interested. I did not buy all the fancy expensive tools. I just started out with some basic tools. I found that using tape on the corners and mesh on the straight joints worked best for me. Good luck.


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## moore (Dec 2, 2010)

Waste. Similar to the old 70 s punch outs tho.


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## krafty (Jun 30, 2016)

Or get a router 


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## krafty (Jun 30, 2016)

Oh I didn’t look first I got ya yeah we just stuff the wires in and cut out . Good for homeowners though 


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## Mjaw (Nov 24, 2020)

BiggieC said:


> I’m a skilled steel framer and hanger. I also hang residential. I’ve been in the trade for 4 years. I have goals and plans with how to make real money in the next couple years as my family is growing and I’m only getting more eager to position myself higher and higher in the construction game. I’m thinking of investing in some basic taping tools (hawk, trowel, sand pole, etc.) and slapping some mud on some board in my garage after kids are in bed. And get myself to a place where I can one day hang and finish my own residential jobs from home owners. I might also take some vacation time to tape with my buddy.
> 
> -did any of you learn finishing in the side?
> -any advise in how to teach myself?
> -any advise on my first taping job?


I learned to finish from carpenters when i was an apprentice carpenter, quickly realized 97% weren't any good at it and beyond slow, so i started working on side projects took forever to get good and quick, on my own now, i generally deal with smaller contractors overflow of work, and one commercial GC.


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