Setting Type Joint Compound Video

Hi, I'm Tim Carter. What happens when you need to make a drywall repair quickly? Something where you need to tape it, finish it and sand it in say two hours time so you can paint. Guess what! There's a product available that can do that. Let me show you.

But first, let's talk about the old fashioned product which you probably have already used. This is a bucket of Joint Compound that you typically see in the home center or lumber yard. It is premixed and ready to go when you pop the lid off the bucket, and it looks a lot like cake icing. All it really is is a vinyl type glue and dust particles, that creates the solid after the material dries. It works well, sticky with a water-based glue.

But look at this bag. Same company manufacturers both items, but the bag contains a powder, which it mixed with water. This is Lightweight Setting-Type Joint Compound.

What's the difference between the two types of joint compounds. The powder type is a lot like concrete. When you take Portland cement and mix it with water, a chemical reaction, called hydration, is started. Little crystals start to grow and in some many hours, you have a plastic material that is rock hard, especially if you added sand and gravel. This is what happens with the setting-type compound.

The setting-type joint compound is available in different setting times. Some as quick as 20 minutes. Other setting times are 30, 45 or 90 minutes, depending upon what working time you require. Let me tell you, it gets hard and gets hard very quickly. So this is an advantage if you need to make a repair very quickly.

Another advantage of this material is you can water sand it and it starts to get hard. You can actually take a sponge to it and touch up the edges. Or take a trowel and with practice you can made it so you don't even have to sand. So the job gets done quicker and without a lot of dust.

The setting-type joint compound have been around for years. Comes in a bag as a powder you mix with water. Oh here's a tip, if the material starts to get hard in your pan or in your bucket, don't add any more water to the mix. Just throw it away. Adding more water will just ruin the strength of the material. Don't do it, avoid that temptation. Throw it out and mix up a new batch.