One Drywall Compound To Rule Them All: 5 New Advances In Mineral-Based Drywall Compound & Why An All-In-One May Finally Be An Option

A long time ago, on my first day on the job, my boss asked me what the best way to move a truck-full of drywall was.

I didn’t have a great answer right away, so he told me the easy way is to pay some newbie a few dollars an hour to break his back…. Then he told me to get back to work…

A lot has changed since then… Though not the part where we make the newbies do most of the heavy lifting. That will likely remain as part of the job until the day we’re all replaced by robots.

Seriously, though, one thing that is finally, finally starting to change, one thing I can really get behind, is making the process a little less complicated. Or at least, make it not require as many products.

Photo by Sasun Bughdaryan on Unsplash

There’s finally some movement towards making it simpler, but I think it’s going to do more than that — I think it’s going to make it cheaper too, in the long run.

I’m pretty sure that if I didn’t have to keep several compounds in inventory, and in my truck, carry them all into and out of jobs, and switch between them regularly, things would go a little smoother.

That would be less carrying, less inventory, less product switching, and less confusion — but of course, it’s only a solution worth talking about if the new product works as well or better than the current ones, in all the ways that matter.

So why are we talking about this right now? It’s because finally, finally there’s been some movement in drywall compound research.

I’m not ready to accept just any new compound, though, not when it really matters… and since this job puts food on my table, every one matters.

What I’m trying to say is, instead of just blindly accepting a new compound, I’ve made a list of what features I think a new product would have to include to make it as good or better than the old options.

Here’s what I’m going to be looking for, and why it matters.

1. Base + Finish, With No Switches

First things first, I’ve heard rumors about single-stage compounds for a long time, and at this point, I’ll accept nothing less.

If some company puts out a product that they’re claiming as an all-in-one, but it still requires a separate base or top coat product, ditch it.

What’s the point of using an “all-in-one” if it isn’t?

I want to walk into a project with a single bucket of compound, or multiple buckets of the same compound if it’s a big job, and never have to worry about switching products along the way.

If they can’t offer me that, I’m not switching, but when it is available, sign me up.

Photo by Evan Pendergraft on Unsplash

2. Effective For Level 5 Finishing

For those home drywallers reading this, if you’re not aware, a Level 5 drywall finish is the gold standard for professional jobs.

It means more than just mudding the cracks and smoothing it out. A Level 5 finish means doing a skim coat over the entire wall, so there’s no difference in porosity, and even the glossiest paints won’t show a mud-line.

Typically, you shouldn’t even try this with a compound meant for building your base layers or sealing the joints — but for a single-compound solution to be effective, it would have to be great as a Level 5 finisher.

If you want to do the job right, you need materials and products that are compatible with that, so this is a hard line, and no drywall compound is going to pass unless it’s capable enough of hiding it.

3. Shrink-Resistant

One of the first things I experiment with when using any new compound is how much each coat shrinks when it dries.

The thing is, we’ll never get a compound that doesn’t shrink a little — that’s just the nature of the beast. As the water dries up in the compound, there’s a little less material left on the wall, and so it shrinks a bit as a result.

The only way to get a truly 100% non-shrinking compound would be to use one that never dries… and that wouldn’t work for all the obvious reasons.

So, it’s super important to test a new compound before putting your faith in it, so that you know exactly how it behaves under different conditions, and what it’s best for.

If you’re looking for a single compound solution, this is doubly important, so be sure to check how much your compound is likely to shrink and how well it can hold afterward.

Photo by Steffen Lemmerzahl on Unsplash

4. Workability Time

How fast can you complete a wall, from the time a layer of compound is applied until it’s ready to wait and dry?

I know, I know, it depends on a lot of factors, but there’s nothing worse than having to rush the entire time because your drywall compound is drying out too fast.

If you want the best results, and I do, then you need time to do the job properly between when the compound is applied and when it becomes too dry to work without causing damage.

That’s not a huge window, so be wary of any compound that may dry too fast, because in this case, faster isn’t always better.

5. Low-VOC & Eco-Friendly

Finally, there are a lot of clients who care deeply about the environment, and they’re often willing to pay a little more to help protect it.

Lucky for us, that can also help to protect our own health, as well as everyone else in the building.

They’re rare, but there are some excellent compounds out there that offer low or zero-VOC mixes, so it’s safer for you and your crew, as well as anyone else in the building.

As an added bonus, the best zero-VOC options also tend to be less dusty, and that’s something I think we could all agree is a huge bonus.

We’re still going to leave the job site looking like a chalkboard just sneezed on us, but we’ll be able to breathe in a lot less dust, and that’s a win for everyone.

I got my start and trained in this industry when using 2 or 3 types of compound for each job was just the norm, so I feel like I’ve paid my dues in that regard.

Personally, I can’t wait for a single compound that does it all — I feel like I’ve been waiting my entire career already.

It’s about time that all these wild advances in science and technology finally gave us something useful, and I want to be first in line to try it out.