We are working on a new house and I need lots of help. I have drywall and my contractor did a terible job. I need to know the purpose of mud. Is it to make the walls pretty or is it for strentgh? I also need to know if my walls and ceilings are going to crack my foundation is concrete.
COMMUNITY FORUM
Mud is joint compound, used to cover the joints between the sheets of drywall and the screws/nails used to hold the sheets on the wall.
Of course, the answer is not that simple: mud is for both strength and looks. It is also for insulation, to prevent drafts through the wall.
As for strength, although it does not add a tremendous amount of strength, the mud combined with tape (in between the joints) helps turn the seperate pieces of drywall into one, solid unit that can withstand (and help prevent) a minimal amount of shifting.
The real benefit of mud, and the benefit of having a skilled professional do it, is cosmetic: it turns the seperate pieces of drywall into one smooth, sleek unit.
A sloppy mud job will mostly just be a cosmetic flaw. So long as they put tape between the joints and filled the gaps (which I cannot imagine they did not do), the wall should be strong enough and nonporous enough. They might not have pushed the mud deep enough into the joints for an ideally-strong fill, but if they did not leave long, large gaps between the joints, it should be structurally sound and should prevent drafts. It is just ugly.
