# Why does spackling container say "DO NOT USE AS A SKIM COAT"?



## Eagle One

I have been doing a lot of drywall repair work in prep for painting lately. We are trying to get a house ready to sell. I have been using joint compound for this purpose but recently ran out and have been frustrated with having to wait 24 hours for it to dry before painting. I am only at the house about once a week and I seem to find wall repair issues too often so then I have to prep and wait until the next week to paint. I decided to look at quicker drying spackling to save valuable time but when I looked at the DAP brand Drydex spackling with dry time indicator (1-5 hours), it says on the package label in all upper case letters (as though they are really serious!) - DO NOT USE AS A SKIM COAT. 

This has me puzzled. I would have thought that spackling would be ok for applying a light coat over a small wall ding or imperfection. Right now, I have some small areas where the white drywall paper has been pulled off exposing the brown fuzzy paper beneath. I sprayed primer over the areas but now need to skim coat them before painting. I would love to use the faster drying spackling so that I can get this done in one day trip. Will that prove to be a mistake?


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## Bud Cline

Eagle One said:


> I have been doing a lot of drywall repair work in prep for painting lately. We are trying to get a house ready to sell. I have been using joint compound for this purpose but recently ran out and have been frustrated with having to wait 24 hours for it to dry before painting. I am only at the house about once a week and I seem to find wall repair issues too often so then I have to prep and wait until the next week to paint. I decided to look at quicker drying spackling to save valuable time but when I looked at the DAP brand Drydex spackling with dry time indicator (1-5 hours), it says on the package label in all upper case letters (as though they are really serious!) - DO NOT USE AS A SKIM COAT.
> 
> This has me puzzled. I would have thought that spackling would be ok for applying a light coat over a small wall ding or imperfection. Right now, I have some small areas where the white drywall paper has been pulled off exposing the brown fuzzy paper beneath. I sprayed primer over the areas but now need to skim coat them before painting. I would love to use the faster drying spackling so that I can get this done in one day trip. Will that prove to be a mistake?


Some spackling contains vinyl and really isn't all that sandable when it comes to bigger areas. Spackling isn't the correct product to use anyway. Spackling is basically for repairing nail holes and small dings and maybe a tiny crack but it certainly isn't to be used as a production product.

Go get some Durabond "Forty-Five" or "Ninety" minute mud and use that.

I swear I don't know where some of these ideas come from.:no:


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## jeffnc

That's not really what skim coat means. You are just doing standard patching. This is a skim coat.
http://www.familyhandyman.com/drywall/how-to-skim-coat-walls/view-all

I would avoid Durabond setting compound, and use Sheetrock Easy Sand instead. Durabond is like iron and you don't need or really want it for patching small areas such as yours.

That's when you actually want a setting compound, and you probably don't. Be aware that while setting compound sets hard in the specified short period of time, that is not the same thing as drying. You still will have to wait until the next day to sand and paint. It will be hardened, but still wet - it will clog your sander and it's not recommended to paint over it wet.

To speed up the drying process, you can set a fan on it. For smaller jobs, I pack a little hair dryer, and just apply that to the patch for a few minutes. This way you can dry and continue that same day. Any sandable spackle is also fine for that.


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## ToolSeeker

Since you have to wait anyway joint compound would be what I recommend. As Jeff said 45 minute setting means you can put another coat over it then not that it's dry. The setting is harder to sand and has a bad habit of flashing through paint.


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## Eagle One

jeffnc said:


> That's not really what skim coat means. You are just doing standard patching. This is a skim coat.
> http://www.familyhandyman.com/drywall/how-to-skim-coat-walls/view-all


This is what I thought the manufacturer most likely meant by the caution on the label. Thanks for confirming! The areas I need to 'patch' are minimal and most are not in conspicuous areas so I am going to apply the spackling and wait for the color change to indicate it is dry and ready to paint. I think it will be fine and should work given my needs. Thanks to all for the info provided.


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