Stage one: verifying the framing
Before a single sheet goes up, the framing gets checked with a straightedge. A stud crowned outward by an eighth of an inch produces a bulge across three feet of finished wall, and joint compound is a surfacing material rather than a leveling one.
This is also the moment blocking gets confirmed for televisions, cabinets, grab bars, and anything else that will eventually hang on the wall. Adding it afterward means opening the finished wall.
Stage two: hanging and fastening
Sheet layout is planned rather than improvised, with the goal of minimising butt joints. A butt joint has no tapered recess for compound, so it is far harder to finish invisibly than a tapered edge joint.
Fasteners are set to a specific depth: dimpled just below the surface without breaking the paper face. Break the paper and the fastener loses most of its holding power, which is how pops start.
Stage three: joint treatment
Tape gets embedded in a wet bed of compound at every seam, with the excess worked out from underneath so it bonds across its full width. The tape carries the tensile load; compound alone has almost none, which is why an untaped joint cracks within a year.
Two more coats follow, each feathered wider than the last. Each one has to dry fully before the next, and that constraint is what sets the schedule.
Stage four: finishing to level
For a Level 4 finish, the joints are sanded smooth and the work is done. For Level 5, a thin skim coat goes over the entire surface so compound and board paper absorb paint identically.
Then texture, if the design calls for it, and a raking light inspection before the surface is handed over to the painter.
