A Spray Day with Tom G. Hall Drywall
This March AST visited Tom G. Hall Drywall, a drywall company in Pueblo, Colorado. The company is a 4th generation family run business.
Meet Tom Hall Jr.:
A Family Business
Tom G. Hall Drywall is a family business with four generations having participated in the drywall industry. Tom Hall Jr. runs the company today after taking over operations from his father. His father’s father also had a drywall company and since then the trade has been passed down through the generations. Tom Hall Jr.’s sons are keeping up the tradition by participating in the business and running the spray rigs.
The feeling of family even spills over to other crewmembers. Most crew members have been with the company for years and some as long as ten or twenty years.
Equipment
Tom G. Hall Drywall runs two tandem axle spray rigs. They configure their rigs with the 350 gallon tank size. The hose sets are set up with air switches. They opt for dual hose racks and the water washdown kit and wrap a water hose around the second hose rack so it is always at the job.
An important point that Tom trains into his crew is to keep the spray rigs well maintained and clean. After every 2-3 days of spraying, the rig is pressure-washed to remove any dirt and drywall mud that has accumulated at the job site. They follow the recommended maintenance schedules to keep things running smoothly. These two measures ensure their spray rigs are ready for every job thrown their way.
Tom’s company has been running their current fleet of spray rigs for 3-4 years and they have only gone through one stator tube in that time.
Tom Hall Jr. on spray rig performance and maintenance:
Preparing for a Knockdown Finish
As the sprayer, Brian, is preparing the batch of mud, he may mix a little bit thicker for knockdown textures, or Spanish lace as it is sometimes known in this region, than he would for orange peel. However, to get the size of texture he needs for knockdown, he mostly adjusts the air settings and tip size.
To spray a knockdown finish, the air settings are turned down low while spraying. He uses a large tip size, usually the 7/16” tip, to get the desired pattern.
Spraying and Knocking Down
With the proper tip in place, Brian sets his air where he needs it and then turns the pump on to start spraying. The knockdown texture looks different than an orange peel texture when it comes out of the gun and sticks to the wall. The droplets are much larger. This is the desired effect for textures that will be knocked down.
Brian continues through the house, spraying each room in turn.
The rest of the crew waits for the texture on the wall to reach the desired consistency before they start knocking it down. This can take anywhere from 15-30 minutes, or maybe a bit longer. A good rule of thumb is to wait for the tiny dots on the wall to dry out. Once those dots are dry, the larger dots are usually ready to be knocked down. If the texture is spreading rather than flattening, wait a few more minutes and try again.
“A house this size we can spray 2-3 hours by the time we knock it down and clean up and everything. Back in the old days guys used to use hoppers and spray for days.” – Tom Hall Jr.
Brian will have a two-story single-family home completely sprayed in about two hours. The rest of the crew will start knocking down the texture, which will take about the same amount of time. According to the crew, they will have the entire house sprayed, knocked down, unmasked and cleaned up in less than half of a day.
Using AST Texture Machines for Spraying Knockdown
AST texture machines are the ideal piece of equipment for quickly spraying high quality knockdown textures. Whether you spray single family homes, apartments, condos, or commercial buildings, an AST spray rig can make your business more profitable. Get a quote today!