There was only one truck in front of the house this morning.  We had a pretty good idea who it would be:  The Mud Slinger!

Something new caught my attention. There was a pile of sand and a stack of cement bags in front of the house.  I’m guessing they are for the front porch.

This was my first look inside as we came in the door. Stilts and tape: a clue.

The bedroom had been taped too.

Then we saw the man with a gun.  Well, I called it a gun anyway. I had never seen such a tool and was fascinated.  He moved fast.  The gun dispensed tape and joint compound (or mud, as my daddy called it).  He was going so fast; I could hardly catch him working before he finished whatever seam he was taping.  Even across a whole wall.

Afterward, he would use his trowel to remove excess mud and smooth it out.

He scraped the excess into a pan.

I got a closer look when he set the gun down.

Then he pumped the handle to reload mud.

He had a different attachment to apply tape in the vertical and horizontal corners.

He also went over the corners with a small tool to press the tape in snugly.

Here is a slightly closer look.

I like the looks of the room with the horizontal stripes.  Maybe I’ll get bold and paint some one day.  But, probably not.

I was wondering when he would use the stilts.  Here he is in the hallway, using the trowel up high.

I had a theory that seems to be confirmed today.  The walls will be painted with that “orange peel” finish.  We did not get a choice on that at the “build comm”.  Today, he did not spackle the nail heads.  Two plus two put together in my head.  They use the orange peel style of paint because it hides minor imperfections, hence, they don’t need to sling mud at the nail heads.  It’s my theory and I’m stickin’ with it. Like mud on drywall.