Found out drywall compound has a shelf life after trying to use a bucket from 2019 on a job in Phoenix last week

Spent 2 hours mixing what felt like concrete before I looked at the date stamp and realized the stuff was 4 years expired, has anyone else accidentally tried to resurrect ancient mud?

2 comments

2 Comments

sagew502d ago

Did you try adding water to thin it out or just keep mixing hoping it would soften up? I've heard some guys say you can salvage old mud by letting it soak overnight and then remixing, but I've never tried it myself. The stuff from 2019 must have been like a brick, did it even have any chemical smell left or was it completely inert?

juliag102d ago

Tried adding water little by little but it was like stirring cement at that point, wasn't gonna happen. Honestly I gave up after like 20 minutes of trying to get it smooth again, just tossed it. @sagew50 I bet the 2019 stuff was completely dead, no smell at all maybe just a faint dusty odor. I had a bucket from 2021 that I tried the soak method on and it actually worked okay for patching small holes, but the texture was never the same. The dried crust on top was like concrete too, had to chip it out with a putty knife. Never again am I letting mud sit that long, learned my lesson the hard way.