In 1990, industry groups established six standardized levels of drywall finishing, categorized in the Gypsum Association’s GA-214 document.
The Problem: Architects and clients often struggle to describe their desired drywall finish, leading to communication gaps with contractors.
The Solution: In 1990, industry groups established six standardized levels of drywall finishing, categorized in the Gypsum Association’s GA-214 document.
Exploring the Levels:
Level 0: No tape, mud, or corner bead needed. Used for temporary setups or undecided designs.
Level 1: Taped joints and angles, suitable for hidden areas like attics or service corridors. Offers basic smoke and sound resistance.
Level 2: Skim coat over joints and fasteners. Suitable for garages, warehouses, or areas where the wall finish isn’t a priority.
Level 3: Additional mud coat, two coats on fasteners and corner bead, sanded smooth. Ideal for heavy or medium textures.
Level 4: Most common level. Skim coat, two additional mud coats on joints, three on fasteners, sanded smooth. Suitable for flat or enamel paints or light textures.
Level 5: Ultimate smooth finish. All Level 4 steps plus an additional skim coat over the entire surface. Great for high-gloss or dark paints.
Level 0 and level 1 require no coat. Level 2 requires one coat, level 3 requires two coats, level 4 requires three coats and level 5 requires three coats plus a skim coat.
The most demanding architects and homeowners specify the level 5 drywall finish more frequently. But the standard finish on almost all projects is level 4.
To achieve a DRYWALL LEVEL FIVE 5, Joint Compound should be applied over the entire face of the Drywalll already finished without leaving a single space of the Drywall exposed, to achieve this you can spray or roll a roller with joint compound on the already finished surface level 4, then It should be smoothed and sanded gently to achieve a uniform coating throughout the applied area. This will result in a very uniform surface and smooth enough to use gloss finishes. It is important to know that to achieve a good result at level 5 all levels must meet a good installation and application standard, if the drywall was not hung well at Level 0, the result at level 5 will not be the expected and will have to do additional work to solve this.