Haha, true enough—sanding is king, dust clouds and all. But has anyone tried those drywall sanding vac attachments? Are they actually worth the hassle or just another gimmick collecting dust in the garage...?
I've actually used one of those drywall sanding vac attachments a few times, and here's my take:
- They definitely cut down on the dust clouds significantly. You won't eliminate dust entirely, but it's night and day compared to regular sanding.
- Setup can be a bit awkward at first—managing the hose and keeping it from snagging or pulling is kind of annoying.
- If your vacuum isn't powerful enough, it won't do much good. I tried it initially with a small shop vac, and it was pretty underwhelming. Upgraded to a stronger vac later, and that made a huge difference.
- The sanding pads designed specifically for vac attachments tend to be pricier, so factor that in if you're doing a larger project.
- For smaller jobs or quick touch-ups, honestly, it's probably not worth the hassle. But if you're tackling an entire room or multiple rooms, I'd say it's definitely worth giving it a shot.
Bottom line: not a gimmick, but also not a miracle solution. Just depends on your project size and patience level...
"Setup can be a bit awkward at first—managing the hose and keeping it from snagging or pulling is kind of annoying."
Yeah, the hose management drove me nuts too...felt like wrestling an octopus half the time. Did you find it got easier with practice, or did you just learn to tolerate it? I ended up rigging mine to a hook on my belt loop—looked ridiculous but actually helped. Curious if anyone else has creative hacks for dealing with that hose chaos...
Funny you mention rigging it to your belt—I tried something similar but ended up nearly tripping myself every five minutes. Honestly, I found that the more I tried to control the hose, the worse it got. Eventually, I just let it hang loose and moved slower, kind of like dancing with a clumsy partner. Sounds counterintuitive, but once I stopped fighting it, things went smoother...or maybe I just convinced myself they did.
Haha, been there myself. Couple things I've learned the hard way:
- Rigging hoses or cords to your belt sounds genius until you realize you've basically turned yourself into a human tetherball pole. Not ideal.
- Letting it hang loose is definitely better, but then you get that occasional snag on literally nothing—like drywall ghosts messing with you.
- My personal trick? I toss the hose over my shoulder like I'm Indiana Jones with a whip. Looks ridiculous, but hey, fewer trips and tangles.
- Also, slowing down helps a ton. Drywall mudding isn't exactly NASCAR; slow and steady wins this race every time.
Honestly though, half the battle is just accepting drywall work is messy and awkward no matter what. If you're not covered in dust and mildly annoyed by the end of it, did you even drywall?
