It seems that the level 5 system is finally taking hold in the UK, and being spec’d more regularly which is leading more people to ask the question; what is it? how do I do it? where can I get materials and training? Essentially the level 5 system as put forward by USG, is taping and jointing taken to it’s highest possible standard, coating the entire wall and then finishing it with a coat of tough hide,  a primer activator, which provides full coverage in 1 coat and sets the system off so it is rock hard. Knauff also has a comparable system using Knauff Airless. There are a number of ways to achieve this finish, I will lay out the method I feel is most cost and time effective, thus most profitable.

D M Solutions is happy to provide advice, tools, training and can source materials for this system.

The system specifications require paper tape on all joints, even though this goes against the norm in the industry of mesh tape and filler it offers an excellent opportunity to use the NorthStar automatic taper to it’s full potential, thus increasing productivity by at least a factor of 2.

methodology:

Day 1-Taping & Boxing

1. Use Northstar automatic taper to tape out all internal joints followed with a Northstar corner roller and 3 1/2″ angle head.
2. Run the flat joints with the auto taper and wipe back
3. Allow flat joints to dry for 2 hours, this allows the tapes to properly bond to the plasterboard
4. Run a Northstar 10″ or 8″ flat box on flat joints
5. Spot screws with NorthStar Nail Spotter, I recommend using a fast set compound to avoid shrinkage
6. Fix external tapes

Day 2 -Spraying

1. Knock snots and excess compound off wall with broad knife, and/or lightly sand.
2. It may be worth spotting your screws a second time with joint cement, and second coating externals corners to minimize chance of shrinkage, and ensure smooth finish on externals. this step is not strictly necessary as the spray will act as your second coat
3. Spray USG pro spray/Knauf airless with Graco Mark V, to 2-3 mm thickness using a 531-533 airless tip. I normally do this in 2 simultaneous passes first vertically then horizontally to ensure even coverage. I have found the optimum pressure is around 2800 psi, depending on the available power supply you may need to go higher. However spraying full bore only serves to hit the wall harder, crerating a poorer finish and burns through your tips faster.
4. Let the material go off for between 5 and 10 minutes to allow it to become a bit tacky, the time will be dependent on the weather conditions (shorter if it is hot and dry, longer if it is cold and wet)
5. Walls- use a 22″ broad knife (DMS curved handled wipedown kinfe is ideal, but it really comes down to what you are most comfortable with) the squeegees are effective, and some people prefer to use a trowel.
6. Don’t worry about trying to smooth out all the trowel lines (unless they are scratches) both Usg Prospray and Knauff Airless are soft compounds, and the marks will easily sand out
7. I generally stop just short of the internals and use a Speare 3 in 1 corner sander to finish the corners, saves mucking around in there.
8. Ceilings- The profinish 18, 22 0r 24″ plastic knock down knife is ideal for ceiling work. It allows you to work from the floor and literally walk it across the ceiling, giving a perfect finish.

Day 3- Sanding

1. Lightly sand walls and ceilings, strictly to take off high points in the finish. If it is a small job the radius 360 works well using 120 or 150 grit sanding discs
2. If it is a large job use the Miro 955 electric sander with the Mirka 915 vacuum. I would recommend using the abranet 150 or 180 grit discs. This will act to completely eliminate all the dust, as it draws the dust through the holes in the pads and is sucked up through the Miro’s unique backing plate. leaving the walls dust free and ready to paint
3. Use the speare 3 in 1 corner sander to sand out internal corners

day 4-Paint

1. If you are using the Knauff airless system, this is the day you roll up and walk away, though I would highly recommend increasing your contract to include the first coat of paint. You already have the airless sprayer, you should be able to make excellent money using it!
2. If You are using the USG system, it is time for the Tough Hide. It seems to be standard practice in some areas to turn the machine on full and start blasting. This works if you don’t mind being covered from head to toe in paint and leaving impact pinholes throughout your finish.
3. Otherwise, set your pressure to  1200 psi and test spray an off cut or piece of cardboard. Gradually increase the pressure until the fingers and the edge of the spray fan disappear and you have a perfect V of material coming out of the gun. This is your optimal pressure for spraying paint, and will give you a perfect finish without the pinholes and without wearing half the product. Paint atomizes at a different pressure depending on the ambient air pressure, so the pressure you spray at will change as much as 300 psi form one day to the next. use a 519 tip for tough hide.

Recap:

By using NorthStar automatic taping tools in conjuction with Graco Mark V and the Miro sander you should be able to cut your application time down by a third compared to doing the prep work by hand. I would highly recommend investing in a hopper and bagroller for the mark V as well. The hopper holds 90 liters and eliminates any chance of foreign material getting into your mix. The bagroller makes it easy to fill, saves 5% in wasted materials and mixes the product as it goes through the mangle. Using NorthStar tools give you a consistent even finish everytime, and eliminates the long drying times in the internal corners by putting on just enough compound as needed and saves 5-10% on materials; in addition to the slight advantage of being fully 3 times faster than hand taping. The Miro sander eliminates dust competely and speeds sanding by a factor of 2.

Recommended tools:

1. Graco Mark V, w/ hopper and bag roller
2. Northstar Taper, corner roller w/ handle, angle head w/handle
3. NorthStar pump, filler, 10″ flat box, extendable flat box handle
4. Miro 955 sanding kit
5. DMS 22″ wipedown knife, kraft or warner 22″ squeegee, profinish 18″ knockdown knife w/ 24″ extension
6. Speare 3 in 1 sander, radius 360 sander

For the past 3 years I have been looking for a quality dustless power sander, with limited success until now. The Miro 955 ticks all the boxes I have been looking for:

• plenty of power
• strong drive-shafts (yet to break one after 8 months)
• 1 year warranty
• fully supported in the UK
• with 4 day guaranteed turn around on repairs
• good balance
• reasonable price

I started out selling the Porter cable sanders which originally were made in porto rico, and were solid dependable machines, with less than 3% return rate, which meant it was ok to import them from the US and not worry too much about warranty issues. That all changed in 2007-2008, when porter cable moved their assembly to china, we went from a 3% failure rate to a 35% failure rate, which just wasn’t sustainable. With flex being manufactured in the same factory it didn’t seem worth going down that road. I then sourced the Vezos which at first glance looked great, suctioned to the ceiling and drove itself. However within 3 weeks all of them were broken, and received no support from vezos, we ended up shipping them all back to greece. Then came fox, though I didn’t get involved in selling them I had plenty of customers (who thought I had) call me with comments like “it is skipping across the wall”, which didn’t exactly encourage me to get involved. Finally a quality sander came along in the form of the Festool, which no one has disputed the quality, but due to the motor being in the head, makes sanding ceilings fairly back breaking. Bearing all this in mind when I started talks with Mirka about the miro 955, my first condition was to trial it for 3 months before considering moving forward. the trial period passed with nothing but positive feedback, so we moved into selling the sander. the miro is produced by a Mirka Abrasives out of Finland. the sander is manufactured in Korea, but to Mirka’s specification. It has a revolutionary head assembly which allows the dust to be drawn through the sanding discs, through slots in the head assembly. When used with the abranet discs it draws up to 9 times the dust as competitive sanders. The feedback I have received from users is the Miro has more power and gives a better finish than any sanders they have used previously.