Taping and Level 5 finishing

We provide detailed drywall finishing for standard and custom projects: taping, mudding and smooth finishes up to Level 5, with a focus on clean lines and consistency.

Plan your project (323) 440-0395

CSLB #1000495B – General Building
Licensed and bondedWorkers’ comp insured
Four countiesOrange, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino
Family-ownedSince 2015

Finished to the light it will live in.

The industry grades drywall finish from Level 0 to Level 5 (Gypsum Association, GA-214). Level 4 is the usual finish under flat paint. Level 5 adds a thin skim coat over the entire surface, and it is the finish meant for gloss and semi-gloss paints and for hard light, such as wall washers or sun from a nearby window.

High-end custom homes are full of that kind of light: tall windows, long walls, recessed fixtures. That is where a Level 5 finish shows its worth, and where we spend our care.

What this includes

Paper tape bedded in compound
Corner bead on outside corners
Coats feathered wide and sanded
Level 4 finish for flat paint
Level 5 skim coat over the whole surface
Walls and ceilings ready for paint

Plan this work

How the work goes

From the first look to the last coat.

Tape the joints
Paper tape bedded in joint compound at every joint and inside corner; corner bead set on the outside corners.
Coat and feather
Coats over the joints, corners and fasteners, each one feathered wider than the last so the joint disappears into the board.
Sand and check
Each coat sanded and checked with a light held low across the wall, the way the room’s own light will show it.
Skim for Level 5
Where the paint or the light calls for it, a thin skim coat over the entire surface: Level 5 in GA-214.

What we provide

Everything the work covers.

Paper tape bedded in compound
Tape set in joint compound at every joint and inside corner, so the seams are closed and strong.
Corner bead on outside corners
Bead on every outside corner for a straight, protected edge.
Coats feathered and sanded
Each coat spread wider than the last and sanded smooth, so joints and fasteners disappear into the board.
Level 4 for flat paint
The usual smooth finish under flat paint: two coats over the joints, three over fasteners and bead (GA-214).
Level 5 skim coat
A thin skim over the entire surface, for sheen paint, dark colours and hard, low light (GA-214).
Ready for paint
Walls and ceilings handed over smooth and ready for the painter.

On site

The work, in real rooms.

All our work

Open landing above a double-height room, walls finished

Upstairs hall that looks down into the stairwell

Hall with a curved stair wall and a doorway, finished

Room with a wide arched opening, a row of small windows and a stair rail

Room with an arched niche beside an arched doorway

Corridor under skylights, walls finished

Double-height room with a red steel stair and tall windows

Double-height living room with a fireplace wall and glass on both sides

Where we have done it

Projects with this work in them.

Newport BeachTexture finishingSee the project

Wide arched opening that looks through to the stair

San Juan CapistranoArches and double-height roomsSee the project

Questions

Good to know.

Plain answers about taping and level 5 finishing. For anything else, call (323) 440-0395.

Level 5 is the highest level of drywall finish in the Gypsum Association's GA-214. It includes all the work of Level 4 plus a thin skim coat over the entire surface, so the board paper and the joint compound take paint the same way.

GA-214 recommends Level 5 under gloss, semi-gloss and other non-textured paints, and where light hits a wall at a low angle, for example from wall washers or a nearby window. Level 4 is the common choice under flat paint.

Light that meets a wall at a low angle, from tall windows, skylights or wall washers, throws a shadow off the smallest ridge. GA-214 calls this critical lighting and recommends a Level 5 finish where it occurs.

Yes. Walls and ceilings are both finished ready for paint.

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