Method of curing drywall compound

Abstract

A method of reducing the curing time of drywall joint compound, and thereby reducing the time required to finish drywall joints or to repair plaster walls, includes adding a predetermined amount of a drying agent to a conventional ready-mixed drywall joint compound. The drying agent preferably comprises at least one compound selected from the group of compounds consisting of plaster of Paris, calcium carbonate, gypsum, crystallized silicon dioxide (quartz), Portland cement, perlite, lime, hydroxy ethyl ether of cellulose, polyvinyl alcohol, starch, wood fiber, potassium naphthalene sulfon, aluminum sulfate, sodium citrate, ammonium tartrate, hydrolyzed protein, monosodium phosphate, sodium naphthalene sulfonate, potassium sulfate and various trace materials, or mixtures thereof A sufficient amount of water is added to the drying agent to facilitate mixing the drying agent with the drywall joint compound to form a joint compound mixture. The joint compound mixture may then be applied to drywall or to a plaster wall in a manner that is well known in the art and will cure in a relatively short period of time so that subsequent coats of joint compound mixture may be added without significant delay. Furthermore, the method of the present invention allows the joint compound mixture to be smoothed after application to the drywall or to the plaster wall without sanding.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.