How do you finish sheetrock?

you join tape to the wall with joint cement, then cover the joint with joint compound (mud) . once it drys, apply another coat of mud. once this drys apply a final skim coat of mud. each coast your mud should be thinner and the first coat of mud should be thick enuff not to fall of the knife or trowel. remember to also sand the ridges in between coats so as to not interfear withthe next coat that goes on after and make sure the mud ids completely dry before doing this. when covering indented surfaces ( nails or screw holes ) cover with mud and take away excess. when that is dryed, do tjhis again to rplece any shrinkage that has occured. one more coat over the screw hole should be good....then sand with 150 grit sandpaper.