I recently read Myron Ferguson's book "Drywall - Professional Techniques for walls & ceilings". In it he recommends using mesh tape on tapered joints but to use it with a setting compound. If a drying compound is to be used he recommends a taping compound not a topping or all purpose compound. On a recent trip to home depot to buy my stuff I noticed that they only carried all purpose premixed joint compound. Can this be used with the mesh tape and get good results despite what I've read in the book? I also came across self-adhesive paper tape - Anyone have experience with this? Is it better than the standard paper tape? Can you really apply it without a base layer of compound first? How does it compare to the self-ashesive mesh tape? Can you use any type of joint compound with it? Thanks for any info.

The exterior walls of my house are speckled with either old paint or a chalky white substance. I have tried muriatic acid - and all that did was make the bricks look pink and turn the mortar yellow. All the brick has this problem. I don't know if someone was excessively sloppy when painting the house or the builder got a "deal" on defective brick. Any ideas on how to remove it? Thanks, SDM