Walls and Ceilings - alternative to hot mud?

Just discovered that i need to do some patchwork in my kitchen on account of not using 12awg for the 20a circuit. I mistakenly used 14awg. The good news is that I can get to all the wiring, took pictures of the walls prior to drywalling so it's no big deal. Also, the areas where I am cutting into will be covered with tile next week, so no need for it to be perfect or to paint.

The bad news is that the wife wants her new kitchen back asap. I usually just use the lightweight 'green bucket' compound, but I'd like to complete this, which means 2 coats of compound (I can get it pretty smooth with two coats for the tilers). I've heard Hot Mud is basically unsandable, but is there anything else that dries faster then the lightweight stuff?

Thanks.

Why would you want to finish it if you are covering it with tile. Just tape it and be done with it.

The trick to using 'hot mud' is to apply it in a manner that requires no [or almost] sanding. I often finish up a hot patch with regular joint compound to make sanding easier.

ok, so I would just need one tape coat? The surface doesn't need to be absolutely flat for the tile, I would assume.

Why not save the trouble and just change your breaker to a 15 amp.

I thought of that. My house has the old 60A service with fuses. We were planning on upgrading anyway. RIght now, there is one dedicated 20A circuit for the kitchen appliances and receptacles, and one other one for the refrigerator. There are two spots where the knob and tube come down from the attic, so when we get the upgrade they could spice one of them so the microwave is dedicated, the the other is for half the appliances. The other half would be powered from the other side of the kitchen, where they could splice into the existing k&t.

You'd end up with 3 15A circuits. And I wouldn't have to do thru the trouble of replacing the wire. Gotta make sure to only run 15a total until then though.

Any thoughts?

The last time I looked at the NEC, kitchen counters require at least 2 20A dedicated circuits. They also must be GFCI protected. You would have been OK, but it sounds like you re-wired the kitchen, so you are required to bring it up to current code. Visit the Electrical froums for more help.

yep. All the countertop receptacles are GFCI protected. I will be upgrading the old 60A fuse to 100A (at least) with breakers. The kitchen will be on 3 20A circuits.