How do I “texture” a sheetrock wall?

[Louis Brandt]

Hello,

We’ve removed the wallpaper in one area of our house, and instead of replacing the wallpaper with more wallpaper, we’d like to “texture” those walls and then paint them. I’ve never done this before, but I know that it can be done. I don’t want to put a heavy or “popcorn” texture on, just a very light texture, but still enough of a texture so that it’s evident that there is one there.

I assume that the best approach is to use some type of roller, possibly even a thick nap paint roller, but I don’t know what kind of material to apply to the wall. Should it simply be joint compound, or is there another material that is more appropriate to use in texturing a wall? And if the answer is to use joint compound, should the joint compound be thinned before applying?

Thanks,
Louis

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Louis,

You spray it.

I had no experience and had just framed and finished our basement bathroom. I went to a rental place and rented the air compressor and the gun to do it. I bought a 5 gallon bucket of wall board compound...practiced on some cardboard boxes until I got the right viscosity by adding water to the compound. Then sprayed it. I got a little noticeably thick in one area...took a trowel and scraped the mud off immediately and resprayed that area.

I believe it's referred to as "Orange Peel".

It's not that difficult.....I did it.

[Paul Greathouse]

I just did a ceiling that came out pretty good and I have never done texturing before. I used joint compound and a sealer mix. I would have to go out to the shop to see exactly what the sealer is but it looked like white paint. If someone else doesn't chime in with what the sealer needs to be I will go out to the shop and check. I'll be up a little while I'm waiting on an answer on another thread.

I used a stomp and drag technique. I mixed the compound/sealer to a little thicker than a pancake batter consistancy and then applied it with a stomp and drag mop. I waited a while til started to set just a little and then knocked it down with a 10" mud knife (guess thats what you call it?) After it dried overnight my wife painted it the next day. Looks alot better than the popcorn that my wife scraped off.

[keith ouellette]

There a many ways you can do this.

You first have to know exactly what type of texture you want. What ever one you choose as some one else said.

PRACTICE ON SCRAP FIRST

when you think you like it let it dry and then paint it white, like a satin sheen and look at it again to make sure its what you want.

Here is a picture of a ceiling I did where the original ceiling was a mess and I didn't want to do a lot of repair
and a picture of some orange peel I sprayed out of a can. Took 3 cans to do the entire bathroom. It would not match a comercial orange peel but the whole room is the same which is what is important.

The nock down type was just done with joint compound and a cement trowel. I used the narrow end to lay on thin globs in various directions and then smoothed it off with the wide edge. I left it a little rough because it was a ceiling but would do it much more smoothly if it were on a wall. You can make a rough texture by adding some sand to the mix but i wouldn't do that for a wall.

[keith ouellette]

Here is a picture of a rougher texture that I put on the ceiling in the rest of my house.

[Phil Thien]

The walls in my house have a very subtle orange peel effect from years of being painted with rollers. Not something you can do with a single or two coats, but more likely 10-15.

So when I have to do any patching, the texturing is gone.

I found aerosol texture cans that come w/ three straws (with different inside diameters, to give different textures). I use these to texture my patch jobs. Here, these:

http://www.homaxproducts.com/products/texture/index.html

I've done quite large areas with them. Like my entire kitchen after remodelling.

[David Epperson]

The easiest way I know of to apply some texture to a wall is simply mix your latex paint with sheetrock mud and roll it on.

[Jason Strauss]

As a dedicated DIYer, I say this with the utmost respect...

If you have a very large area to do, you might get a professional drywall guy to give you a quote. Between your time, possible equipment rental, and desire to achieve a consistent look, this might be the way to go. The professional would blow your mind at how quick he could get a whole house done. The price is really only reflective if his time as the materials are very cheap.

...and if not done properly, this task could be a real mess!

Just my $.02. Good luck!

[Harry Hagan]

http://www.wagnerspraytech.com/portal/texture_sprayers_spray,99561,747.html

[Jim Rimmer]

I just did the same thing to my kitchen. The borg sells roll-on texture. I used it and it worked fine. They have an instruciton sheet near it to tell you how to get diferent finishes. Save your money and don't buy the special roller they tell you is needed. You will need the expanded metal roller thingy and a 5 gallon bucket. I used cheap foam rollers and it worked fine. If you can find a place that won't show, practice there first (I used the area that will be behind the fridge) or get a scrap piece of sheetrock and try it out. Don't roll over it too many time like you would paint or it will start to come off.

Good luck.

[Jim O'Dell]

LOML and I really like the "Knock Down" texture, and it's very easy to do. If you have access to a portable air compressor, or a shop one with lots of hose, go to Harbor Freight and buy an air texture hopper. I got mine from Home Depot. The one at HF looks identical, but is 19.95 rather than the 69.95 I paid. I used it with a tankless CH compressor at the other house, and the first few rooms of the current house. With the small tank, or with the tankless, you have to go in spurts. More CFM would allow you to spray constantly and would go a lot quicker. Mine came with 3 nozzles. The bigger the orifice, the heavier the texture. I use the medium on the walls, and the small on the ceilings. Let sit until it starts to set up good,(usually about 15-20 min) then take an flat trowel and "knock" it down by lightly dragging the trowel in a shallow angle across the wall. Let dry, then I take my hands and lightly rub the wall to get all the loose particles off, then prime, then paint. In fact, I prime first, texture, prime, then paint. You can buy a bag of dry texture at HD, and mix it yourself. I found that much easier than trying to thin down the premixed compound. I tried the trick of mixing primer with the dry texture and water one time, but didn't like the outcome or the clean up as well.
I found that I could spray about half of a bedroom, then need to stop to give my neck and shoulders a rest. I'd knock that down, then do the rest. Ceilings are the hardest on my neck. I usually start there, then do the walls. If you mess up, just scrape it off, throw it away or back into the bucket, if still wet, and go again. Use a piece of cardboard to keep the material from getting on windows and trim. But even if you get some over spray, wait until it dries and use a wet towel to remove it. If you do it while it's still wet, you end up taking some off the wall you want it on. DAMHIKT!! :D
The small orifice will give you that orange peal look. Doesn't hurt to test in a hidden place first.
Oh, and the hopper looks just like the Stanley cordless one above, but without the motor part. Jim.

[Brian Elfert]

The closets in my house are textured. The drywall guy used a regular texture gun, but just didn't add the popcorn stuff normally used for a ceiling.

[Mitchell Andrus]

The easiest way I know of to apply some texture to a wall is simply mix your latex paint with sheetrock mud and roll it on.

+1. Kills primer with drywall compound mixed in, textured rollers come in many varieties. Don't get too thick else it'll crack when drying.
.

[sean m. titmas]

I think what you want is what we call "orange peel" because it looks just like the texture of an orange. this is the easiest type of tex to apply and can be done with a small hopper and compressor. i assume you already have a compressor and the hopper can be found at the big box stores for around 40.

for old walls i apply a quality primer/blocker like Kilz first but its not necessary if you are not going to do a knock down finish. the primer seals the drywall so that the compound dries evenly and will produce a consistent texture with the trowel.

you mix regular joint compound with water until it resembles very thick paint or thin pancake batter. i also add in some blue chalk for a chalk box so that you can see how much you are applying. you want almost 90% coverage.

mix it up, fill the hopper, adjust the air pressure to 15-20 psi and use the small orifice in the gun and apply it from about 24" away in an up and down motion. you want to shoot directly at the wall and not at an angle. keep it moving quickly and overlap your pattern 50%. set the material flow very low so that you can always add more. its a lot like spraying lacquer with the method of application. practice first on some scrap and than go for it. when its all dry and you have some problem areas all you need to do is sand it off and reapply.

most important of all is to mask off EVERYTHING than is not drywall or you will be sponge cleaning for days.

[Stephen Tashiro]

In all these textures, what are the chances of the texture material starting to flake off when it gets old?

I'd think that textured wall (like carpet) accumulates more dust and dirt than a smooth surface. This might be a good thing if it keeps it from going some place else.

[sean m. titmas]

In all these textures, what are the chances of the texture material starting to flake off when it gets old?

I'd think that textured wall (like carpet) accumulates more dust and dirt than a smooth surface. This might be a good thing if it keeps it from going some place else.

with the application of a quality primer like oil based Kilz and only the required amount of water added(too much weakens the material)there is no problem with delamination. you can also add in some bonding agent. its designed to improve the adhesion of compound to plastic trim. try a commercial supply house for it. after 24 hour dry time you need to prime and paint the wall and this will seal in the texture making it almost flake proof.

with a heavy texture you might have some dust collecting issues but with a small orange peel its negligible.

[Doug Carpenter]

Don't mix your mud with paint. Mix it with water. That way if you are not happy you can wash it off before you paint. Once it is primed and painted it will have to be sanded off.

You can do a knock down texture my mixing water and drywall mud untill is is thin like paint. roll it on with a heavy nap roller in long passes from floor to ceiling. let it set for a minute then take a wide drywall knife ( the wider the better) and lightly knock down the bumps. you can also use a "stomp" brush after you roll it and then knock that down to get a slightly different pattern.

You can play around with it and even scrape it off while it is wet. It is a very forgiving process.

Also you can rent a spray gun for doing a texture and adjust it for a heavy ot light texture. That will give you the "Orange Peel" mentioned earlier. I have also seen ti done with an airless sprayer but that is overkill unless you own one.

The worst thing is to not thin it enough; usually when you see a bad texture job it is because they used it right out of the bucket.

There are also some wallpaper products that have a uniform texture taht you paint after you install it.

Good luck, Doug

[Russ Filtz]

I like the skip trawl photo, that's the way most houses down here in Florida, along with some orange peel as well. They call the skip stuff "Spanish Lace" down here.