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Brian Tymchak
12-10-2014, 1:08 PM
Hey all,

Over the holidays, one of my "to-do"s is to retexture a patch in our kitchen ceiling. We developed a leak in a shower drain on the 2nd floor and it damaged the kitchen ceiling a bit. Had to cut about a 2' square opening in the ceiling to remove damaged sheetrock and get access to repair the drain. I have the sheetrock patched back in and now I need to retexture the ceiling so that it looks close to the existing pattern. I know it will never match up exactly, I'm just hoping to get it close so that it isn't noticeable unless you are staring at it. Good news is that the patch is in the corner of the kitchen and not right out in the middle where it might be more noticeable. Having never done this, I'm going to practice a bit to get the technique down before I have a go at the real patch.

So I have a few questions about doing this. I'm hoping that there is some experience here on the Creek that will help me do this with good results.

The existing texture was applied with the typical round stipple brush (or stomp? brush), maybe a 5" or 6" brush at most, and the texture overall seems pretty short. Literally no taller than 1/4". So I'm assuming that the compound that was used when the house was built was thinned quite a bit to be applied thin. it is not a knock-down pattern. First question - applying the thinned compound, am I using a roller to do that? Maybe a trim roller for such a small area? What length nap would be appropriate or does that even matter since I'll be texturing?

Since I have some ready-mix compound from the borg, I assume I can use that and thin it down. However, it is quite a bit grayer when it dries than the existing ceiling. I have white ceiling paint but it is quite a bit whiter than the existing ceiling color. Next question - Should I mix the paint in with the compound to help thin it and color it, assuming that the high white will bring the gray up to somewhere in the middle close to the existing ceiling color? Or should I try to mix a paint to closely match the existing color and then paint the patch after the compound dries? I'm leaning towards the latter option unless there is a compelling reason not to.

Ok, last question - since a round brush was used originally, should I go buy a round brush to do this small patch? I haven't priced those brushes but I figure they are probably $15-$20. I was wondering if maybe I could use a paint brush and dab it around in a circle to simulate the round brush. Does that seem reasonable and likely to succeed?

Edit: Just thought of another question - should the patch be primed before applying the compound?

Appreciate your help on this,
Thanks, Brian

Jason Roehl
12-10-2014, 1:27 PM
Okay, first off, keep your expectations low. Even experienced drywallers only get a really good match about 50% of the time (that from a good drywaller I know).

Yes, you'll need to thin the mud. Yes, you can do so with paint. If the peaks are sharp, it was probably thinned with water. If they're rounded, then it was probably thinned with paint. However, unless you have the actual existing ceiling paint on hand, don't count on getting a match to it. I'd plan on painting the whole ceiling. If you have some white and off-white flat paint (assuming it's flat), a little trial-and-error might get you acceptably close and allow you to touch up your patch instead of painting the whole ceiling.

As for the brush--if it's round, they're probably more like $10, but they'll have to be modified to get close to what the drywallers likely used. First, you'll have to really thin out the bristles, probably pull at least half of the tufts with a pair of pliers. Then if the bristles are all parallel (stick straight out), you'll need to fill a bucket with hot water, put the stomp brush in the bottom, push it all the way down so the bristles stick out, then put a brick on it and let it sit.

This is bad:

http://www.amazon.com/Goldblatt-G05116-Stippling-Texture-Brush/dp/B002PEX754/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1418235647&sr=8-3&keywords=texture+brush&pebp=1418235690808

This is good:

http://www.amazon.com/TEXMASTER-8-Shag-Stipple-Brush/dp/B0011T28EA/ref=pd_sim_sbs_hi_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=0899TQSDZH01RHMPVJ61

Yes, you can roll on the thinned mud (that's the preferred way). If the roller is making a crackling sound, you don't have enough mud on--it should be more "smearing" it on than rolling. The texture will shrink a bit, so keep that in mind, but if you don't like how it looks when you stomp it, just roll it back out and try again. Resist the urge to "overstomp", just a little overlap is probably all you need--try to judge it from the existing texture. Also, when you stomp it, you can smack it pretty hard then let it bounce off. In other words, give it some speed, but don't force it into the ceiling. The good part about drywall mud is that it wipes off of most everything easily.

Brian Tymchak
12-10-2014, 4:44 PM
Thanks Jason! Lots of great info. Expectations low - got it.. :D

Interesting point about sharp vs ..dull..? peaks. The peaks are not sharp. And that is probably why it was so hard to smooth the surrounding 3-4" edge out with wet sponge to make the patch. In fact, I ended up sanding the texture off as the ceiling would not absorb the water very well, let alone loosen up any to wipe the compound off. And I had no idea that those brushes had to be "thinned out" like that to get the effect. Since they are fairly inexpensive, I'll try one on some scrap sheetrock. This should be an interesting experiment..

Re: painting the whole ceiling. I hear you and thought about it because I knew the color would be off somewhat. The kitchen/dining/family room is one continuous 65' run of ceiling along the entire length of the house. It's actually 1/2 of the bottom floor. That's more work than I want to invest on it this time around so I'm just going to work on this patch area. I'll get some gray paint and mix up some samples with my "ultra" white and see if I can get somewhere in the ball park.

Thanks again. Really appreciate the expert advice.

Brian

Tom M King
12-10-2014, 5:24 PM
I've put beaded board plywood over it, 1x6 MDF covering all the joints in the plywood, crown around the edges, and spray it with ProClassic, more than a few times, putting a hopefully permanent end to the sheetrock problem.