Home > Paint > Creating textured effects
Textured finishes are popular for covering drywall without spending hours on a labor-intensive perfect painting job. Because the application is simple, it is less expensive, but repairs can be tricky. Textured finishes are also more difficult to clean than smooth ones.
Texture types
Sand-rexture paint is interior latex paint that contains perlite, a sandlike additive available in fine, medium, and coarse particle sizes. You can purchase the additive separately, or buy premixed paint in 1- and 5-gallon sizes.
Orange peel is a slightly pebbly finish without the sharpness of sand. Apply it over primer with a spray gun, seal it with white-pigmented shellac primer, and paint it with a top coat that has a little gloss. It’s a good choice for the bath or kitchen because it is durable and can also be scrubbed.
Knockdown is a two-step process.
A rough ⅛-inch coating is sprayed on, and a helper follows 10 to 15 minutes later “knocking down” the high points with a mason’s trowel. The resulting finish looks like old-world hand-finished plaster. This look is popular in living rooms, bedrooms, and hallways, especially in the Southwest.
Acoustic (also called popcorn) is used only on ceilings. It is either sprayed on or applied with a looped texture roller.
Application tools
Apply sand-texture paint with a thick-napped roller. For orange peel, knockdown, and acoustic finishes, you can use a roller, but these finishes are most often shot onto a primed surface from a spray gun with an attached hopper.
(Use a hand-powered spray texture pump or an air-powered spray texture gun, rented or purchased.)
For touching up small areas (10 square fect or less), all of the texture types come in acrosol spray cans. When released, these textures get out of hand very easily; protect nearby areas with dropcloths.
Touchy touch-ups
A seamless job requires matching texture, color, and sheen of the original finish.
Color is the main problem, especially when a ceiling has been exposed to cigarette smoke.
Apply a stain-blocking primer, followed by quality interior latex paint. The primer blocks smoke and water stains and provides maximum adhesion, while the top coat provides uniform color and sheen.
Acoustic (popcorn) texture is heavy and loses adhesion when wet by latex paint; it can slide or even fall off of the ceiling.
The solution: prime the entire ceiling with white-pigmented shellac, then repair it with a spray can. When the repair dries, prime it too. The dried shellac provides a waterproof surface that is ready to paint.
Texture types
Sand
Orange Peel
Knockdown
Acoustic (popcorn)
BUYER’S GUIDE
USE THE RIGHT ROLLER FOR ACOUSTIC CEILINGS
Acoustic ceilings require special rollers that allow the paint to fill in properly. Depending on the thickness of the texture, you’ll need to use a thick-napped or split-foam roller. Ask the experts at your home center or paint store for information.
OOPS
YOU CAN’T ALWAYS TOUCH UP PAINT
Did you touch up the paint and the result is worse than the problem? Paint cures and changes color over time. When it has been on the wall a long time, it no longer matches paint left in the can. Smoke, grime, or general wear and tear may mean a wall-to-wall paint job is the only way to gel a touch-up that actually works. In out-of-the way spots not liable to be noticed, make small louch-ups with an artist’s brush dipped in paint.
WORK SMART
PROBLEM POPCORN
Many people dislike acoustic (popcorn) ceilings. They can be removed, but it involves a bit of work. Basically, you take advantage of the fact that the texture loosens when moistened. Working with a spray bottle of water, moisten about a 3-footsquare area, let the water soak in, and carefully scrape away the offending texture with an 8-to 10 inch-wide drywall knife Important: Many older acoustic ceilings contain asbestos, which was outlawed in 1978 but still showed up later if builders used old supplies Take samples and send them to a lab that tests for asbestos (look in the phone directory) If you do have asbestos, either leave it in place or hire an abatement expert.