Wall Transformation DIY. Well, it all began when we first moved into our home back in 2005. I immediately wanted to rid the orange-peel texture on the walls throughout the house. Contemplated three options: wallpaper, Venetian plaster, or completely covered with bead board. Meanwhile, my husband Don and I completed our upstairs master bedroom and bathroom using Venetian plaster. Turned out beautiful but the shininess eventually bothered me. About three years later, I painted over it but at least the walls were smooth.
But back to downstairs walls. As it goes, years passing, too busy with my art career and decorative painting business, no decision had yet come to fruition. Instead, all the textured walls were simply repainted.
Sidenote: As yet I can't find any digital photos of this particular wall before all the transformations. Not stored on four external hard drives. So probably on an old CD which means hundreds. A later task. In any case, easy enough for anyone reading this to visualize a solid undressed wall with ugly orange peel texture.
Fall 2012. Two decisions are made. My husband Don installs beadboard wainscoting and picture frame molding. Better skilled, I'd rather he do most woodworking projects. And as always he accomplished yet another of my honey-do-lists while at the same time I do his honey-do lists too. Just saying.
Last Summer. Finally happening! No more procrastinating! Ugly orange peel had to go. By this time, I opted for smooth finish texture paint by Behr. However, I'd be on my own with this task. As a painter and carpenter contractor, my husband's work schedule was filled what with the summer months in full swing. Truth be told, I actually preferred to work at my own pace. Nevertheless, it would involve not just the living room, but also entry, hallway, including kitchen walls. Had no clue how long it would take to accomplish.
Before Starting: If you're going to do this, wear clothes and shoes you don't care about ruining. Mudding gets messy considering it can drop like bird turds onto you and everywhere else if you're not careful. If you have carpets - cover with drop cloths. For floors, my preference - brown paper floor protection rolls (better than plastic sheeting). Tape areas using masking.
First Day - Skim Coating/Mudding: I prefer calling this process mudding the wall surface. In the photo above, wall is receiving the first layering coat. I was a bit mad at myself for not doing this before Don had already installed the bead board and molding. Difficult trying to mud the edges of picture moldings to achieve a smooth consistency. Sometimes a moisten index finger helped. Would have taken photos with scenes of me during the process but too difficult holding a camera simultaneously.
Naturally temps reached mid-90s on the first day. With windows wide open and fans blasting, the mudding dried faster causing issues. Also noticed too many demarcations. Hoped second coat would remedy.
The Materials: Behr Premium Plus Wall Texture Paint (Smooth Finish), plastic trowel tray, plastic putty knives of different sizes (these are my preferences instead of large metal troweler), container of water, and rags.
Following Days. Due to mudding problems day before, I needed expert advice. Remember, my goal was to obtain a smooth plaster-like texture. Fortunately, before my husband left for work, he demonstrated what I was doing wrong. Below are some tips he suggested.
Putty/Trowel Tips:
1. Don't overload your putty knife or trowel with mud (texture paint).
2. Hold the putty knife at 45-degrees angle while sweeping over the wall surface. Note: If using a trowel which I don't, keep perpendicular to wall surface.
3. Periodically scrape mud off putty knife to prevent dried and gritty residual while troweling. This is usually the main cause for ugly demarcations.
Helped tremendously! And for the next several days while mudding all the walls, things went so much better. At last, my confidence revived.
Sanding: See photo below. Once the first two layers of mud (ended with four layers) had thoroughly dried - (four hours in-between), it was time to sand. Because I wanted a smooth texture, I used fine grit sandpaper blocks. All the while, I made sure not to sand vigorously and kept block flat to the wall to prevent damaging the plaster-like texture. Of course, sanding is the part I hate most. Time-consuming, laborious and very dusty! To prevent inhalation of dust particles (bad for lungs), be sure to keep children and pets away and wear a toxic dust respirator mask or at least those typical dust masks.
Vacuuming: Vacuum dust with HEPA filter vacuum and do the walls using a soft brush attachment. You could probably rent a Hepa vacuum if too pricey to purchase. They run about $400-$600 dollars or more. Fortunately, having friends in the paint contracting business, I managed to borrow a used one. My husband has a shop vac but he needed it for work.
Note: If you have a shop vac. . . use a high-efficiency drywall dust bag to suck up dust. In addition, can't stress enough, wear your dust mask during the process!
Note: Here, in the kitchen, I'm sanding after only two coats had thoroughly dried. At first, I realized my applications were too thinly applied. And the orange peel was still somewhat showing. It would take another two layers (thicker) before well-hidden.
If you want a smooth finish, the sanding will make all the difference! So sand away and vacuum, vacuum, vacuum. Fortunately, by the time I got to this room, temps had returned to pleasant 70s.
Results. Photo above shows texture paint still drying in spots. Took close-up photos of wall texture, but results were not sharp and decent to post here. But managed to find some that will suffice. Better photos showing surface can be seen in previous posts or photo below.
Primer and Paint. Next, the texture paint needed primer (used Sherwin Williams multi-purpose brand). Before applying, waited about seven days to cure. Good thing it was warm weather. This helps to prevent peeling and provide better paint adhesion. The wall paint is
Sherwin Williams Modern Gray flat interior paint. Very lovely putty gray color on the slightly cool side. Sometimes looks pearly gray in the right lighting. When I eventually show you my kitchen walls, they were painted with Sherwin-Williams Stucco which lends a warmer neutral tone.
So here is at least one wall reveal. More photos of other walls in future posts. What a major chore! Counting all the walls, by the time task was finished, took nearly eight days to do alone. My husband Don loves how the downstairs has transformed. And his opinion is very important to me. Visitors to the house, have offered positive compliments. Of course, there are some with negative opinions, most being a dislike to neutral color walls. Although I can appreciate their honesty, I didn't do it to please their particular tastes. In sum, I happen to love the color, finish and minor imperfections more noticeable upon closer inspection. Similarities to Venetian plaster but without the shininess.
Anyway, trust me when I say surface is gorgeous smoothness. Good riddance rough ugly orange-peel texture!
Three Weeks Later. Upstairs, I did smooth texture painting on walls in my office plus a small bedroom. Still have one bathroom and hallway to do. Returning downstairs - powder room and Don's office.
I hope this has helped for anyone contemplating texturing your walls. A video would be more useful to show how-to mudding techniques. But I don't have a video camcorder to produce quality videos.
P. S. Next time I decide to transform walls, I'm going to install shiplap planks. I'm thinking this particular wall (photo above) plus kitchen. May have to wait another two years though before I want to tackle.
~ June ~
