Victoria- Victoria Drywall Services: What Are Textured Walls?

Uneven walls arent an uncommon occurrence in older homes. Even in some newer homes, after time, walls can shift and show signs of bumpy drywall stretches. After ensuring the area is structurally sound, you have a few choices on what home repairs will remedy the situation. Replacing the drywall is an option, of course, but can be expensive and dusty. Another route is to create texture on the uneven walls to focus on the new surface instead. Textures walls can even be a design choice when the walls have less visible signs of imperfections. Find out which wall texture technique is right for you and who to call for drywall services in Victoria.

What Is a Textured Wall?

By contrast, most walls that you find in traditional homes are flat, they lack texture, and are one finish throughout the house. Textured walls are just what they claim; they are textured through the use of one or many different patterns. Depending on the specific design, the textures are generally applied through drywall compound, plaster, or spackling with a specialized tool. Occasionally, the new surface will be applied via paint or an additional combination of materials.

Why Add Texture to Walls?

Homeowners and professional drywall services add texture to walls for various reasons; broadly, the premise behind adding texture is to hide uneven walls or imperfections. Texturing walls is a far less expensive solution than tearing down and rebuilding a wall. The second most common reason for adding texture to a wall is for stylistic reasons, and people often choose to add it to accent a wall in one room for interest or to add ambiance.

What Are Texturing Techniques?

People are most familiar with the popcorn ceiling as they are the most popular kind of textured wall available. While that is true, popcorn ceilings are prevalent; there is a slew of other textured walls available to outfit your home and smooth your walls if need be.

Popcorn

Random wet, peaked pattern with a popcorned appearance
Requires popcorn texture, hopper gun, and an air compressor

Slap Brush

A random pattern of thin, peaked lines
Requires a roller, compound, and a double crows foot drywall texture brush

Slap Brush Knockdown

A random pattern of flat, wide lines
Requires roller, compound, knockdown knife, and slap brush

Knockdown

Unique, rustic patterns that have an appearance like stucco
Achieved as a next step after the orange peel application
Requires an 18-inch or larger knockdown knife to flatten bumps and peaks

Orange Peel

Random patterns of wet, flat pocks with minimal popcorn appearance
Requires an air compressor, hopper gun, and watered-down compound

Comb

Patterns of lines of various widths and shapes to specification
Requires a drywall trowel, compound, and a roller

Sand Swirl

Patterns of random, muted swirls
Requires a 7-inch paintbrush and perlite compound

What Happens After Texturing?

After the texture is applied, most compounds have to dry for at least 24 hours. Once the application is dry, a primer is applied. It is common to apply primer and paint to textured walls using a paint gun. Using a paintbrush can damage peaks, miss crevices, and be very tiresome. After the primer has dried, many ceiling textures will stay white, while textured walls can just as easily take on the same colours as other walls in the house.

Who Textures Walls?

With the purchase of a few tools and materials, it is technically possible to DIY textured walls. However, spray guns and compressors can be overwhelming and challenging to use. The covering of surrounding areas and furniture alone is worth using a professional service, if not the cleanup. To learn more about texturing your walls to add an accent to your home decor or help cover uneven drywall, contact the specialists at Handyman Connection today.