Hi, let me introduce myself, I live the “red” part of Minnesota, and proud of it. I have been a DIYer since buying my first house (duplex) in collage. Now many years latter I am self-employed as a handyman, yes, MAN not person.
I am finishing an attached garage, turning it into a patio. The walls were insulated and rocked 20 years ago, but not taped. I insulated and sheetrock the ceiling and taped and mudded the whole thing. Now it is time for texture and paint. All my sheetrock work to date has been smooth walls and ceiling, for kitchens and baths. The walls are going to be orange peel and the ceiling popcorn to match the inside of the house. I am comfortable with popcorn on the ceiling but have questions about the orange peel on the walls. I researched orange peel here, but not much about applying it, lots on removing it.
Do I need to prime the walls to make the orange peel stick? With walls that old, do I need to clean them with TSP before I prime or orange peel? And the number one question is, How do I mix the mud for orange peel?
Thanks for your help, this is a great website,
Cody the Handyman.
Replies
by orange peel, do you mean a spray on/knock down texture, or simple splatter. I've done both, and they are fairly easy. Don't put any primer on---I've never done sheetrock that old, but i think if you wipe the walls down with a damp cloth and let them dry (to get the dust) you'll be ok.
Mix some water with your mud till you get a slightly thin Wendy's frosty consistency. How you want it to look depends on the nozzle on the gun, most have several. Get a board and practice with a couple till you get the desired one. Spray the walls. Use a 12 inch knife to scrape off the splatter on the ceiling. For knock down, wait a bit till it is drying and then use a 14 inch knife taped to a broom handle to knock it down. Smooth strokes! This takes practice, and if you do it when it's too wet, it'll look like crap. Some people just spray it and leave it===that is typically what they call orange peel.
Either way, just practice with the gun on some scrap pieces of dry-wall first
By orange peel I mean spimple slatter, very light, no knock down. Just mud and water simple enough. I should mesure the water I put in so if I need a second batch it will be the same. Will one pail of mud be enough for a double garage?. I'll get two pails, can alway use it later.
Old walls, yes to cleaning and priming. Buy a big bucket of mud, or buckets, depending on how much you need. Take a bucket of mud and scoop half of it out, preferably putting it in another clean bucket. Add a quart or more of water in and mix well. What you want is pancake batter, so keep playing around until you get there. I'm able to pour it into my hopper before shooting it. Then shoot the stuff. I use a large diameter (5/16"?)nozzle with the valve wide open at about 80 PSI. Goes on nice and fine, good coverage, buncha little bumps. Let it dry, scuff with sandpaper, prime, paint. Good thing about it, if you don't get it right when you start you can always wipe it off the walls and start over.
Edited 8/18/2005 4:26 pm ET by bbqjason
Edited 8/18/2005 4:27 pm ET by bbqjason
Prime the walls before and after shooting the orange peel. That's too much primer for my time and budget. Which is better before or after?
After. But make sure your old wallboard is as clean and sound as you can get it. You do want the mud to stay on there. Some people don't prime before, some do. I've done it both ways and its about the same...the theory behind it is that it prevents the moisture in the mud from being absorbed by the drywall you're shooting it on, so it won't dry too fast. It also looks better right after you spray if it's primed. But it works both ways. You decide which is better for you.
I have a plastic spray gun, bought it at Lowes. Works well for a job your size. Wipe the walls clean with a damp cloth, patch any gouges, and start spraying. I don't wait foir the walls to dry, cuz they aren't really wet, and being damp they don't suck the moisture out of the tecture. I agree on the pancake batter description. It should be pourable, and almost thick enough to leave peaks if you dip a stick in it.
You should reconsider putting popcorn on the ceiling. One of the frequent questions here is how to remove popcorn from the ceiling. Why not spray it with orange peel too?
The walls need to be in pretty good condition, cuz the light texture really doesn't hide much in the way of bad joints or dings.
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
The customer is always right, so popcorn on the ceiling. It will match the inside of the house. Just looking inside the house and will use a medium texture orange peel. My mud job is already better than the inside of the house but there is still stuff to hide.
Thank you everyone for all the help.
For best results DON'T use mud! Buy texture in a bag & mix. Works 10 times better then mud! The Pros dont use mud, so for Professional Results buy texture. The big boxs carry it!
Serious question ... what's the difference?
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
Ingredients, the % of plaster, limestone & poly vinyl alcohol vs regular dw mud. Even top coat is different. If you ever put top coat on your 1st layer of mud you will see it takes 4-ever to set. The ingredients in texture help with ease of spraying, worktime & dry time.
Not saying you cant use regular mud for texture, just that you will get better results with bag texture. # 1 rule is not to hurry up the mix when doing small batchs out of 5 gal buckets. Let the mix sit as per instructions. We have been know to mix it up the day before & let it sit overnight. Then mix one last time with the drill on small jobs right before spray time.
I don't for the life of me know why anyone does knock down w/mud...it isn't Plexture, it's not plaster....seems like it's just a way to get out of drywall finishing....