Drywall is a popular item to place on the interior walls of a home, and to use on the ceilings of a home. When drywall has been taped and floated it has a smooth surface that can be painted, and then repainted if you decide to redecorate the home. Drywall helps to create a sound barrier between rooms, it is fire retardant, and it helps to insulate the home. The edges of drywall seal completely when they are taped so it helps to keep pests from entering the home.
Applying texture to drywall helps to make it look unique, and gives the room character. Texture can be blown on with specialized machines, or applied by hand. The way the texture is applied will change the way that it looks on the walls.
You can buy drywall compound and use it to texture your own walls. You can experiment with the thickness of this compound so that you create the look you want. It is highly recommended that you get a piece of drywall, or a piece of plywood and experiment with applying the compound using whatever tool you decide to use until you perfect the thickness and the technique for applying the compound.
When you are putting drywall compound on a wall you should remember that if you mess it up you can always take a mud knife or putty knife and scrape the compound off the wall. Let the wall dry and then sand it smooth. Dust it off with a dry cloth and you will be ready to reapply your compound. This procedure will only work while the compound is still wet. Once it dries you would have to scrape and sand the wall to remove it.
You can create a texture using a shoe brush like you use to polish shoes with. You can flatten the bristles of the brush out into a fan shape to create a smoother look, or use it with the bristles intact.
A loofah sponge like you bathe with creates a perfect “orange peel” effect on your walls. You simply dip the loofah in the drywall compound, the dab it on the walls, and then you take a putty knife and gently go across the wet mud on the walls to remove any tips or high points. You can apply this as thick or thin as you like but you should always remember that a random pattern creates a better look. So do not follow a straight line when dabbing the compound onto the surface of the wall.
A broom with straw bristles is an excellent tool for applying a texture to a dry wall ceiling. You can use the broom like you would use the shoe brush and the handle helps you to reach where you need to reach.
Some paints have particles added to them so that when they are applied they leave a textured appearance. You can also mix sand, or grit, into a paint to help give it a texture look, and this is great when you are painting outside surfaces that might become slippery when wet.
Comments