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Yeti 02-01-2013 05:12 PM

Drywall texture?
Is drywall texture(other than popcorn) considered to be high end, or is it more to cover bad drywall? I grew up and live in the midwest and most of what I've seen are smooth walls with just the texture from a roller. I guess I assumed the texture was for people who couldn't properly finish drywall. Is it more of a regional thing? I happen to like the knockdown texture and was just curious what was the perception of textures. Also, are textures usually carried throughout an entire house or used just on certain rooms.

joecaption 02-01-2013 05:18 PM

Things to concider before texturing anything.
Near imposable to clean or make any repairs to.
Harder to paint.
Take a while and look through this site and look though any of the drywall areas.
Hundreds if not thousands of people asking how to get it off, how to do a repair on it, and almost no one asking how to apply it. Hmm.

Gymschu 02-01-2013 05:52 PM

In the midwest, it was acceptable to texture CEILINGS from about 1970 - 2000. Texturing walls was always considered cheap, tacky, and a way to hide poor drywall finishing. Some would argue that it is a faster way to finish walls because you may only have to bed the tape and apply one coat of mud before putting on the texture, but, I think it consumes just as much time as doing it the right way.

jsheridan 02-01-2013 06:28 PM

Run away!

jsheridan 02-01-2013 06:36 PM

Quote from Ric knows paint, "I think most people will agree when I say popcorn ceilings are of the devil". Great quote, and I could not agree more. Found on the current "best ceiling paint" thread. Run away, run far away.

princelake 02-01-2013 07:40 PM

all depends on the look your looking for. standard and best is smooth flat ceilings. alot of people like california knockdown. some have accent walls textured. you cant really clean flat ceiling. i recommend flat unless you have some need design ideas

Yeti 02-03-2013 02:23 AM

Yeah, I'll probably be steering clear of textures. Do you think some of the popularity came about with the housing boom, crews could get in and out faster and on to the next job?

jsheridan 02-03-2013 07:50 AM

Yeti, texture is a regional thing. Here in the mid-Atlantic region you rarely see texture. I think the same in the Upper Midwest as BJ says. Then there are areas where you rarely see smooth walls. I think it's standard there as opposed to faddish, like popcorn. We went through the popcorn phase to a degree. Popcorn was like faux. Everybody was doing faux, some their whole house, but that's passed as well. At least in this area. Wallpaper faded for a while, but that's coming back, go Chrisn.

I was just watching a general contractor stripping some large angled ceilings with a Festool grinder in Cape May the other day. Amazing tool. He was moving across that ceiling at a clip, grinding it to a perfectly smooth clean surface and not a hint of dust.

I'm thinking like Gymschu, it isn't any cheaper in the long run.

ToolSeeker 02-03-2013 10:06 AM

It is absolutely a regional thing I live in Fla. where everything is textured ceilings, walls, exterior(stucco), screened in sunrooms, on upper end homes even the garages have knockdown on the walls and ceilings. As for your home I would talk to a couple realtors in your area and see what they say it would do to the value of your home. In my area they say there is no way to date a home quicker than walk in and see popcorn ceilings. Yet I have been told they are still using them in other parts of the country.

ddawg16 02-03-2013 11:10 AM

Our house had popcorn of the first things we did was scrape it off.....after removed we understood why they did it....some cracks were a 1/4" in width.

Something to consider......ceiling wife is English so it's more of a 'British' thing.....but it does a good job of hiding the cracks...

For walls....I've had good luck just using a heavy nap roller......if all else have a good place to hang pics of the family...

ToolSeeker 02-04-2013 06:55 PM


Originally Posted by ddawg16 (Post 1108546)



Good God man that's a beautiful setting with the brick and wood.

Nailbags 02-05-2013 02:59 AM

Compleat regional thing in million dollar homes out west the walls are textured with a light orange peel same with the ceilings.

stoner529 02-09-2013 12:20 PM

ive probably said this a million times to all the haters..

Yes i am a former professional drywall texture business owner..I love texture and not because it was my trade.. I hate having a plain flat wall.. I like the look of texture..

I am not concerned with, "oh its covering up poor finishing work".. truth is that it used to be that way.. The homes that i have sprayed texture in (thousands), the finishing has to have good quality nowdays because if it doesn't you can still see the lines that it will leave..

Don't look at texture as a regional thing, look at it as something you enjoy to look at.. I sprayed texture in lowcost homes and many million dollar homes.

It is easy to maintain regardless of what anyone says... The only people i would listen to about maintaining texture are the ones that have to maintain it on a regular basis...

I do. This is what i do to maintain the texture in my home...NOTHING. It does fine just sitting there.. will texture get dirty if you touch it. yes. will a flat wall get dirty if you touch it. yes.. what cleans dirt? water and a sponge. does that mean you shouldnt get tile in your house because it gets dirty. lets mention carpeting. that stuff is a pain to clean as well. hard wood scratches. so basically anything is a pain to clean from that perspective.


jsheridan 02-09-2013 03:08 PM

Eeeeaaasy there big fella! I think I can speak for most here, we're not dumping on your trade. Personally, I wouldn't texture my walls, but, I can appreciate a well done texture, and it has it's place in a decorating scheme. (In the interest of full disclosure, I have a textured main ceiling, but I rent and it was there when I moved in, and thank God it was done right.) I think it's like anything, too much of a good thing can be not so good. Texture creates a busyness, and a whole house full of texture is, imho, too busy. Another problem is that a lot of texture, and popcorn, jobs are not done well, and when not done well are an ugly scene, a relatively permanent ugly scene.

You touched on hiding stuff. Regardless of why texture was used and the quality of the job, the mindset among many is "what are they hiding". May be wrong, may be a shame, but it be a reality.

Texture does collect more dirt than a smooth wall or ceiling. Unless you vacuum it off, you risk smearing it into the flat paint, as has happened to me.

Finally, this is a forum for do it yourselfers, not a pro texture guy forum. Recreating a texture look, especially a bad one, is a skill well above the pay grade of the average weekend warrior. Hell, I know many pro painters who can barely patch nail pops, let alone finesse a texture out of mud. These are people who need to fix stress cracks, nail pops, water damage, occasional shotgun blasts, that sort of thing, not keeping it clean or painting it.
I knew a lady years ago who saved up money to have her daughter's room done up like a princess' bedroom for her 5th birthday, complete with a custom pink popcorn ceiling, with glitter no less. I saw it, beautiful job. Two weeks later rain came through the ceiling and did extensive damage. She could never make it look the same again and couldn't afford to have it completely redone. Even the guy who did it couldn't make it look like anything more than a decent patch job. That's the downfall of texture. It's a highly specialized and difficult type of product.

We do nothing here if we don't give the HO both sides of issues. I don't advocate based on my personal preferences. On this issue I'm here to be the con, you're here to be the pro, and we then leave it up to the HO to decide. So you better be here more often. :laughing: Nothing personal.
