Flashback Friday: Removing texture from walls
For this Flashback Friday it is time for phase two in our kitchen renovation and another messy project under our belts!
We really don't like textured walls...I mean really don't like them, which is why we had the completely crazy notion to skim coat the entire kitchen and back entryway with a thin layer of drywall compound. Erik skim coated the upstairs bedroom on his own a while ago, but this was a slightly larger job, so I jumped in to help with the kitchen. It's actually fairly easy. If you are like us and are looking to get rid of knock-down texture without ripping out all of your current drywall to replace it with new smooth stuff, read on and we'll show you how.
We used the following tools and materials to achieve our super smooth walls:
1 empty 5-gallon bucket
hand drill with a mixer attachment
paint roller with a thicker nap (3/8-3/4")
spray bottle filled with water
First, we added several scoops of the compound to the empty bucket and mixed in water until it reached the consistency of pancake batter. Next, I covered the paint roller in the compound mixture and applied a generous, but not-too-thick coat to the walls. This is where it's helpful to have a second person, especially if you are doing a large area. Once I applied about 3-4 roller widths of compound to the wall (and while it was still wet), Erik sprayed the Magic Trowel with water and with consistent pressure, ran the squeegee down the surface of the wall to remove the excess and work the compound into the texture. We continued this rotation around the entire room and across the ceiling. The trick is to keep the trowel clean and wet to achieve a super smooth surface, and to keep a wet edge of drywall compound on the wall (this is a little more challenging to achieve when you are flying solo, but totally manageable!). Once the compound was completely dry, we sanded and added a thin second coat to cover up the remaining texture. In all we used about 3 - 4.5 gallon buckets of compound to cover our entire kitchen and entryway. Here is the finished result!
