matching light texture with roller/mud?

[alrightythen]

I have never done texture other than a small patch or something with a can of spray. i have a 20' wall with new drywall on it. joints and corners are all done. the mud extends a couple inches onto the adjacent walls. the texture of those walls is very light, less than 1/8" lumps very smooth (not sure what it is called) looks a bit like when you run a roller too fast over a section when painting, bumpy paint. i want this wall to match the others (close is fine).

can it be done with a roller? short nap roller? toilet paper roll? hehe


thanks

[ParamountPaint]

Search "Light Orange Peel Texture" in google. If that is what it is, it is sprayed on with a compressor and hopper or a large commercial-type sprayer. If you have a compressor, you can buy a cheap hopper from Lowes or HD. You might have to experiment on some scrap to get a good match.

You can duplicate it with the spray cans, but you'd probably pay for a compressor and hopper with the amount of cans you'd have to buy.

[Blue]

Paramount. He may be talking perlite. Very popular in days gone by. If its perlite then you just dump it in your paint tray i believe.

http://www.litexinc.com/PERLITE.html

[alrightythen]

thanks ppl, the swatches/thumbnails at that link look more random (highs & lows) and a bit more pointed than what I am looking at, could that be the result of a few re-paints? the lumps in this finish are spaced quite close together, the largest empty space maybe 1/8-3/16". I like the idea of adding something to the paint and just rolling this wall out. if it comes close to what I have that is satisfactory, the rest of the walls have cracks and lots of patches of nails holes so long term something will be done with them. thanks again

[SLS-Construction]

Sounds more like a knockdown finish - air compressor, $50 hopper at HD, spray it, let it dry a little bit, & then run a large knife over it at a 15 degree angle

As for trying to apply it with a roller - I cant think of a way

[alrightythen]

thanks much. looks like I'm headed for the home center...

[fez-head]

We like to use a sponge. Learned about it at CT several years ago: http://www.contractortalk.com/f49/anyone-used-knockdown-patch-sponge-55683/

[alrightythen]

OK, borrowed a texture sprayer, goldblatt pattern pistol. it has a dial on the front, I want the smallest bumps for my texture, do I use the smallest hole on the dial? also, there is a restrictor that you can use on the trigger, do I need to set that? Also, how much mud to do a 20' section of wall, one load? 1/2 full? 8' high with one 2' x 8' window.

thanks

[SLS-Construction]

It depends - the best thing you can do is grab a few scrap 2x2 sheets of drywall & practice as the amount of water added, etc... affects the output. If you don't like the look yet & ran out of scrap - scrape it off & try again

Once you find the look you want - spray it. It is always best to have more than you need, than to run out & try matching it later (remember what I said about water). Even if you overfill the hopper - you can always pour / scrape it back into the bucket.

[fez-head]

http://www.createtv.com/CreateProgram.nsf/vProgramsByNola/RHOU?OpenDocument&Index=

[nEighter]

you sure it is not just stipple from a couple bad paint jobs?

[alrightythen]

the texture is very even throughout, not sure what it is. my attempt to reproduce it looks fine on its own and doesnt appear out of place at a distance, so its a success. my texture came out less dense, more varied and pointier than what is on the other walls. i could probably have gone heavier and knocked it down after. i never got the hang of operating the texture gun, but i only spent an hour & a half with it. thanks for all the input ppl!

what really amazes me is how bad my eyes are! 2 weeks of trying to get that wall ready for texture and i missed so many inconsistencies, even mud that shrank into screw heads are here & there... argh! learned this trick too late, put a light aiming along the surface of the wall (not at the wall) to see the imperfections!!! doh!

[nEighter]

I charge good money for texturing. And there is a reason why. I can look at a texture and know how they applied it, there is sooooo much that goes into it. How wet the mud was, when they knocked it down if that is the style of texture.. so on and so on. Then getting it to match the existing is a whole other factor(s) that must be dealt with. I just got done with a ceiling about 45min ago.