How to Do Knockdown Ceilings

Remove all the furniture from the room. Cover the walls with sheets of plastic and tape them in place where the ceiling and wall meet. Once the spraying begins, it will splatter and coat everything. Cover the entire floor with drop cloths.

Wear old clothes, a hat to protect your hair and safety goggles. Wear them for the rest of the steps. This is a messy job, and you can’t help getting overspray and old ceiling material on you.

Climb a ladder and wet a small section of the ceiling with water sprayed from a mister if you currently have a popcorn-style, textured ceiling. Allow the water to soak in for two or three minutes and scrape off the popcorn texturing with a 12-inch drywall knife. If your home was built before 1981, contact your state’s environmental protection agency before attempting to remove the texture. Homes built until about 1980 were often treated with asbestos. You will need to have your ceiling tested for the presence of this hazardous material.

Mix joint compound powder in a bucket with water. Attach a mixing paddle to a power drill and stir the compound with the paddle. Mix it to a mashed potato consistency. Stop and scrape the sides with a mixing stick to get all the powder into the center of the bucket. Mix a second time, once again using the paddle.

Load some mixed joint compound into the hopper. The material is heavy, so load up only what you can lift comfortably. Set the sprayer to a fine spray using one of the lowest settings available. Spray the entire ceiling with a light base coat of joint compound. Keep the sprayer about 3 feet away from the ceiling while applying the compound.

Allow the base coat to dry three to eight hours. Load more joint compound into the hopper and set the sprayer to produce splatters 1 1/2 inches in diameter or more. Try spraying the compound in an inconspicuous area, such as the interior of a closet, until you feel comfortable with the technique. Spray splatters across the ceiling going back and forth and then down in a steady rhythm.

Wait for the material to set up for 10 to 15 minutes, just enough to firm it a little. Skim the tops of the splatters with a plastic knockdown texturing knife. These are typically 18 to 24 inches wide. Work perpendicular to the way the ceiling joists run and use just enough pressure to flatten the tops of the splatters without removing them.