How to Get Rid of Knockdown Wall Texture

Knockdown texture consists of watered-down drywall compound. This mixture is poured into a texture hopper and sprayed onto the walls, creating a bumpy appearance. A knockdown knife is dragged over the wall to knock down the bumps. While it is not difficult to remove this type of texture, it does take a lot of time and effort. The texture must be scraped away, section by section, leaving a smooth drywall surface.

Plastic sheeting
Painter's tape
Wallpaper remover
Paint tray
Paint roller
6-inch putty knife

Instructions

- 1
  Remove as many pieces of furniture from the room as possible. If you are unable to remove large pieces of furniture, push them to the center of the room and cover them with a drop cloth. Lay plastic sheeting over the floor and baseboard. Tape the sheeting to the baseboards with painter's tape.
- 2
  Pour about 1/2 cup of wallpaper remover into a paint tray. Mix 2 cups of warm water with the remover.
- 3
  Dip a paint roller into the paint tray. Use the roller to apply the remover to a 3-by-3 foot wall section. Allow the remover to penetrate the knockdown texture until it feels softened.
- 4
  Hold a 6-inch putty knife's edge against the wall at a 30-degree angle. Scrape the texture off the drywall. You will need to move the putty knife in different directions to remove all the knockdown texture while preventing damage to the drywall.
- 5
  Apply more remover to the wall if some textures remains stuck to the wall. Once the first 3-by-3 foot section has been cleaned of texture, move on to another section. Continue in this way until the entire wall has been cleaned of the knockdown texture.

After Painting a Wall Several Times the Paint Bubbles

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Walls