Procedures for Decorative Drywall Mudding

Spray Texture

• Spraying is one of the easiest texturing methods, and there are two ways to do it. The first is to put thinned joint compound into a splatter gun, which sprays the material in spurts to create an irregular, lumpy pattern on the wall. The second is to thin the compound still more and spray it with an airless sprayer to create a more unified pattern known as orange peel. For either technique, you can substitute powdered wall texturing mixed with water for the joint compound. Add water to the joint compound or wall texture and stir the mixture constantly until it is the consistency of thick paint.

Brush and Roller Techniques

• You can roll thinned joint compound onto the wall to achieve an orange peel pattern similar to a sprayed one. Thin the mud to the consistency of paint and roll it on as if you were painting. Give it about 10 minutes to stiffen, then roll on another coat. You can make interesting texture patterns in the soft mud with a stiff paintbrush by using a technique called "slap-brushing." Dab the brush lightly into the soft mud repeatedly to create a stipple effect. Vary the pattern by using different brushes or rotating the brush as you dab it.

Knife Techniques

• There are many common texture patterns you can form with a drywall blade. Make a common knock-down pattern by troweling mud onto the wall in small, irregular lumps and skimming off the tops of the lumps with the knife to flatten them. Create a "Spanish knife" pattern by troweling mud onto the wall in random lines to create a criss-cross pattern, or troweling it on in regular or irregular swirls. You can also use the knife to produce stipples or ridges in a sprayed or rolled orange peel texture.

Sponging and Skim Coating

• While more time-consuming than spraying, rolling or knifing, sponge texturing makes a distinctive pattern resembling, but not identical to, splatter spraying. You can dab joint compound on with the sponge, or spray or roll on the compound and dab the sponge into it. When you need perfectly flat walls without a texture, the procedure that works best is to apply a thin coat of mud over the entire wall and scrape it off with a knife. This is called a "skim coat", and it creates a perfectly smooth surface, although it requires a fair amount of skill to do correctly.