Changing textured wall surface.

[David Duke]

Haven't done much of this so I really don't have a clue. We have the standard textured/painted wall in several rooms of the house, SHMBO wants to change the texture to look something like I would describe as stucco.

To achieve this I assume you would apply slightly thinned joint compound on the wall then trowel with sweeping a motion (achieving a surface much like I normally do when trying to float a wall smooth!! ). My question I guess is; can I simply apply the compound directly on top of the painted surface or will I have to remove the existing texure/paint?

Thank in advance!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Joe Pelonio]

These days most drywall jobs are the sprayed on texture, orange peel to spatter. If that's what you have, you will need to sand, do a heavy coat, or more than one to cover it. I remember doing the stucco-like finish in the 70's, and I added sand to the mud then apply in small spots and knock down to look like stucco. Without sand it looks more like plaster.

[Chris Padilla]

I dunno. My texture guy says sand is a "crutch" for those guys who didn't learn how to texture properly. Sanding a wall smooth that was textured with sand is near impossible--much easier to float new mud over it. He skip-troweled all my surfaces (both new drywall and old sand-skip-trowel) and didn't use sand. He was amazing to watch as he layed down those "leopard-spots" of mud. The consistency of the pattern just blew me away. After it set up for a few minutes, he'd knock it down with another swipe of the trowel.

David, mud sticks pretty much to anything so float right over any painted surface and you should be fine. Of course, you'll want to prime it after doing that but good wall-prep is always a fine idea. At least make sure the wall is clean and if the paint is glossy, you may wish to wash it with one of those paint prep fluids that is supposed to make glossy surfaces less so (kinds of etches the gloss, I guess). I'd say a sheen of semi-gloss or flatter would only need a good cleaning and then float away.

You may wish to pick up some sheets of drywall to simply practice on before you hit your walls. Experiment with the consistency of the mud and your trowel sweeping techniques. Maybe you use sand...maybe you don't.

Good Luck!