# Textured Ceiling



## bigcountrysg (Oct 9, 2006)

I had a drop ceiling in my kitchen. Well I say had because it has been ripped out this week. Now I am almost done with all the patching and mud work. I am thinking because I am not the best drywaller that renting the machine and doing the textured ceiling would be the way to go. I think it would cut down the cost of this project. 


Machine is 68 dollars a day from Home Depot. The material is 13 dollars for a 40 pound bag. Now I do not know nore could the person working tell me how many sq ft one bag covers. 

Does anyone know how many sq ft one bag of this stuff covers. The room is approximately 144 sg ft.


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## jpollman (Jan 14, 2001)

I've never done textured ceiling with that stuff. But I'm sure that if you look at the bag it wil have the coverage rate on it.

Good luck!

John


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## bigcountrysg (Oct 9, 2006)

jpollman said:


> I've never done textured ceiling with that stuff. But I'm sure that if you look at the bag it wil have the coverage rate on it.
> 
> Good luck!
> 
> John


The bag says coverage area varies. I guess that means depending on how thick or think I apply it. Will depend on how much one bag covers. 

Home depot did say that I can return all unopen bags for full refund though. But I don't want to buy 8 bags when I only need 4 bags. If you know what I mean.


The other problem I have is this one wall had paneling on it. Well that paneling only went 2 inches above the drop ceiling. So being the paneling is no longer made. I took it down. The drywall behind the paneling is to destroyed to repair. So I was going to put up new paneling. But I am not able to find any. So you have any ideas on this. Besides remove the drywall and replace it with new.


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## Huntinman225 (Sep 24, 2005)

Worked for me and if you want to paint over it in a few years you can and it wont flake off like the texture stuff does (big Mess) I'v been there Just remember to prime before whatever you are going to do. 

FYI the textured paint is applied by rolling, but not with normal roller - I forgot the name tho...


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## bigcountrysg (Oct 9, 2006)

Huntinman225 said:


> Worked for me and if you want to paint over it in a few years you can and it wont flake off like the texture stuff does (big Mess) I'v been there Just remember to prime before whatever you are going to do.
> 
> FYI the textured paint is applied by rolling, but not with normal roller - I forgot the name tho...


 
Yeah I thought about this too. Which is one option we are looking at. I also think that might keep our cost down a bit too.


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## Huntinman225 (Sep 24, 2005)

If you even want to prime a sparyed on texture - you will have a mess !!!


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## Slodrift (Oct 28, 2006)

You can also mix it with some ceiling flat paint and you won't have to paint, that stuff does make a mess when you paint it with a roller it's better to spray when you paint that stuff, and one bag should do 144 square.


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## Huntinman225 (Sep 24, 2005)

Slodrift said:


> You can also mix it with some ceiling flat paint and you won't have to paint, that stuff does make a mess when you paint it with a roller it's better to spray when you paint that stuff, and one bag should do 144 square.


Im not sure if we are talking about the same thing - the stuff im talking about is ready to apply - no mixing - When I used it, it didn't make any bigger mess than what a normal painting project would - but GL with whatever way you deside on going...


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## Slodrift (Oct 28, 2006)

I assumed he was talking about the popcorn texture (acoustical is another name for it) when he said he was spraying it, you have to mix that stuff and it's much easier to mix it with some paint than to paint it.


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## bigcountrysg (Oct 9, 2006)

Slodrift said:


> I assumed he was talking about the popcorn texture (acoustical is another name for it) when he said he was spraying it, you have to mix that stuff and it's much easier to mix it with some paint than to paint it.


 
You are correct Slodrift. That is exactly what I am talking about. It is popcorn but I am going to do the knockdown look. Which is where you spray it then go over it with a troal.


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## DangerDan (Mar 10, 2005)

Unless your looking for a certain color (other than white) theres no need to mix paint with the acoustic particulate. If memory serves a bag will make two 5 gal pails. 3/4 full to the consitancy of pancake batter. One bucket will cover approx. 120 sq.ft. give or take depending as you said on the thickness you shoot.

You wouldnt need 8 bags unless your doing your whole house.

I would, as suggested primer before you shoot. Let the primer dry for a good 48 hours. 

I used news paper to mask my walls/trim etc. You can use plastic but I don't think it works as well. I used painters tape for the mask.

As you shoot, go around the parimeter and cieling fixures first. It'll be easier to blend once you get going. If your shooting a small area get somthing to get yourself aquainted with the blower. A piece of old dry wall, ply wood or the neighbors car will work here. Just so you know how much you want to set the gun for when you shoot. 

Good luck, Be artistic and if you screw up dont worry. You can scrape it off with a good blade and reshoot it when you go back over that area.

Edit:
Oooh, the knock down... that takes a little more practice. I'd skip the neighbors car and go straight for the extra drywall. Let it set for a spell and then you'll give it a scrape with the knock down block. I passed on that decision as it seemed to be a PITA..

Either way, since its the kitchen I'd go with a good satin easy clean paint over the knock down. It'll be a bear to keep clean otherwise.


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## bigcountrysg (Oct 9, 2006)

Thanks for the advice yall. I plan on having the wife prime the ceiling tomorrow. Then hopefully spray it sunday. Hoping to have this whole project wrapped up by Monday. Been working on it since Tuesday. Well the destruction started Tuesday evening. So far everything is looking good. Lights will be wired up tomorrow. The ceiling will be ready for primer tomorrow evening. Then Saturday the new wall paneling will be installed. Leaving sunday to get this ceiling finished. I am not sure if I am going to do the knock down part yet or not.

For the knock down part I have been told to let it set up for 15 minutes then run the troal over it lightly. The main thing is keeping equal pressure on the troal. I have also been told to do a swirl look as it is easier to hide uneven pressure marks so it does not look wavy.


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## DangerDan (Mar 10, 2005)

bigcountrysg said:


> I am not sure if I am going to do the knock down part yet or not.


If you shoot it,, being its the kitchen, I seriously suggest at least doing the knock down. Or, get aquainted with drywall sanding and mudding. Kitchen ceilings are impossible to keep clean with that type of particulate unless you do the knockdown. Even then its a pain.


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## bigcountrysg (Oct 9, 2006)

DangerDan said:


> If you shoot it,, being its the kitchen, I seriously suggest at least doing the knock down. Or, get aquainted with drywall sanding and mudding. Kitchen ceilings are impossible to keep clean with that type of particulate unless you do the knockdown. Even then its a pain.


 
The drywall is obviously already there. It had some issues and they are being fixed. The cleanliness is a concern I have with this ceiling. If I do this popcorn spray on covering. I was worried about keeping it clean. I will do the knock down. Heck I may just smooth it out completely. :lol:

Dry wall and mudding is like doing car repair with bondo. Just fill in the spots with the mud. Then sand smooth right.


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## jpollman (Jan 14, 2001)

bigcountrysg said:


> The drywall is obviously already there. It had some issues and they are being fixed. The cleanliness is a concern I have with this ceiling. If I do this popcorn spray on covering. I was worried about keeping it clean. I will do the knock down. Heck I may just smooth it out completely. :lol:
> 
> Dry wall and mudding is like doing car repair with bondo. Just fill in the spots with the mud. Then sand smooth right.


Drywall isn't really that hard to do!

It takes a little while to get the hang of it but even an amateur can make it look decent with a little work. The problem here is that it's a kitchen ceiling. Normally in a kitchen you want to paint with at least a semi-gloss paint. This makes it harder to cover imperfections. If you were painting the ceiling in a flat ceiling white, minor imperfections pretty much blend in but when you use semi-gloss they show up pretty well. 

Heck I wish you lived closer and I wasn't still laid up. If those two issues weren't standing in my way I'd come over and take care of it for ya. 

I'd think about at least trying to just patch the problem areas and just keep it smooth and paint it. Even a knock-down in the kitchen can be a real problem down the road when you need to repaint. If it's not very clean, the paint won't stick and you'll have a real mess on your hands. It's VERY tough to clean and prep a popcorn or knockdown ceiling for paint. 

Good luck!

John

*EDIT:*
Oops, forgot to answer your last question.
Yes it's pretty much just filling the holes and smoothing it out. If you have any cracks you must tape the crack too. Once you have everything filled and ready to "sand" I'd suggest using a damp sponge instead of sandpaper or sanding screen. I rarely sand anymore. I almost always use the damp sponge technique and it is much cleaner and doesn't fill the house with dust. It leaves a nice smooth finish too. If I were you I'd give it a try. If you try it and after it's painted you find some areas that you don't like it's not hard to go back and touch up those areas and then just spot prime and touch it up.


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## bigcountrysg (Oct 9, 2006)

Well I am patching up the spots. I will see if I can get it pretty smooth then just prime and paint it. If I do not like the look. I can always just reprime and get the equipment and spray it and knock it down later on.


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## eddiejohn4 (Dec 23, 2005)

Hey I wish I would of seen this earlier as I started in the trades as a wet plaster. In the future if ya need a little advice or hands on instructions on finishing ,tape or hanging of drywall I would be happy to help you out. or wet plaster for that matter.

I usually put hand texures instead of the usual spray or rolled.


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## DangerDan (Mar 10, 2005)

bigcountrysg said:


> The drywall is obviously already there. It had some issues and they are being fixed. The cleanliness is a concern I have with this ceiling. If I do this popcorn spray on covering. I was worried about keeping it clean. I will do the knock down. Heck I may just smooth it out completely. :lol:
> 
> Dry wall and mudding is like doing car repair with bondo. Just fill in the spots with the mud. Then sand smooth right.


You can do some sponge work to cut down on the dust but yeah.. pretty much. Go to your home center. They may have a video you can watch.


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## Michihunter (Jan 8, 2003)

Might be too late but if it were me I'd put the paneling up AFTER doing the ceiling.


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## bigcountrysg (Oct 9, 2006)

Michihunter said:


> Might be too late but if it were me I'd put the paneling up AFTER doing the ceiling.


 
Not to late the paneling has not been bought yet. 


Eddie if you want to come down and help you are more then welcomed. It is not to late.


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