Spackled over textured wall so surfaces don't match

13 years ago

I'm moving into a home where the previous owners spackled a lot of the walls. Some small and others more than a foot square. The problem is the walls have a texture on them which I believe is called knockdown. The walls have what is supposed to be an old world look I guess. They painted over the walls but you can clearly see where the patches are because of the flat vs. textured. I am planning to repaint anyways and really would like to fix this. Is it possible and how? Do I need to sand down all the walls to get a smooth finish to match the spackled areas or do I spray the spackled areas. I read somewhere that there is something that comes in a can that can replicate the texture. Don't really care which just whatever one is the best. Any advice would be appreciated as I've never painted or done anything like this before. Thanks

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Comments (2)

lazy_gardens
13 years ago
Knockdown is easy to duplicate ... try the technique on some scraps of cardboard first.

Dilute some drywall mud until it is the texture of sour cream - holds a nice peak.

NEED: drywall mud, big coarse sponge, WIDE (10in or larger) drywall blade, clean cloth.

Spread a bit of the compound onto a damp coarse sponge.

Dab it on the wall where you need texture in an irregular pattern - repeat until the area is covered with peaks of mud alternating with some open areas.

When the peaks are stiffening, but not dry (stiff pie dough texture), draw the drywall blade across the patch in one quick scrape. Hold the knife at about a 45-degree angle. Knock the peaks down!

Wipe the blade clean between scrapes.

The harder you push the blade against the wall the thinner and flatter the knockdown will be.

Let it dry, prime it with drywall primer, and paint it.

IMPORTANT: Overlap into the already textured area by a foot or more, fading out erratically, and even create some random clouds of new texture. You need to break up the outline of the bald spot.
bustergordon
13 years ago
In our old house that had textured walls, we had the same problem. I bought one of the canned sprays at Home Depot and it worked just fine. They have several varieties and you just have to pick the texture that most closely matches what you have. I'd suggest practicing in a not so obvious place first - it does take a bit of practice to get the technique down, but once you do it, it's fine and once you paint over it, you can't really tell that it's any different.