This will remove any dust or dirt that might be on the wall, allowing you to start with a clean palette. Wipe down the surface of the wall with clean damp rags.In most cases, wall paint isn’t glossy and you’ll be able to skip this step. While the drywall compound you will be applying typically sticks very well to painted surfaces, it’s a good idea to knock the sheen off high-gloss paint. Lightly sand the surface of the painted texture if the paint is glossy.
Wear protective eyewear and old clothing that you can discard when you’re done. Use 3″-wide (or wider) painter’s tape to tape off window and door trim with painter’s tape. Protect yourself and the rest of the room from falling wall texture.Ĭover the floor with a canvas drop cloth (don’t use plastic as it can become slippery).You may need to tap the head of the putty knife with a hammer to help wedge it between the baseboard and the wall in order to pry the baseboard off. Slipping a 2-inch steel putty knife behind the baseboard and gently prying it outward should do the trick. When your wall looks good under bright work lights, it will look amazing when it’s painted under normal light. It’s also a good idea to use a bright work light to illuminate the wall as you’re sanding so you can see tiny spots of compound. Sand the wall smooth using a drywall sanding pad, fitted with a drywall sanding screen.īe sure to wear a dust mask because even small residual smears can create copious amounts of drywall dust.Let the wall dry completely, which could take up to 24 hours, before proceeding. It’s okay if thin smears remain on the wall you’ll sand them off in the next step. Continue spraying and scraping until you’ve removed all the texture.If the knife meets resistance, stop spray that area again and wait until the texture softens sufficiently. Stand on a sturdy step ladder to reach the top and work your way down with a 10-inch drywall taping knife. To remove texture without gouging the drywall, hold the blade approximately 30-degrees to the wall, and scrape in whatever motion feels most comfortable to you, using long slow strokes. Starting at the top of the wall, scrape the softened texture.When the texture is soft enough for you to rub it off all the way down to the drywall beneath, it’s time to scrape. Give the wall about 15 minutes of dwell time, then test the texture with a fingertip. You may have to spray the wall two or three times in order to saturate it sufficiently. Fill a pump sprayer with water and spray the entire wall evenly to soften the texture.Don protective goggles and old clothing-you’ll probably want to dispose of these duds when you’re done. Tape off baseboards, window trim, and door trim with 3″-wide painter’s tape. To prep and protect, cover the floor with a canvas drop cloth and tape up exposed trim.Īvoid plastic drop cloths, which can become very slippery under wet drywall compound.
Keep reading to find the method for removing wall texture that works for you. If you’re ready to roll up your sleeves, we’ve got the guidance to take your walls from textured to totally smooth. The skimming process requires a fine touch, too, so you’ll need to be patient and allow a few hours, or more, per wall. Painted texture requires skimming the surface with drywall compound. Paint acts as a sealant against water, so soaking wouldn’t be effective very effective in softening the texture-you’re better off covering up.Wall texture that has never been painted can usually be removed with a soak-and-scrape process.
Before you even put on your work clothes and pick up a scraper, you should get to know the two methods for how to remove texture from walls depending on whether or not your walls are painted. Luckily, if you prefer flat surfaces, it is possible to get rid of an old textured finish, though this tends to be a messy, time-consuming project. Texturing walls is a time-honored method of adding character to a wall or covering such imperfections as drywall taping inconsistencies-but not everyone loves the ridges and swirls of knock-down or the soft ripples of orange peel.