# Is drywall "knockdown" still stylish



## moorewarner (Mar 12, 2010)

gumbudah said:


> I'm doing some work in my home, and I'd like to "keep up with the times". I know that for many years now, people have been building and finishing drywall with a knockdown texture as somewhat of a standard. Is this still "in"? Is there another technique that is newer or more stylish????


It's considered low-end in my neck of the woods. Often used to hide bad drywall work.

A big problem is maintaining it over time, if you ever have to cut into the wall for something getting the resulting patch to blend in is a PITA.


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## chrisn (Dec 23, 2007)

moorewarner said:


> It's considered low-end in my neck of the woods. Often used to hide bad drywall work.


A big problem is maintaining it over time, if you ever have to cut into the wall for something getting the resulting patch to blend in is a PITA. 

I believe it is considered "low end" everywhere and has never been the "in" look and certainly is not stylish:no:


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## gumbudah (Apr 3, 2010)

wow, that's odd, many of the new homes I've been in in th last 5 years have knockdown... So if not knockdown, what other surface finish is "in" for painted drywall???


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## bjbatlanta (Jul 16, 2008)

Smooth....


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## Leah Frances (Jan 13, 2008)

Smooth.


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## moorewarner (Mar 12, 2010)

Leah Frances said:


> Smooth.


All the cool kids are doin' it. :thumbsup:


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## CrpntrFrk (Nov 4, 2008)

Skip, Santa Fe, smooth...they all look better then knock down or "Spanish lace" as we call it here. The Santa Fe looks better in terms of a 90/10 rather than a 80/20 or less. Then it just starts to look like a horrible skip.


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## Big Bob (Jul 27, 2007)

What passes for the in look... are the cost cutting techniques used by cookie cutter builders. 

victims have been the full back splash in the kitchen... norm is now 4" and no metal trim.. (they drove the trim guys out of Biz..)

A smooth super slick and creamy ceiling or wall is the most cosly to produce... mimicing, but short of ... A+ plaster work.

SOto your question) new trend is still... might be really watered down... single knock down on oreintal drywall.

Do you want trendy.. or classic hold the value for resale...?

Like the song ..it's your.... do what you wanna do...

ps.
The guys in the gray flannel suits.. now wear suits from London, France or Italy ... for $2K A POP.. and want us to think that 14 yr old girls strung out on H are "the cats pajamamas'...

Let me update P.T. Barnums advice from 60 seconds to ... a sucker is born every twenty-one seconds...


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## imanerd (Apr 3, 2010)

What about for the ceiling? Is smooth better than a knockdown?


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## mark942 (Feb 2, 2008)

This would be the best you can do to your drywall.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZ4pxtkcmNU&feature=related

Good Luck..............:thumbsup:


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## jlhaslip (Dec 31, 2009)

I've never had anything but smooth...


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## oldrivers (May 2, 2009)

My opinion is , if the house is a basic house with no frills then i would knock it down , if the house is a 2 million dollar house with fancy 20,000 tiles, woodwork, cabinets etc , then smoth is the way to go . i dont really like smooth unless there are other fancy details in the house to focus on, a smooth ceiling compliments those , where as a knockdown can make up for lack of charactor on a basic no frills house. just my observation but i prefer hand textures to knock downs though but more $$$ ..so they both have their places , also there are differnt quality knockdowns out there ... if your hiring a sprayer id ask for a sample as knockdowns can be quite different from 1sprayer to another .


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## imanerd (Apr 3, 2010)

Is an "orange peel" considered a knockdown or hand texture?


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## Big Bob (Jul 27, 2007)

imanerd said:


> Is an "orange peel" considered a knockdown or hand texture?


Orange Peel ....sprayed on texture 

Knockdown..is sprayed on then worked by hand with (wide knife)


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## imanerd (Apr 3, 2010)

Big Bob said:


> Orange Peel ....sprayed on texture
> 
> Knockdown..is sprayed on then worked by hand with (wide knife)


Oh ok, I see the difference now. 

I thought that smooth walls with nice glossy white crown molding and knockdown on the ceiling was more upscale and not cookie cutter at all. But then again, I haven't been in a lot of newer cookie cutters...not since popcorn era


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## Big Bob (Jul 27, 2007)

imanerd said:


> Oh ok, I see the difference now.
> 
> I thought that smooth walls with nice glossy white crown molding and knockdown on the ceiling was more upscale and not cookie cutter at all. But then again, I haven't been in a lot of newer cookie cutters...not since popcorn era


Knockdown replaced (Problematic popcorn) by builders (cheaper to produce than a good smooth ceiling). Then it became the "in-thing".


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## Snav (Aug 20, 2009)

Any texture could be in style - depends on how well you pull a room's overall theme together with your work and chosen colors. . . the accent things such as trim and your paint/tile color really sell a texture for 'nice and planned' or 'last minute coverup.' It also depends on where you are. You can do one thing that's in style - but trash your stylish efforts by using the wrong carpet or dated tile.

In Arkansas knockdown is rare to find - people will likely find panel and white-wash smooth here.
However, to me white-wash smooth is cheap looking - found in any apartment or rental home. And, well, I'm in year 5 of removing all panel from my house room by room and replacing with drywall with heavy texture - so that tells how 'junky' I consider that to be.

In Fremont, Ca where some of my family lives the knock-down or other related textures are in style and found everywhere even in our Grandmom's house which is "high end." . . . So I consider it to be quite in style, just not very (or is very) prevalent depending on where you're located and what market you're in.

If you really want to fit in with the upswing in style times you can look at various houses that are for sale in your area and see what imrovements and changes people have made. What's 'in' in one area might be 'old' in another - or so new in yet another area that most people haven't even seen it (like heavy-texture is in Arkansas)


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