# Knockdown texture easy?



## singlemama (Apr 30, 2012)

Hi, I am a single mom and bought my first home a year and a half ago. My dad has helped a lot with things I needed fixed but he wants nothing to do with drywall work. My home has ugly popcorn ceilings in every room. Last week I had the ceiling tested for asbestos and it was negative. So, this past weekend I scraped off the popcorn ceiling in the front of my house. I still need to do hallway and bedrooms but I think this will be easier since I don't have vaulted ceilings in the bedrooms like I do in the front of the house.

I think I did a good job and I think the drywall is in good shape. I don't have a lot of money so I would like to do a knockdown texture myself. I've googled it and watched youtube videos on it and I think I could do it. Is it really as easy as it looks? I called HD and I can rent a hopper for $72 a day. My home is 1136 sq ft. Could I spray my whole house in a day by myself? Do I prime and paint the ceiling before texture or after? I am finding a lot of different answers on this. I am really not used to physical labor so is the texturing really physically demanding? I appreciate any help on this. Thanks!


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## joecaption (Nov 30, 2011)

Far better to just skim coat it and get it flat, prime and paint.
Look around on this and any DIY web site and see the hundreds of peope asking how to get texture off of a ceiling or how to do repairs on a textued wall and ceiling.
Almost no one is asking how to texture it.
And no knock down is not easy to do and I would strongly suggest you get a pro to do it for you if you decide to go that way.


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## 95025 (Nov 14, 2010)

singlemama said:


> Hi, I am a single mom and bought my first home a year and a half ago. My dad has helped a lot with things I needed fixed but he wants nothing to do with drywall work. My home has ugly popcorn ceilings in every room. Last week I had the ceiling tested for asbestos and it was negative. So, this past weekend I scraped off the popcorn ceiling in the front of my house. I still need to do hallway and bedrooms but I think this will be easier since I don't have vaulted ceilings in the bedrooms like I do in the front of the house.
> 
> I think I did a good job and I think the drywall is in good shape. I don't have a lot of money so I would like to do a knockdown texture myself. I've googled it and watched youtube videos on it and I think I could do it. Is it really as easy as it looks? I called HD and I can rent a hopper for $72 a day. My home is 1136 sq ft. Could I spray my whole house in a day by myself? Do I prime and paint the ceiling before texture or after? I am finding a lot of different answers on this. I am really not used to physical labor so is the texturing really physically demanding? I appreciate any help on this. Thanks!


Welcome to the forum! That popcorn ceiling texture is really charming, isn't it? :no:

I'm not sure what, specifically you're asking. Are you wanting to know what to do with the ceilings? Just ceilings, not walls? Knock-down texture is more common on walls than ceilings.

I'll disagree with Joe about how difficult knockdown is. It's not terribly hard to do. It's hard work, but if you mix your mud right & knife it at the appropriate time, it's not horribly complicated. The point of knockdown is to create an irregular surface, so some minor errors usually don't stick out too badly. If you leave a little knife line, you can sand it down before priming.

As far as skim-coating goes, unless you're really good at mudding, you need to either hire a pro, or go a different route.


I think the operative questions are, how perfect do you want this to be, and how much can you spend to get it done?

If you're on an extremely tight budget, you might want to consider mixing some mud in the primer, using a high-nap roller, and giving the ceiling a subtle texture that way. You can also mix some silica sand to the primer to give it a little texture.


This is probably going to be a bit tough to do, in that ceilings are usually finished before walls. But you can do it. Good luck!


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## singlemama (Apr 30, 2012)

I really have no clue what I am doing and I think I got ahead of myself with removing the popcorn. But its done now and it was really ugly and dirty. It was gross looking. I have knockdown texture on my kitchen and bathroom ceilings so I figured that's what I should have on the rest of the house. I am on a really tight budget but I thought I could do it myself. I just don't have $1000 to pay someone to do it. My friend at work is going to talk to her husband to see if he can help me cause he does this type of work. I think the mud mixed with primer sounds like a good idea.

How long can the drywall remain bare till I figure out what to do? I've tried to google it but haven't found an answer. Probably not wording it correctly. I don't always have the best thought out ideas and this was one of them!


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## 95025 (Nov 14, 2010)

singlemama said:


> I really have no clue what I am doing and I think I got ahead of myself with removing the popcorn. But its done now and it was really ugly and dirty. It was gross looking. I have knockdown texture on my kitchen and bathroom ceilings so I figured that's what I should have on the rest of the house. I am on a really tight budget but I thought I could do it myself. I just don't have $1000 to pay someone to do it. My friend at work is going to talk to her husband to see if he can help me cause he does this type of work. I think the mud mixed with primer sounds like a good idea.
> 
> *How long can the drywall remain bare till I figure out what to do? I've tried to google it but haven't found an answer. Probably not wording it correctly. I don't always have the best thought out ideas and this was one of them!*


There's not really a time issue with this.

I think you're very much on the right track getting some help from somebody who knows what he/she is doing. We've all gotta start somewhere, and having some experienced help can be priceless.


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## singlemama (Apr 30, 2012)

I was inspecting the ceiling last night and it doesn't look as good as I thought. There are some areas that have a thin layer of the popcorn left. Can I scrape this dry? And a few areas where the paper tore. Do I cut the paper and use the mud on this area? And if I just leave the ceiling flat then I sand it and that's it?


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## bjbatlanta (Jul 16, 2008)

You need to sand the ceilings and skim all joints and nails/screws if you want a smooth finish. Then sand again and paint. Texture skips the skim coat because the texture covers the "imperfect" joints. It saves the builder money because the texture is a "finished" product and is not (normally) painted.


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## havalife (Mar 23, 2011)

Knockdown is a little forgiving as far as how smooth the drywall needs to be, but you need to have the surface flat and smooth.
If you are wanting to do the texture yourself I would think you need the rental for more then 1 day, it will take you some time to figure everthing out. You will be using mucles you never knew you had and the hopper gets real heavy when you are doing a ceiling. 
I would suggest you hire a pro to do the texture you will be glad you did. If you do a good job floating the drywall and have everything ready a pro should be in and out in 1/2 a day.
Last if you do it yourself being you have never done it before you will not know what you are looking at when you finish the knockdown, but after you paint the ceiling and turn the lights on at night you may be very disappointed.

One thing to think of is if you have a compressor and hose a hopper is only $100 to buy then you can take your time and do 1 room at a time.


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## chrisn (Dec 23, 2007)

bjbatlanta said:


> You need to sand the ceilings and skim all joints and nails/screws if you want a smooth finish. Then sand again and paint. Texture skips the skim coat because the texture covers the "imperfect" joints. It saves the builder money because the texture is a "finished" product and is not (normally) painted.


 
might want to prime it first:yes:


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## Sir MixAlot (Apr 4, 2008)

chrisn said:


> might want to prime it first:yes:


Yep and I alway's like to use a stain blocking primer as an insurance policy for nice white ceiling when the job is completed. :thumbsup:

*Here's my popcorn removal video*


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## singlemama (Apr 30, 2012)

Its so confusing some people say prime and paint first and others say after. I found someone to do the texture for me. I just need to get the ceiling ready for the texture. So I just start mudding all the areas I hit the paper and then sand it?


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## Sir MixAlot (Apr 4, 2008)

singlemama said:


> Its so confusing some people say prime and paint first and others say after. I found someone to do the texture for me. I just need to get the ceiling ready for the texture. So I just start mudding all the areas I hit the paper and then sand it?


Yep. :thumbsup:


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## JNAPS (May 10, 2012)

*Good Luck!*

I had a company come in and do this back in 06. They removed all the popcorn and did the knockdown in one day. Six years later I have lots of cracks and places where it's peeling off. I have vaulted ceilings in the living room and kitchen and that's where it's the worst. The kitchen has an area that's like 6'X6' that I can see is all cracking. I have a 3 bed 2 bath house @ 1260sq and only 2 beds and a bath are still good. The rest needs lots of repairs.. It looked much nicer than that fugly popcorn when it was just finished, not so much now.. Even the pro's don't get it right. Good luck..


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## Sir MixAlot (Apr 4, 2008)

JNAPS said:


> I had a company come in and do this back in 06. They removed all the popcorn and did the knockdown in one day. Six years later I have lots of cracks and places where it's peeling off. I have vaulted ceilings in the living room and kitchen and that's where it's the worst. The kitchen has an area that's like 6'X6' that I can see is all cracking. I have a 3 bed 2 bath house @ 1260sq and only 2 beds and a bath are still good. The rest needs lots of repairs.. It looked much nicer than that fugly popcorn when it was just finished, not so much now.. Even the pro's don't get it right. Good luck..


All in one day? That could be a problem. :yes:
Every step needs the proper drying time in order for it not to fail.
The knockdown should dry for 24 hours before any priming.
Was it primed?
What kind of primer?
What kind of paint?


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## havalife (Mar 23, 2011)

Glad you found someone to texture for you. As far as your question about prime and paint, after you smooth all the ceilings being it is not new drywall I would not prime before drywall texture. After the knockdown, make sure they (or you) do a light sand and scribe the corners, that will smooth the texture. After that you will probably be rolling the paint on so a primer coat would be up to you and your pocket book. I always primer my jobs before I paint but that is how I bid them.


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## JNAPS (May 10, 2012)

Sir MixAlot said:


> All in one day? That could be a problem. :yes:
> Every step needs the proper drying time in order for it not to fail.
> The knockdown should dry for 24 hours before any priming.
> Was it primed?
> ...


They just came in and took all the popcorn off and then did the knockdown. I don't know what they did to prep it. It wasn't painted for over a week after, so it had plenty of time to dry..


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## Sir MixAlot (Apr 4, 2008)

JNAPS said:


> I had a company come in and do this back in 06. They removed all the popcorn and did the knockdown in one day. Six years later I have lots of cracks and places where it's peeling off. I have vaulted ceilings in the living room and kitchen and that's where it's the worst. *The kitchen has an area that's like 6'X6' that I can see is all cracking*. I have a 3 bed 2 bath house @ 1260sq and only 2 beds and a bath are still good. The rest needs lots of repairs.. It looked much nicer than that fugly popcorn when it was just finished, not so much now.. Even the pro's don't get it right. Good luck..


That's odd. When the popcorn was removed, did they get all of the popcorn off all the way down to the raw drywall? 



JNAPS said:


> They just came in and took all the popcorn off and then did the knockdown. I don't know what they did to prep it. It wasn't painted for over a week after, so it had plenty of time to dry..


It doesn't sound like it was primed before you painted it. Not priming could be an issue. :yes:


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## JNAPS (May 10, 2012)

Sir MixAlot said:


> That's odd. When the popcorn was removed, did they get all of the popcorn off all the way down to the raw drywall?
> 
> 
> It doesn't sound like it was primed before you painted it. Not priming could be an issue. :yes:


In the areas where it's peeled off it looks like it's the raw drywall. I did get to look after they got all the popcorn off and the whole house looked like it was all off to me. As for the primer, I don't know. They came back and painted.. That's all I know. It was painted in a flat white. I didn't want any kind of gloss on the ceiling.


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## JNAPS (May 10, 2012)

Sir MixAlot said:


> That's odd. When the popcorn was removed, did they get all of the popcorn off all the way down to the raw drywall?
> 
> 
> It doesn't sound like it was primed before you painted it. Not priming could be an issue. :yes:


Also, I looked at your website and the job they did looks more like what you call "Skip Trowel" They called that knockdown. It's really a mixture of both.. It looks really nice where it's not screwed up.. What kind of warranty do you give on a job like that??


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## havalife (Mar 23, 2011)

singlemama said:


> Its so confusing some people say prime and paint first and others say after. I found someone to do the texture for me. I just need to get the ceiling ready for the texture. So I just start mudding all the areas I hit the paper and then sand it?


So how are YOU doing? Don't worry about the hijack thread people:laughing:


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## JNAPS (May 10, 2012)

havalife said:


> So how are YOU doing?* Don't worry about the hijack thread people*:laughing:


Sorry, I'm not allowed on planes either.. :no:


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## singlemama (Apr 30, 2012)

havalife said:


> So how are YOU doing? Don't worry about the hijack thread people:laughing:


I am still working on sanding it and patching. On the areas where there is a light layer of popcorn, can I wet it a little to scrape down to the drywall or should I sand it? 

My friend said she sprayed her ceilings, left it on overnight and then knocked it down. Everything I read says to knock it down after 15 minutes or so. Which is right? 

Do I prime the ceiling before the guy sprays or prime and paint after? 

Should I remove the trim around my skylights and remove popcorn from under there or leave it? 

I am waiting for someone to take down my ceiling fans so I can prep that area. Ugh this ceiling area is huge.


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