Adding pattern on the a room an unexpected focal point. If you are already covering a ceiling with drywall mud, it's just as easy to add texture as it is to leave the ceiling smooth. In fact, many textures require less work than creating a perfectly smooth plane. Some common ceiling patterns, such as knockdown ceiling texture, use drywall tools. Other textures use special brushes or tools to create specific patterns. Practice applying ceiling texture on a piece of scrap lumber so you can get the hang of the application process before you begin working on the ceiling.
Instructions
1. Remove everything from the room. Tape plastic sheeting over windows and doors into the room as well as electrical outlets and light fixtures. Cover the floor with drop cloths or old bed sheets.
2. Paint a layer of primer on the drywall. Allow it to dry. The primer covers any drywall tape and other marks on the ceiling and gives the ceiling compound a good surface to adhere to. Priming the ceiling also allows you to use ceiling compounds that you don't need to paint.
3. Measure joint compound or pre-mixed texture compound into a bucket. Add a small, measured amount of water. Stir the water in with a mud masher, which looks like a potato masher. Keep track of the amount of compound and water you use so you can match the consistency of subsequent batches. Avoid getting air bubbles in the mixture.
4. Add small-diameter quartz sand to the compound mixture if you want the ceiling pattern to have a grainy texture. Otherwise, omit this step.
5. Place the compound in the hopper of an acoustical spray gun. Attach the gun to an air compressor. Both of the items are available for rent.
6. Spray compound lightly over one small section of the wall by holding the nozzle about 30 to 36 inches away from the ceiling. A section should be about the size you can comfortably reach without moving. When you finish one section, move to another section until you cover the ceiling with texture. Allow this "orange" coat to dry for three to eight hours.
7. Mix a second batch of compound but change the consistency slightly. Adjust the settings on the spray gun to spray larger particles. Add this mixture to the hopper of the sprayer.
8. Spray a second coat of compound on the ceiling. Hold the nozzle approximately 48 inches away from the ceiling. Work in sections as you did previously until you cover the room. Go back over the ceiling with a third coat. Concentrate on evening out the spray patterns.
9. Run a 24-inch knockdown knife lightly over the ceiling to break off the sharp tips of the compound if you are creating a knockdown ceiling texture. Alternately, dab a drywall stomp or stipple brush randomly into the damp texture on the ceiling to create stomped or stippled texture.
10. Scrape any texture off the walls before the compound dries, using a putty knife.
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