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Smoothing Corner Edge To Feather Drywall Mud For Smooth Wall Texture, Remodelaholic
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How to Skim Coat Smooth Wall Texture Over Textured Walls

Want modern smooth wall texture in your home? Follow this DIY tutorial to learn how to skim coat a textured wall to get a beautiful smooth finish and get rid of that ugly bumpy wall texture! Step by step instructions from Remodelaholic.com

Equipment

  • Wash rags and Towels
  • Drop cloths and/or sheet plastic
  • Empty 5-gallon buckets for water to thin compound and wash tools
  • Drill and mixing paddle attachment for drill
  • Drywall Mud Pan
  • 8” Drywall Joint Knife
  • 10” Drywall Joint Knife
  • 12” Drywall Joint Knife
  • Drywall Inside Corner Tool
  • Drywall Sandpaper Block
  • Shop Vacuum and Vacuum Sander Attachment
  • Shop light or box light (optional)
  • Particulate dust mask and safety glasses

Ingredients

  • 2 4.5 gallon buckets All Purpose Joint Compound
  • 2 4.5 gallon buckets Topping Joint Compound (with the light blue lid)

Instructions

Before the Skim Coat: Preparing Walls for Smooth Texture

  • As with any painting or finishing project, preparation is so important.
  • Begin by covering your flooring with drop cloths or plastic. This will get messy!
  • If there are any major dents that require repair, fix those first using spackle or joint compound.
  • Minor surface imperfections, scratches and dents (less than ~1/4" deep) will be easily covered by the skim coating, but that hole where your couch leg nearly punctured the drywall (oops!) would be better filled before beginning.
  • Then, follow these 3 steps to prepare walls for a smooth texture:
  • Remove switch and outlet covers and any hardware from curtains or blinds, decor, etc.
  • Wash the wall with a small amount of mild detergent added to a bucket of water.
  • Dry the wall thoroughly with old towels or rags, making sure they are as lint-free as possible.

Layer 1: Rough Skim Coat

  • This first thin layer of joint compound is a rough coat, meant to cover all of the existing wall texture.
  • Be sure to stir the joint compound well before beginning so the texture and consistency is uniform throughout! I recommend using a mixing paddle attachment for a drill.
  • Apply a thin coat of all-purpose joint compound to the entire wall using a wide drywall knife (10" or 12").
  • You want this first coat of mud mixture to fill in the "pockets" of the previous texture. Don't stress too much about this layer being perfectly smooth. Just cover the wall texture and then come back for the corners later (see below).
  • Allow the mud to dry 8-10 hours (following the manufacturer instructions).

The Trick to Touch Up Corners

  • After the first layer of joint compound has dried, the corners will need some work, as you can see in the video.
  • Apply a thin layer of mud to the corners, and use the corner tool to smooth it out.
  • Then, use a wide drywall knife to feather out the edge of this fresh mud, applying slight pressure to the edge *away* from the fresh mud to level it out without creating a line in the mud.

Layer 2: Skim Coat to Fill Holes

  • This second layer of drywall mud is another skim coat using the all-purpose joint compound.
  • Lightly sand the wall using either a hand sanding block or, like I did, a damp sponge to keep the dust down.
  • Pay special attention to covering any holes from the first layer. Touch up corners as needed on this layer as well.

Layer 3: Final Smooth Skim Coat

  • This final skim coat is where the magic starts to happen!
  • Depending on your previous walls, you may need more layers of the all-purpose joint compound before you're ready for the final smooth skim coat.
  • If you see bubbles like this, don't despair!
  • This happens sometimes on walls like ours that have been painted many times over the last 50+ years. If bubbles or holes like this appear on your walls, skim coat with additional layer(s) of drywall mud.
  • Once your foundation layers of joint compound are dry and bubble-free, you're ready to finish with the final smooth coat.
  • Lightly sand the walls again -- I used the vacuum sander for a quick light sanding job.
  • Apply a thin smooth layer of top coat joint compound using a large plaster knife. You may want to add some water to get a texture you're happy working with.
  • Allow to dry.

Finish Sanding for a Smooth Wall Texture

  • This is the messiest but also most magical step to smoothing textured walls.
  • Since you've done an awesome job smoothing out the walls already, the last step is to lightly sand the walls to finish.
  • I highly recommend using a vacuum sander attachment to keep the dust down for the initial sanding.
  • Then, use a spongy sanding block to hand sand and smooth out the last of the texture remaining on the walls. Pay attention to any imperfections or scratches and smooth those out.
  • Use a shop box light at the bottom of the wall and from various angles to help see any uneven spots of texture.

How to Paint a Smooth Textured Wall

  • We'll be painting this wall with a layer of drywall paint to act as a primer for the drywall mud. This helps seals the joint compound so that the regular wall paint will go over the wall smoothly without soaking in and allow it so stick better and have better color uniformity.

What about the ceiling?

  • You can also skim-coat the ceiling in the same process as skim coating the walls, if you want. We installed a whitewashed pine plank ceiling and we love it!

Video

Notes

Be sure to wear proper safety gear when sanding drywall mud! A particulate respirator dust mask at a minimum, and safety glasses are helpful as well. I also recommend using plastic sheeting to block off the doorway to contain the dust to the room you're working in.
 
*This amount of joint compound covered our walls which were 15' by 12' at 8' tall. A total of about 1395 sqft of wall surface without the door and windows.
Note: Some prefer to apply the drywall compound with thick-nap paint roller and then use the knife to smooth it. I prefer just using the drywall knife to apply.
An important note about your drywall joint knife: The blade of a drywall knife (aka plaster knife) is slightly curved to help apply plaster or mud evenly without leaving lines along the right and left edges of the blade. As you apply the mud with the knife, be sure to keep that curved edge against the wall.