How to knockdown texture a ceiling
- 1). using drywall knife, remove 2 large scoops out of the 5 gallon bucket of joint compound (mud) , this is necessary to make room for the water. 1 bucket should easily do a small to medium sized room.
- 2). using your razor knife, cut the top of the soda bottle off just above the label. then add 4 of these filled with water to the joint compound. the right water to compound ratio is necessary to get the needed consistency.
- 3). mix compound. if you don't own a drill, or a paddle to mix your mud with, and your budget doesn't allow you to purchase one, u can also find a mixer operated by good ol fashioned elbow grease at your local home improvement store. it should look like a large potato masher. ( elbow grease not included :P )mix mud until all water is mixed in, and it has a smooth silky texture.
- 4). dump mud into container large enough to fit your texture brush into...
note... texture brushes come in a variety of shapes and sizes, some are single, some double, some rectangular, some circular, i personally use a brush that i made myself that has 5 different brushes on it. - 5). Screw your broom handle into the end of brush... lightly dip brush into mud several times to get mud on it... you DO NOT want to get too much on there...it will only turn into big globs on your ceiling..you may want to practice first on a cardboard box, or other disposable item...after getting the right amount of mud on your brush, you may proceed to lightly tap brush onto ceiling, overlapping to get desired pattern. do not hit ceiling more than 2 times with brush without re dipping in mud.
- 6). the most important step of this procedure is the "wiping down" of the texture..if done too soon, your texture will smear together, and if allowed
to sit too long, it will ball up into little clumps and look awful. keep a close eye and test small spots.. as long as it isn't too hot in the space u are working, 5 minutes is a good wait time. start against the wall with your wipe down blade, and slowly, with light, but steady pressure start to drag blade along ceiling "knocking down" all your texture into a nice , even pattern. careful not to start anywhere but against the wall so u don't leave lines in the ceiling from your knife. - 7). repeat these steps until your entire ceiling is covered, and wiped down. you may then paint over with any normal paint roller after texture is dry... about 12-24 hours.
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