Ceiling texture

[Snags backup]

I'm sitting here in my son's living room , where I have just replaced part of the ceiling that got wet from an evap coil enclosure leak . Got the drywall up and mud/taped all around , now I gotta figure out how to match the texture . It looks like a sanded mud that's had a brush or something swirled on the surface . Kinda random , some swirls and some more like streaks . Applied about 1/16"-1/8" thick then swirled or whatever . I need some suggestions , I've never done this before ... -- Snag

[DerbyDad03]

This thread might help, although matching a previously applied pattern will probably be difficult for a novice - or even for a professional.

Different mixtures of paint (or mud?) and sand can be used as well as different tools, and most certainly different personal techniques. That thread includes the line:

"A quick google search reveals a number of pros complaining about how hard sand finishes are to match."

There are many artists out there, each very talented in their own style, but that doesn't mean that one artist could copy another artist's picture and have the 2 "match". There's too much personality involved in the final product. The same holds true for patterned ceilings.

It could be sanded mud or sanded paint - either pre-mixed or mixed on site.

As noted in that thread, it may take a lot of practice on some spare drywall to get the mixture and pattern correct. Good luck!

[gfretwell]

If you are doing the whole ceiling it is pretty much a freeform thing but if you are trying to match existing it is art forgery. It takes a real artist to do it. I would get a wall paper brush and a small bucket of mud, thin it and roll it on some scrap drywall and practice with the brush. When you think you have a feel for it, try the ceiling.

[clare]

2 other solutions - scrape the tex off the whole ceiling, or skim the whole ceiling with mud to smooth it out.

A third option is 2/8" drywall over the whole ceiling. It's actually a fairly common solution, believe it or not and less work than either of the other 2. Sometimes it is a combination of scrape and drywall, other times scrape and skim.

NASTY, any way you look at it. My daughter had her whole living room ceiling scraped and skimmed due to a leaky gasket in the bath-tub overflow vent above.

[DerbyDad03]

If it's a mud texture, scraping is usually fairly easy. If it's sanded paint, that can be a lot more difficult. Mud on plaster may pop right off. Mud on drywall might be a bit more work.

In addition, sand paint and textured mud is often used to hide a variety of sins, such as cracked plaster. Obviously, any exposed imperfections would need to be dealt with. such as with a skim coat.

How much work that is depends on a lot of things, such as molding around the edges, openings into other rooms, ceiling fixtures, etc. It *could* be less work but it's not a guarantee.

Tru dat!

I scraped my kitchen ceiling. What a mess.

[philo]

I'd put a layer of textured paint over the new area and not pay any attention to matching. Then when dry, re-texture-paint the whole ceiling.