Have you ever thought to yourself, “What type of drywall texture is that?” while looking at a wall or ceiling? Most likely not, unless you work as a drywall finisher. However, you might be shocked to learn how many distinct texture options there are if you take the time to observe the many types of drywall options used in various construction scenarios.
Wall Textures and Ceiling Textures
Some types of drywall texture should only be applied to ceilings, while others should only be applied to walls. The following guidelines are based on generally recognized best practices for interior design, therefore it’s a good idea to follow them.
Guidelines for the appropriate applications of specific texture types are provided in the list below. It is possible to use some drywall textures on both walls and ceilings, whereas other drywall textures are designated as wall textures. There are reasons provided for each type, including both application techniques and principles of aesthetic design.
Textures of Drywall Ceilings
Popcorn Texture, Spray Acoustical Ceiling Texture
Popcorn Ceiling Texture, also known as Spray Acoustical Texture, is meant to be used exclusively as a ceiling texture. Aesthetic and maintenance reasons account for the reason. Styrofoam balls that are knocked off when rubbed across make up the Popcorn Texture. Popcorn Texture would readily scratch and create a mess if it were applied to walls.
Texture of Rosebud Ceiling
Use of Rosebud Texture is limited to ceilings only. This is due to both the application method and cosmetic factors. Applying any type of stomp texture to a vertical surface is quite difficult. The Rosebud Texture’s pointy tips would droop and spill onto the area below if you attempted to apply it to walls. When applied to walls, even a very light Rosebud Texture would not look as consistent as it does on ceilings.
Crows Foot Stomp Texture on Ceiling
Use the Crows Foot Stomp Texture only on ceilings. This type of texture is applied using a stomp brush that creates a precise pattern in wet texture mud, much as Rosebud Texture. For the same reason that Rosebud Texture should only be used as a ceiling texture, apply to Crows Foot Stomp Texture.
Texture of Stomp Knockdown Ceiling
Use of the Stomp Knockdown Texture is limited to ceilings only. on apply stomp textures on vertical surfaces, all types of stomp textures are quite difficult. Stomp Knockdown would look okay on walls because it has a lower completed profile than the standard Crows Foot Stomp Texture or Rosebud Stomp Texture. However, it would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to use this technique to achieve an equal texture on a vertical surface.
Swirl Texture on Ceiling
It is preferable to apply Swirl Texture just on ceilings. While this texture is rarely seen on vertical surfaces, it is perhaps the most appropriate of the ceiling textures for walls as well. From an application standpoint, it may be categorized with wall textures because there is nothing about the technique that makes it difficult to apply on walls. Because it is rarely utilized on vertical surfaces, we see it as a ceiling-only texture.
Joint Compound vs. Texture Mud
Vertical surface drywall texture
Roller Paint for Wall Texture
Use of Paint Roller Drywall Texture is limited to vertical surfaces only. To apply roller texture, a simple technique is employed. Although there is nothing in the application technique that forbids its usage on ceilings, doing so is not a good idea purely for aesthetic reasons. Oftentimes, a Rosebud or Crows Foot Stomp texture is applied to the ceiling after a Paint Roller texture has been applied to the walls. You might as well stomp out a lovely pattern in the texture before it dries if you go to the trouble of rolling this texture across the ceiling.
Textures for drywall that look good on both walls and ceilings
Skip Trowel Texture
Skip Trowel is a texture that can be applied to walls or ceilings. Using a long, curved drywall knife, it is applied. It looks good on both horizontal and vertical surfaces thanks to its homogeneous, low-profile appearance.
Texture of Santa Fe
Santa Fe Texture is a versatile texture that may be applied to walls or ceilings. Using a long, curved drywall knife, it is applied using similar techniques as Skip Trowel. It seems good on both horizontal and vertical surfaces thanks to its homogeneous, low profile appearance. It is a more subdued texture than most others since its smooth exterior surface exposes more of the drywall underneath than Skip Trowel.
Texture of Hawk and Trowel
Both a wall texture and a ceiling texture may be created with Hawk and Trowel. The name comes from the fact that it is applied equally on both vertical and horizontal surfaces using a hawk and trowel. It can provide a more rustic look to a space because it is typically thicker than other texture types. Whether or not to use Hawk and Trowel Texture depends more on personal preference than application and upkeep since some individuals may not enjoy its more dramatic appearance.
Spray Splatter Texture of Knockdown
You can apply Splatter Knockdown Texture, sometimes known as just Knockdown Texture, to walls as well as ceilings. A huge texture sprayer is used in the application method, and the high spots are removed by wiping the texture with a long knockdown knife. This leaves a low profile, fascinating pattern of flattened globules dispersed equally. The application technique on vertical and horizontal surfaces is essentially the same. It looks good on walls and ceilings in terms of aesthetics.
Texture of Orange Peel
You may apply Orange Peel Texture to ceilings as well as walls. Except for the globule size and lack of a knockdown stage, the techniques needed to apply Orange Peel Texture are similar to those used for Spatter Knockdown Texture.
More information regarding the ideal texture types for ceilings and walls.
Finish for a Smooth Wall
Although level five Smooth Wall is a popular choice for finishing drywall walls and ceilings, it is not officially classified as a type of drywall texture. Please read this post to learn more information on how to create smooth walls. The process of rolling skim drywall surfaces is covered in detail.
Different levels of finished drywall are referred to by a system used by the drywall industry. The various finish levels specify the steps that need to be taken in order to finish drywall. Generally, smooth walls call for a level five finish.
Due to the numerous techniques and tools employed, matching drywall texture is difficult. For matching drywall texture, follow these five tips. You can make sure that the texture of your drywall blends in perfectly with the surrounding drywall texture by using these tips. Additionally, a matching knockdown texture tip is provided.
Textures arranged according to application method
By application method, there are two categories into which drywall texture styles can be divided. Hand textures are referred to as textures that are applied manually using simple hand tools. Spray drywall textures are referred to as drywall textures that need to be applied with a texture sprayer.
Texture mud is pumped through a long hose and a specialized nozzle to be sprayed by large texture sprayers. To create distinctive splatter patterns, texture sprayers sometimes incorporate compressed air into the spray nozzle, which mixes with texture mud.
Manual Textures of Drywall
It would be impossible to list all of the various types of hand drywall textures available. Various textures are possible even when tradesmen employ similar techniques because of their different skills. Certain hand textures are applied using a trowel and hawk or a pan and knife. Certain drywall textures create patterns in the mud by using specialized stomp brushes.
Sometimes drywall mud is sprayed all over the surface with a powerful paint sprayer or paint roller. The mud is then utilized to create designs with brushes, blades, or rollers. Even though a sprayer is used for application, these types of textures are also regarded as hand textures. Depending on the techniques or skill level, hand drywall textures can differ significantly. Two distinct tradesmen can create drywall texture styles that are remarkably diverse, even when they use similar techniques.
The list of hand-created drywall textures that follows contains links to articles that provide further information on particular types of drywall textures that are created with basic hand tools. In addition to tips on how to apply them, the articles that are linked below also include images of many types of drywall texture.
- Skip Trowel Texture
- Texture of Hawk and Trowel
- Texture Santa Fe Texture
- Skip Double
- Swirl Texture on Drywall
- The Crows’ Foot Stomp
- Texture of Rosebuds
- Texture of Stomp Knockdown
- Smooth Wall
- Sprayed Textures on Drywall
Spray textures are created utilizing devices with strong pumps that feed drywall mud via lengthy hoses with specific nozzles to create various types of texture. Because the style of texture is determined by the sprayer rather than by hand tools, these types of texture are known as spray textures.
The list of spray textures that follows contains links to articles that provide further information on particular types of drywall textures created with texture sprayers. In addition to tips on how to apply them, the articles that are linked below also include images of many types of drywall texture.
- Texture of Splatter Knockdown
- Texture of Orange Peel
- Popcorn Texture
There are numerous brands, sizes, and styles of drywall texture sprayers. Typically, they are made up of an air compressor to combine air with the material, hoses, a specialized nozzle, and a hopper that retains the texture material. They also typically have a powerful pump to transfer the material. Electric, gas, or air-powered texture sprayers are available.
In smaller machines, the texture pump could be an electric motor-driven rotary or other style pump, or it could be a diaphragm pump powered by compressed air. Larger spray rigs use diesel or gas engines to run the air compressor and the texture material pump. More material may be pumped over longer distances by the internal combustion engines on larger texture rigs, resulting in more consistent drywall textures.
A lengthy hose is used to pump texture mud to a gun that is fired by hand triggers. Just before texture mud is sprayed onto the drywall surface, it is mixed with compressed air using a texture gun. The type of texture created is determined by the type of material used, the size and type of nozzle on the texture gun, and the volume of compressed air added to the mud.
Styles of Drywall Texture Vary with Time
The options available for various types of drywall texture options depend a lot on the level of expertise of local drywall finishers as well as what is popular at a given time. The types and styles of drywall textures employed in a city or region tend to change gradually over time, much like other choices in construction design.
For instance, throughout a large portion of the southern, central, and western United States during the 1970s, spray acoustical texture, often known as popcorn texture, was quite popular on ceilings. Stomp Swirl Texture and Rosebud Texture, on the other hand, were more prevalent in the northeast. In the northeast and midwest, vertical surfaces would be Smooth Wall and ceilings would be trampled textures.
Popcorn ceilings became outdated in most parts of the nation as time went on. Orange Peel Texture has grown in popularity in the United States’ south, central, and west. It had been applied to walls, but it was also being used to ceilings.
Spray Knockdown Texture gained popularity in the late 1980s and early 1990s, particularly in the Southwest. Given that they are both applied with similar tools and techniques, this was a logical step up from Orange Peel. Texture Sprayers are needed for both Orange Peel Texture and Spray Knockdown Texture. The type of spray nozzle used and the last knockdown phase, which flattens out the tiny globules, are the primary distinctions between Orange Peel texture and Spray Knockdown.
Spray Knockdown Texture was starting to look “old-fashioned” in many parts of the Southwest by the late 1990s. Hand textures such as Hawk and Trowel Texture and Skip Trowel Texture became popular among home builders. Santa Fe Texture gained popularity around the turn of the century and continued to do so into the early 2000s.
Because Santa Fe Texture is applied using techniques similar to those of Skip Trowel and Hawk and Trowel, it is a logical evolution from them. Santa Fe Texture is smoother than Hawk and Trowel, but it covers a larger area of the drywall paper surface than Skip Trowel. Between 70 and 90 percent of the surface is covered with what is also thought of as a Skip Trowel Texture.
The most popular type of drywall texture finish in the northeast of the United States is level five smooth wall finish. Plaster walls and ceilings were common in northeastern residences built in the eighteen hundreds. Traditionally, smooth surfaces were used to construct plaster ceilings and walls.
Smooth wall finish remained the norm in this area even after drywall started to replace plaster as the industry standard. There are certain parts of the northeast with textured ceilings. In situations such as these, the most popular types of ceiling textures are Rosebud, Swirl, and Stomp Knockdown.
In the Midwest, an intriguing development regarding drywall texture types occurred about 2010. Splatter Knockdown Texture was used a lot in the 1980s and 1990s in the south and southwest of the United States, but it was almost nonexistent in the northern United States, especially the Midwest. In the Southwest, it had already lost popularity by 2010. However, for whatever reason, the Midwest started to want it more and more frequently at that time because to its growing popularity.
Trends evolve with time. Though maybe not to the same extent, shifting design trends also have an impact on drywall texture, just as they do on furniture, colors, flooring, and other finishes.
tag: # Various Drywall Texture Types
