How do you repair bumpy walls?

Question

How do you repair the bumpy walls that are  in so many homes in Nevada?

See pic below

Paul · Answer

Remove o,do paint.Get surface clean and roughned ,using wire brush,sandpaper.Surface should be dust free.Use a product like Homax  wall texture (about $20. a can) available at hardware,paint stores etc.Follow directions, use cardboard or similar disposable testing surface to get texture correct.After drying thoroughly  paint with appropriate  paint.Easy fix with a little practice.

Paul · Answer

Old paint (correction).

MN Mom · Answer

Home improvement stores carry wall texture spray in cans. It's called 'orange peel' texture. Once you repair / replace  it you can paint

William · Answer

Matching a drywall pattern perfectly is nearly impossible. A building contractor I know says the only way to make it perfectly consistent is to do the whole wall over (and sometimes the room).

OK, starting with the premise that it's unlikely you can make a perfect match, I'll explain what I do. I will try to explain how to match the texture on a patched area. I say try to explain because it's largely a skill you learn by getting your hands in the fingerpaint.  When I say it's a skill, I don't mean a talent.  You have talents.  You learn skills, and this one is easily learned with a little trying.  You will probably never get good at it.  I'm still not good at it, and I've done it many times, yet you probably couldn't find the patches I made vs the booboos the builder/painter made. There's no secret way to match texture -- matching is done by experimenting with different approaches.

I use ordinary drywall joint compound/mud (not spackling) thinned to a consistency a little thicker than heavy cream -- sort of like sour cream.  I suggest starting with the pre-made compound you get at the paint store -- it's easier than mixing the powder yourself.

I use water spray bottle to wet the wall before I begin so the mud-glop will adhere better.  Now the experimenting begins.

I usually start with half of a cellulose kitchen sponge.  Dampen the sponge and smear some of the glop on one side.  Then press it against the wall and pull it away in a rolling motion. If the original stipple was put on with a roller, the pattern was formed as the roller pulled away from the wall pulling/lifting the glop into irregular peaked ridges.  One way to kind of simulate this is to hold the middle of the sponge with the thumb of one hand while pulling the top away from the wall and then slowly releasing the middle as you move away from the wall.  Another way is to use a small (3-4' wide) roller.  A roller is usually the best way with an area  larger than 1 foot, but is usually only workable if the area is larger than the roller is wide.

The glop redissolves when wet, so to do it over just use a wet sponge to gently rub/'sand' it off.  If it's dry, start by spraying it with water, and giving this a few moments to soak in.  Once you've removed the glop, don't scrub the gray wallboard paper backing or you'll disrupt the paper.  You can keep wiping it off and trying again-and-again this way until you're satisfied with the results, or you're ready to say, 'good enough.'

Pulling the sponge away in different ways, and using different consistencies (wetnesses) of glop produce different results. You can try daubing a small area with some glop on your thumb -- pull your thumb straight out to pull peaks/ripples.   Some people have success smearing the glop on the wall (with or without the sponge) and daubing/blotting it with a piece of wadded up paper.  Different weights and types of paper (brown paper bag to Kleenex), wet and dry all give different results.  Also, try a cloth, wet and dry.  If the peaks are too sharp, misting them with water or touching them gently with a wet sponge may melt them to a softer look. Keep trying different things until you get a look that blends reasonably well with the surrounding area.  It will never look perfect. Don't count on the texture matching better when it's dry and painted. You can usually tell immediately how your efforts will look, but the glop shrinks as it dries, so it will be a little smaller, and painting it will the soften the peaks slightly.

Nancy · Answer

Get stucco PLASTER patch.  Smooth on  a good skim coat.  Let it dry and then add another coat.  I did this in a basement bathroom to camouflage  a terrible concrete wall and an existing popcorn ceiling.    I used a textured roller on the final coat.  It looks pretty good after a finish coat of paint.  This takes a little bit of ingenuity and a lot of patience to match any existing bumpy, popcorn or textured wall.  I used to be a cake decorator and used my skill to plaster and finish walls quite well.  The techniques are similar but the projects are larger.

Beverly · Answer

We used a textured caulking on the cracks in our AZ home.  It's great for small fixes.  Purchased from Home Depot or Lowes in large tube.  I applied to crack & imitated the texture using my finger.  Then paint.  For larger areas above tips are better.

Jamo Smith · Answer

Clean up and remove what may be loose. Prime, using an acrylic primer. Then use ROLATEX, available where paint is sold. Mix rolatex with paint and roll it on. It can replicate, but not duplicate. If you paint all the walls, it should be acceptable

Pam Walker · Answer

Chip off a VERY small piece & take it to Lowe's for their ''colormatch'' process & you can match your old paint color.  Take some Joint Compound (used in drywall) & buy you a SMALL cake ''offset'' spatula used for decorating cakes with & gently spread it on thinly at first until you get the hang of it, keeping inside the damaged area.  When neatly filled & smoothed & looks like a corner again,  let it dry several hours till it's not sticky to the touch anymore.  Then, with a fork, press light indentations into the drywall puddy overlapping each fork prick to create that popcorn effect to match the existing stucco pattern on the rest of the wall.  Let it dry & cure for up to 2 days (& nights).  When dried completely, use some primer with a paintbrush just to where the new part meets the older paint.  You will only need a small can of paint for this repair.  Once the primer dries, just paint over it & blend in the edges & it should look good as new.  Only you will be able to tell it was ever damaged if you don't tell anybody lol.  Hope this helps.  :)

Betsy Boeve · Answer

I had 'orange peel' stucco once and I hated it enough that I just covered it with pre-primed ship lap or bead board.

Dcsharpe · Answer

Homex I think it's called. It's in a spray can at lowes in the paint section. Lots of orange color on the can when you are looking. I have that orange peel kind of textured walls and once I found this stuff, my spackle patches no longer show on new paint jobs. 2 coats of wall paint, first acts like a primer, second finishes.

Johnavallance82 · Answer

Hello Dan,

Repair and tidy them up with sanding or by stippling on a plaster or filler mix that has texture! Maybe added wood chips??

How do you repair bumpy walls?

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