Drywall Finishing

Knockdown

Knockdown texture is one of the most popular types of textures across the southern United States. Drywall trends have moved away from spray or splatter knockdown textures in favor of hand textures such as santa-fe and skip trowel or even hawk and trowel textures. Recently the midwest has seen a surge in the popularity of knockdown rather than smooth wall application.

Orange Peel

Orange peel texture is very similar to Spray/splatter knockdown. Texture mud is sprayed through a long hose to the spray nozzle. Running parallel to the mud hose is a high pressure air line. In the spray nozzle the air and mud meet and as the mud is pumped from the end of the nozzle, the compressed air splatters it into thousands of small dropplets of drywall mud. These droplets of drywall mud land on the surface creating a texture resembling the peel of an orange, thus the name.

Smooth

Though smooth wall is not technically considered a type of drywall texture, it is another option for finishing drywall walls. A smooth or level five finish refers to drywall that has been taped, first and second coated, and sanded lightly to remove tool marks before applying a thin skim coat to the entire surface including the seams and field. The skim coat is sanded lightly and checked with a halogen light to look for any imperfections. The surface is coated with a high quality high solids drywall primer before painting.

Sand Spray

A sand spray texture is an aggregated powder formulation that mixes easily with water, providing a sand-finish effect on gypsum panel surfaces. It dries to a white finish that can be left unpainted on noncontact ceiling surfaces.

Specialty (ex: skip trowel)

The term Skip Trowel has been used generally to refer to various hand drywall textures. A true skip trowel texture is applied with a special curved knife that is 18 inches wide. The mud is applied very thin and the angle of the knife to the drywall surface causes the mud to skip accross the surface leaving behind the texture. A true skip trowel texture is identified by the small round circles of mud spread across the smooth surface below.