[Slickit]

Hello everyone i am new here but i have a old house that i would like to move into asap but there is certainly work to be done, so i was hoping i could get some advice and or tips on how to "fix" the ceiling and drywall in this house. It is a very small house at just over 900 sq.ft. so i am fairly confident that i can do most of the work myself in order to save money. The drywall and ceiling of this house is very heavily, thick, textured and stained from what i am told is smoke from candles. So i would like to know of your advice as how to perhaps "repair" the walls i currently have. But the texture is so thick it leaves a very displeasing look inside the house and i would simply like the tone it down a bit, so to speak. The texture on the walls isnt very hard to get off and i would like to simply take the texture down a bit and repaint it but im not sure how it will come out or how to make it look nice. I was using a belt sander on a very low just to get the "heavy" spots off, being careful not to sand down through the wall as i know it want hold paint very well at that point. But as you now know my perdiciment and what i would like to do i hope that some helpful insight would be soon forthcoming. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated and thank you.

 

[bjbatlanta]

You can try a Porter Cable drywall sander with 80 grit sandpaper. They can be rented (HD has them or a regular rental place). It will keep the dust down as it's attached to a vacuum system. Main problem is the paint on the walls will tend to clog the paper and it may require many sheets to accomplish your goal. Be sure not to grind down too far and go through the face paper on the rock. Only other alternative is demo and re-rock....

 

[wilburtxi]

consult a pro

yeah definitely do not simply paint over the textured walls/ceiling. that will not remedy the ghastly appearance you so desperately desire to get rid of. not certain on this but there may be some sort of short cuts involved.

i had a similar situation in the finished basement of a house that is purchased. i chose to hire some professionals to do this work cuz remodeling is not my area of expertise. The professional indianapolis painter that i went with seemed to be able to bypass a lot of the demo work that i thought would be necessary. might want to look into something like that with a local painter and see what they could do for you. again dont quote me on all of this, but the project seemed to be completed pretty quickly....a lot faster than i would ever be able to thats for sure.

 

[Gary in WA]

Are you sure it's wallboard? Not plaster? Pull a wall outlet cover and probe the side material. Does it look like one of these:
http://www.drywallschool.com/textures.htm Be safe, G