What's on the ceiling?
It would take about a week and make a huge mess trying to sand it.
I'm just no good at skim coating and just end up making more of a mess, taking more time and end up sanding for days. Have a real pro come in and they will make it look easy.
I had to do it I'd be going over it with 1/4 drywall with screws and drywall adhesive so I needed less screws.
There's going to be people saying not to do it because it throws off the trim and the outlets, just not true.
May just need longer screws for the covers, outlets and switches get unscrewed (after powers off) pulled out and turned 90 deg. so the rock will set in place.
Trim would need to come off on the base and doors.
When installing around the doors you try and cut it so trim will just cover the edge of the drywall.
Trim gets installed tight to the jambs and any gap on the back side just gets caulked.
New drywall still has to be screwed to the studs, find the stud at the bottom and top of the wall of the wall and mark the ceiling and floor with blue painters tape.

 

Thanks for your reply. I just had the ceilings done recently with a light orange peel texture, primed and painted(they look great).


Yeah my main concern with the drywall is the outlets. I plan on re-doing the entire room(outlets, baseboards, door casing, door, laminated flooring, closet door). The room isn't that big(11x10) and I'm not in a rush to complete it. I eventually want to be able to smoothen out the walls and repaint the entire condo(thankfully the other rooms only have a light texture), so I'm using this as a practice room before I start the others.

 

I would hit it with 80 grit to remove the high spots and skim coat it. No taping, no joints, no butt joints, no need to remove trim, no adjustments to window frames to make them look right, no taping corners or ceiling.

 

No matter which option you go with, you're going to create one helluva mess. I hope you like sanding.

 

Would it be possible to scrape off the texture with a putty or tape knife? There is an exposed area near the ceiling where i can see the drywall. I might be able to stick a putty knife in there and scrape off the texture in large chunks. Or do I risk damaging the drywall this way?

 

You can't scrape off that kind of texture. I mean, sure, you can scrape it, but the amount of effort to get it off is off the charts in time consumption. You can certainly skim coat it but it takes some practice and you will be sanding ALOT!!! To cover it sufficiently you will more than likely need at least 2 coats of joint compound to cover the texture. After your last coat you will be sanding entire walls to remove any ridges, bumps, high spots. Then, you will need to vacuum up all the dust, prime, and repaint. It's a very laborious process.

 

OP Hoppa, all of the walls (and ceilings!) in the house I bought 3 years ago are textured like that.

I have mixed feelings about it, but most of the guests to my house really like it and they say so without solicitation.

Just to play Devil's advocate, have you thought about adding the texture to the other rooms?

 

great place to practice diy skills with mud and sandpaper, that's for sure.
2 coats. use a big knife as much as you can.you're a novice though, an 8" will probably be a good place to start...
bring a couple of dust masks and
park a fan in the window and make sure it's secure and blowing OUT the window.
good luck with that. it's gonna suck.

 

OK it's not that bad. A few things to remember.
Your not trying to build a wall. Thin your mud or use topping or ultra lightweight mud. These are both soft and easy to sand. All you want is a thin coat, almost all of what you put on you are going to scrap back off. You just want to fill the low spots, use a thin coat. The advice about a 8" knife is correct work slow you have plenty of time to use your knife to smooth your mud. The only thing is once it starts to set up you can't work it any more.

Yes there will be sanding. First don't use sandpaper, drywall dust is VERY fine and will constantly clog sandpaper, use sanding screens. Available in the drywall section. Depot carries a sander by HYDE that uses screens and connects to a shop vac, runs around $25 catches about 90% of the dust. Again knock out the filter a few times because the dust will clog it. When sanding remember all you have to sand is the high spots and ridges. If you find a low spot use a little mud to fill it.