[oguevarra]

Our house has textured walls that my wife and I are not a big fan of. Decided to try skim coating the walls in one of our rooms. I've looked at youtube videos and they make it seem so easy. I bought the tools, hawk and trowel, mud pan, knifes and pre-mixed joint compound. Question I have is should I thin out the pre-mixed joint compound, on the bucket is says its good for skim coating. The room is all prepped, everything moved out and walls have been primed.

 

[Bret86844]

My wife did this to our textured walls. She used the mud as-is but had to do a lot of manual sanding later. I think if we did it again I would recommend taking a sander once over to grind down the high spots, add mud, then add a watered down layer of mud to help smooth it out.

 

[mako1]

Try about a pint of water in the bucket of mud.May varie depending on brand and type.I use USG blue lid.

 

[oguevarra]

Thanks for the replies. I have the USG green lid. What kind of consistency should the mud be after I add water? I've read like mayo others say like peanut butter. Found this on here,

. I may try out the paint roller technique.

 

[Gymschu]

I skim coat quite a bit. You don't want it too thin (like pancake batter) because it will fall off your roller cover and get all over everything, and you don't want it too thick because it will then be difficult to roll onto the walls. So somewhere in between pancake batter and peanut butter works best, so start with a pint of water per bucket, but, you will likely add more than that to get the consistency you want.

 

[oguevarra]

Gymschu, thanks for the advice. What size roller cover do you end up using? I've got 1/2" and 1 1/4" nap rollers. I'm thinking using the 1 1/4" rollers since the texture is a little heavy on the walls. Do you clean and reuse the rollers afterwards?

 

[mako1]

I'd go with 1 1/4".I have tried it with the roller before and didn't car much for it but some do.I'm a experienced finisher and just prefer a trowel or knife with 1 coat.
You'll want your mud a bit thinner if rolling it.The rougher the texture the harder it will be for someone with no experience.
Keep your mud as thick as you can and still be able to roll it and get coverage.Hard to explain unless you have done it before. You don't need full coverage like paint but with a rough texture you need enough mud on the wall to get into all the low spots when you screed it.

 

[Sir MixAlot]

@oguevarra, Great questions. I'd say to mix it to a mayonnaise type consistency. Add about 1 or 2 cups of water to a 5 gallon bucket of all purpose joint compound let it sit for about 15 minutes> then remix and add more water if need. A 1/2" nap might work if the surface is smooth or has a light texture.

If the surface has a heavier texture like knockdown or a skip trowel texture I would recommend using a 1" or 1 1/4" nap. Hope that helps, -Paul

In case you didn't see Part Two of my paint roller trick video (applying the second round of skim coat)

Ps. I just answered your question on Youtube before I came here and saw this thread. Small world... :laughing:

 

[oguevarra]

Awesome, i'm going to try it this weekend. Thanks for all the help.

 

[Gymschu]

Gymschu, thanks for the advice. What size roller cover do you end up using? I've got 1/2" and 1 1/4" nap rollers. I'm thinking using the 1 1/4" rollers since the texture is a little heavy on the walls. Do you clean and reuse the rollers afterwards?

I will defer to SirMixAlot because he does this stuff a lot more than I, but, I usually use a 1/2" roller nap, mainly because that's what I use for painting.

I DON'T clean them out, I just toss them after I'm done. To keep them fresh overnight, just wrap your roller in plastic.

 

[oguevarra]

Thanks for all the help. I just finished doing one wall. I don't think I rolled enough mud on the wall to start off cause I could see a good amount of texture still. I'll definitely need a couple more coats. Should I sand in between the coats or just run my knife on the wall?

 

[ToolSeeker]

If you have not started yet you may want to consider returning the green lid for the ultra lightweight or at least the light weight. It will make sanding easier and believe me there will be sanding. The all purpose is thicker and has more glue in it, this is good for taping but for skim I found the lightweights easier to use.