While some people love the look of smooth-painted walls, others prefer the dimension and uniqueness of a textured wall. However, painting textured walls isn’t the easiest DIY paint project to tackle, but with the right knowledge, techniques, and paint product, you can ensure your paint job looks professional and flawless. This blog post will serve as your go-to guide for how to paint textured walls.
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Is It Hard To Paint Over Textured Walls?
Painting textured walls is a bit more daunting than painting smooth walls. Textured walls such as stucco, knockdown, and orange peel are more difficult to paint because typical paint brushes don’t get in all of the peaks, valleys, nooks, and crannies of textured walls. This makes it harder to get good coverage and a complete finish without having bare patches. However, just like with any paint job, with the right preparation, paint product, execution, and a little bit of patience, you can achieve a high-quality finish every time.
How To Paint Textured Walls
When painting textured walls, there are some key steps to take to ensure you achieve the best finish possible. Many people wonder if they can simply paint over textured walls, and the answer is yes, but it requires a certain process to ensure you get a professional looking paint job. Read on for the step-by-step guide for painting textured walls.
Step 1: Assess the Wall Texture
Before you begin painting, assess the texture of your walls to see what you’re working with. Different textures require different approaches to painting. For example, heavy stucco may need extra preparation in order to achieve an even finish. Walls that have a lighter texture may require more minimal preparation.
Step 2: Clean and Repair the Walls
After evaluating the texture of the wall, you need to thoroughly clean them using a mild soap, warm water, and a sponge. You can also remove dirt and dust using a vacuum and bristle brush attachment. The goal of this step is to remove any dirt, grime, or grease that could keep your paint from adhering to the surface. Assess the wall and repair any flaws, holes, or cracks in the surface. You can fill them in with a spackling compound or joint compound and sand them down smooth once they’re dry.
Step 3: Tape the Edges
If painter’s tape isn’t already your best friend, it is now! It makes painting in straight lines and keeping paint only on the areas you want so much easier, especially when painting textured walls. However, you’ll want to use a special type of painter’s tape that is used in a 2-step process. First, you place the tape where you want it on the wall. Then, you apply a liquid sealing solution to the edges of the tape so the paint doesn’t bleed past the tape line. This is a more in-depth process, but it’s definitely worth the extra steps.
Step 4: Prime the Wall
Before applying paint for textured walls, it’s key to prime the wall first. Priming is always an important step, but even more so when painting textured walls. Since there are so many nooks, crannies, and divets in a textured surface, paint has a harder time adhering, which is why priming is such a crucial step. Using a high-quality primer will help the paint adhere and create a smooth surface for the paint to go on. When priming textured surfaces, use a ¾’ to 1’ roller to ensure you can reach into the textured crevices.
Step 5: Choose the Right Paint Product
Next up, it’s important to choose the right paint product to paint textured walls. If you’ve ever wondered what type of paint to use on textured walls, we recommend going for a high-quality paint product that is designed to cover textured surfaces effectively. Latex or oil-based paints with easier to maintain finishes, such as a satin or semi-gloss sheen, are ideal.
Step 6: Apply the Paint
After choosing your paint for textured walls, apply it using an angled brush to reach into the nook and crannies of the textured wall to ensure you get a solid coverage. After finishing the edges, use a ¾’ to 1’ roller to paint the rest of the wall, working in a “W” motion in small sections. Using a thicker roller like this allows you to apply more paint and get in the grooves of the textured wall better.
It’s important to remember that it might take multiple coats of paint, more than on your typical smooth-surfaced wall, to achieve the coverage and look you are going for. Make sure to follow the paint guidelines on the back of the can for the specific product used and let each coat dry completely before going back in for the next coat.
Step 7: Complete the Finishing Touches
After the last coat of paint is dry, take some time to look over the walls in both natural light and unnatural light in various angles to see if you need to touch-up or fill in any missed spots. Use a small brush to do this to ensure a seamless finish.
In conclusion, painting textured walls does come with its fair share of nuances and challenges, but with the right knowledge, preparation, paint products, and a little bit of patience, you’ll have a high-quality painted textured wall in no time!
While it’s totally possible to achieve a professional-looking textured wall paint job yourself, if you feel a little nervous about tackling this type of project, reach out to a professional paint company to help you get the job done right. Here at Oak City Coatings, we specialize in customer-centered painting and using the best paint products to help you achieve the look you want that will last for years. To book your free estimate with us, visit our contact page here.
