How to Apply a Skip Trowel Ceiling

Use a taping trowel to apply a skip trowel texture.

If you’re trying to create a rustic Southwestern feel in your home, consider adding a skip trowel texture to your ceiling or walls. Unlike other types of drywall textures, when you’re applying skip trowel, you won’t thin the joint compound first. Sometimes called Santé Fe Knockdown or Spanish Knockdown, the process used to apply the skip texture is reminiscent of skipping rock on a pond, and it creates a random rippled effect that drywall contractors call “chattering.” Skip trowel is one of the simplest textures for do-it-yourselfers to apply. After it’s dry, you can roll a coat of paint or glaze over the whole ceiling.

Things You'll Need

• Taping pan
• Premixed joint compound
• Sturdy ladder or scaffolding
• 6-inch taping knife
• 12-inch taping trowel
• Drop cloth
• Protective eye wear

Instructions

1. Fill a standard taping pan 2/3 full with premixed joint compound. Use a sturdy ladder or scaffolding to reach the ceiling and start in one corner of the room.

2. Scoop about 1/4 cup of compound out of the taping pan with a 6-inch taping knife. Swipe the wet compound on the ceiling in short, random motions. Scoop up additional small amounts of compound as you go.

3. Swipe one direction with the wet compound, leaving a streak of mud between 3 and 7 inches long, and then swipe more compound in a different direction, close to the first swipe. Leave random spaces of the ceiling bare.

4. Continue to swipe on the wet compound until you’ve applied the compound over an area about 4 feet square.

5. Switch to a 12-inch trowel. Use a hand trowel that has a handle mounted to the bottom flat side of the blade, instead of a taping knife. You can push the trowel, but you can only pull the knife.

6. Hold the trowel so the blade is at a very slight angle to the ceiling and quickly brush the trowel blade over the high spots in the wet compound. This motion will knock off the tips of the texture and, when done correctly, the edge of the trowel will occasionally catch the ceiling and “skip” over the compound, creating chatter marks.

7. Turn your wrist and make another pass over the texture, this time pushing from side to side to side. Add another swipe from a different angle. Keep making passes until you’ve created a random texture with intermittent chatter.

8. Repeat the swiping and troweling process over the entire ceiling. When you’re done, you should still be able to see the original ceiling in spots. Now, you can paint or glaze the ceiling to complete the look.

Tips & Warnings

• Practice the skip trowel technique on a scrap piece of drywall before applying it to your ceiling.

• Prep the ceiling, if it’s new, by taping the seams with joint compound in the same manner you would for a smooth painted ceiling. For an existing ceiling, sand lightly with a drywall pole sander to remove old texture.

• Protect the floor with a large nonslip drop cloth and wear protective eye wear to keep compound splatters out of your eyes.