How to Remove Drywall Texture

Removing drywall texture is a messy and somewhat time-consuming process but one which the average homeowner can accomplish with a little patience and the proper tools. Remember, however, that the reason most walls have texture in the first place is to hide defects and blemishes caused by drywall tape and unevenness in the original drywall itself. Removing the texture could reveal these problems. Many of these problems can be hidden by proper lighting techniques. Read on to learn how to remove drywall texture.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Drop cloths
• 5-inch floor scraper
• Spray bottle
• Sponges
• Ready mix wallboard joint compound
• 6-inch wallboard knife
• Sanding screen
• Shop Vac

1. Cover floors and furniture with drop cloths as this will be a messy business. Start with a 3 ft. section of wall. Using moderate pressure on your 5-inch floor scraper scrape the tips off of the existing texture. At this point you are not trying to scrape the texture all the way down to the wallboard--you are merely opening the top layer of the texture.

2. Spray the area you have scraped with water from your spray bottle. Allow the water time to soak into the texture. If necessary spray a second time. Wait until the texture has become slightly softened by the water and then use your 5-inch floor scraper to "shave" the texture off the wallboard. Experiment with different angles at which to hold your scraper and with differing amounts of pressure to use. The idea is to remove the water-softened texture without doing damage to the wallboard underneath.

3. Repeat the above process in 3 ft. sections until the entire wall is clean-shaven of texture. Use your sanding screen to smooth out any remaining high spots but do not sand into the surface of the wallboard or break the paper on the surface of the wallboard if possible. Wipe the entire surface of the wall with a lightly-dampened sponge. Be sure to clean the sponge frequently.

4. Now comes the most difficult part of the entire process. Using your 6-inch wallboard knife and your wallboard joint compound you will need to, in effect, rebuild your wall. Spread a thin layer of wallboard joint compound onto the wall with your 6-inch wallboard knife. Try to keep the surface as smooth as possible, but do not obsess over minor flaws at this point. What you want to do is to put approximately a 1/8 inch thick layer of wall joint compound over your entire wall. Allow it to dry overnight.

5. Using your sanding screen, go over your new wall, sanding down any high spots and doing your best to make the wall as smooth and as flat as possible. Do not worry about low spots at this point. Once you have sanded the entire wall use your shop vac to pick up as much of the dust as possible.

6. You will next want to spread a second layer of wall joint compound over the entire wall. Only use a small amount of compound, scraping your wallboard knife over the surface with a fair mount of pressure. basically all you want to do at this point is to fill in any low spots and smooth out the wall. Cover 5 or 6 ft. square areas at a time. Allow to dry. Drying should only take a couple of hours as you have only put on a thin coating of compound. Once dry use your sanding screen to smooth the entire wall and use your Shop Vac to vacuum the dust.

7. If your wall is still not smooth and flat then repeat Step 6. Once dry use your screen sander to sand the wall flat and smooth. Wipe the entire wall with a slightly damp sponge, frequently cleaning the sponge. Once the wall is dry paint with a primer paint. once the primer is dry you are free to paint or wallpaper your now-smooth wall.

Tips & Warnings

• Start out working in relatively small areas until you get the hang of each step. Spreading wallboard compound can be somewhat difficult at first, but with a little practice the job becomes easier and easier. It's almost like frosting a cake. Keep work areas as clean as possible.
• Wallboard compound dries fairly slowly, but once you start this part of your project make sure you can devote sufficient time to complete the wall without stopping.