How do you splatter drag your walls?

Question

The walls in my house have a textured look to them, and after looking at various images online Ive come to believe its what is called a splatter drag.
I have some various holes and what nots in the house that I would like to patch and then re texture and paint. So they do not stick out from the rest of the wall.
How would I got about doing this, is it very complicated, would I be better off haveing a professional come and and do it?
Im full of ?'s lol ;) any info is appreciated!

Answer 1

Wall texture comes in several versions... "splatter/drag" is also sometimes called "knockdown". Typically, in a new application, or large repair, it is applied with a sprayer (hoppergun), and then 'tooled' somehow. It might be something as simple as dragging a wide taping knife over the surface, or using a 'carved' foam roller to impart a particular pattern, or even hitting it with a long bristle brush, or mop, hehehe... lots of ways to vary the texture. (Orange peel is a common wall texture too...this is just sprayed on, no tooling).

If these holes are small... you can mimic the texture using hand tools (no hopper gun, no spraying) - which types of texture will help determine what kind of 'tools' you use to apply it. This is as much 'artistry' as anything else. For example, Ive used sponges to dab with, brushes to stipple with, or even wadded up plastic, or rags, to get the mud/texture on the wall. Ive always had better results matching the texture myself, than using some of those spray (about the size of a can of spray paint) textures you can find at some of the hardware stores.

If the holes are larger, then you need to clear some space around the hole, patch the hole, feather it out, and then go about matching the texture. If the repair work is very large, you'd be ahead to use a spray gun.

If you have the time and you are willing to practice a bit, this is easily something you can do yourself. Often, it takes more time to prep, than it does to spray... and cleanup is half of any of this type of work, hehehe.

If you can send me a pic, or a link, I can point you in the direction you want to start.

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Got your email =) .. sent 2 replies on how to mimic that pattern.

By the way - if the premix mud you use is a little thick, you can add just a bit of water to it. You'd be surprised how much difference that can make in the results. When this mud was originally blown on, it would have been thinned to somewhere between pancake batter and a thick shake. If you decide to 'hand tool' it on as described in the email, you dont want it quite that thin.

Also there are some spray texture repair kits availabe.... Homag has a small one, the "spray gun" looks a lot like the old hand pump bug sprayers, hehehe - Ive not tried this one myself so can't speak on the quality of results. I have used one of Homag's other larger spray kits, and it worked fine for that single repair (I did these repairs every week tho, and it wasnt up to that much usage). These spray kits usually cost more than the 'hand tool' method I outlined for you. I have yet to find a good spray texture that comes straight out of an aerosol can ('spray-tex' for example).

Remember to prime the repair before painting... because the paint will dry a different color over the patch if you don't. (Ive seen quite a few 'botched' repairs just because of this, hehe) You CAN use the spray can of primer (Kilz makes one), and it will work very well. Typically with texture surfaces a paint roller is used to apply the final coat of paint.

Feel free to holler at me again, if you have any more questions =)

Have Fun

Answer 2

Splatter Drag Texture

Answer 3

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
How do you splatter drag your walls?
The walls in my house have a textured look to them, and after looking at various images online Ive come to believe its what is called a splatter drag.
I have some various holes and what nots in the house that I would like to patch and then re texture and paint. So they do not stick out from the...

Answer 4

To build up the holes/cracks you use spackle, in either powder form you add water to, or ready mixed. If the hole is very deep, build it up gradually, allowing each layer to dry at least 5 hours.Build the final layer slightly above the surface of the wall, so you can sand it back. Dry for 24 hours befoe painting. You can use undercoat, then final coat, but if it is water based you can get away with just doing several coats over the patches.
Sorry, I don't know how to do splatter drag, so I'll be interested in answers from those who do.

Answer 5

This is better off left to a pro.