Hi CIV-

(I'm not sure I can follow the previous "hugely helpful", i.e. totally worthless post...but here goes!)

Obviously, you're the victim of "moron repairs" people!

You'll probably have to sand their repairs down a little more...closer to flush.
* Usually, people get too much spackle on the repair spots.
* When sanding seems more even, remove all dust.
* Get a Spray-texture can at your paint store. There's a dial on the back side of the outlet so you can control the droplet size---shake well/often!!
* Usually use can about 2'-3' away from wall. Do a couple quick practice-sprays on cardboard. Move can in quick/random little spiral motions when actually spraying. This prevents texture from forming "emphasis-lines" that may appear if you just moved your pattern left-to-right.
* If I was doing a vertical crack, I'll often have slight overspray TWO FEET away from the actual crack. This de-emphasizes the actual line.
* Since repairs may be extensive, I'd prime the whole wall AFTER your texture-repairs are completely dried.
* I'm pretty good at it! I cannot find my repair areas in my lower bath I painted last December '09.

Faron

Faron - thanks for the post! No doubt this is best left to professionals. But if I had professionals fix every quirk that bugged me in a 100 year old house --- i'd be out of money quick. I just am trying to do the best job I can with the resources at hand.

I am wondering if I overstated the texture. It isn't a "textured wall" but it has enough texture (mostly from paint rollers I suspect) that the patches do really stand out. Wouldn't spray-texture be more like a popcorn ceiling (what I would call HEAVY texture) or can it provide a light, nearly unnoticeable texture like old walls have?

I had a contractor patch walls and press WAY too hard with the roller with almost no paint, leaving a perfectly smooth surface. I primed over it twice and painted two coats of paint (with the right amounts of paint and primer), and it restored the roller texture. You can't see where the patches are anymore. We have plaster walls too.

If I were you, I'd sand those areas flat, patch as necessary, prime, and paint. Make sure you use a roller with a decent nap, not a smooth roller.

Yeah, if you can find a way to fix this, please let me know. We see it all the time in old houses when repairs are done to plaster walls that have been painted many, many times over the years. It is not so much a texture on the wall, but just really huge roller stipple. Modern day paints flatten out much better these days so simulating that old stipple can be very difficult. I actually had this problem in my own house where it was so bad, I just skim coated everything...yes, lots of labor there, but I don't know another way. You could try a 1" roller nap (says for heavy texture on the package) also, but novice painters can get into some trouble with a nap size that large so try some inconspicous areas first.

Try some of the faux finishing forums. They have an arsenal of products and methods to thro at issues just like this.

Don't know if someone would be willing to share their "secret sauce" for correcting the plaster wall texture issue or not but it's worth a shot. I know finishers are successful at correcting this very thing. All it takes is time, the know-how and the right product and tools.

I believe the texture you're wanting to duplicate is often referred to as "orange peel".

My "new" home is 100 years old. It's been painted many times so there is a paint texture. I patched cracks and sanded smooth. The smoothness shows through the primer and first coat of paint. I'm going to try using a slurry of joint compound and roll it carefully on the smooth areas. I'll use a sea sponge to dab and blend. I can softly sand later to knock it down if it seems to need it. If I think it looks ok, Reprime, repaint. nothing to lose by trying. Anyone try something similar?

I’ve made lots of repairs to plaster walls, both small and large, and always seemed to manage to restore the orange peel texture with a coat of primer and a couple of coats of eggshell paint with a 3/8 “ nap roller. Never really noticed a big difference in texture afterwards.

thank you. I used primer, 1/2 inch roller and one coat of flat 1/2. the patched area is clearly visable as a smooth area. I can't imagine one more coat of flat paint will do the trick. It would certainly be easy to try another coat or two on my science wall. So I'm happy to try that first.

I patched a large patch on my wall where plaster started to crack and was hollow, I chipped it out and filled with filler and then painted with a watered down emulsion of the same coloured paint .on the same wall I had damp patches. I used damp seal on the damp patches and decided to use some damp seal on the emulsion patch after It dried. The damp seal was thicker and it left stiple on the patch. Cant see the difference now.

I used tourpet filler.

You might want to throw the roller head away after you use damp seal. I just used a mini roller for the patches