Removing Wall Texture - Unknown Texture Material Over Plaster

9 years ago

I am attempting to purchase a house that has an odd wall texture material in several rooms. I have posted photos because I am unsure of how to explain it.

It is:

-Very Hard
-Has sparkles mixed in with the finish
-Seems like a super popcorn texture
-I visited the home with my father who in a previous life worked in construction for 25 years or so and he had no idea what it was.

At the most basic level, I would want to clean and paint over. In an ideal world, it would come off easy and I could take it off, mud where necessary and paint flat walls.

Does anyone have any idea what this is?

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Comments (10)

JeremyDL
Original Author
9 years ago
Here is another photo.
JeremyDL
Original Author
9 years ago
And another.
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I would say Plus 3 by Sheetrock. It's very lightweight which means that it sands easier than anything I have come across. Some tips. Several light coats are better than one heavy one. The heavy coats may leave behind pinholes in the mud that you will have to repatch. Always remember that when you are skimming it will have to be sanded. I always try to minimize the sanding because it's dusty and messy. The less ridges you have the less dust you make so try to put it on as evenly as you can. Also, the dust that you make when sanding is very fine and will float all over your house. You may want to close that room off with plastic to keep the dust contained.
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Unfortunately, you do not really have an easy task on your hands there. I've done this numerous times since I renovate old houses. Without seeing exactly how deep the grooves are, there a possibly 3 options: 1-install smallish sheetrock over the ceiling plaster (3/8"). I don't like to do this b/c it is usually hard to hang as you have to make sure you get a stud and not screw into plaster or lathing. And, sometimes it is not really level. To save on removing plaster, I just had an idea but have never done. You could run 1x4 wood furr strips across the ceiling, then run sheetrock. 2-You can do the same for the walls, but then the reveal around the doors and windows is messed up and does not look good. Can work if you have really thick trim and use thin sheetrock. But, sometimes this is wavy. 3-Remove the plaster and sheetrock. Best approach. Then you can open a bit of a can of worms: studs that need to be replaced, need furr strips, maybe new wiring... Will look great when done, though. 4-You can apply a wide fiberglass mesh to the entire wall and mud it in. Use hot mud on the first coat---very important! They come 3-4 ft wide. It is kind of expensive, but less than demo. However, if the grooves are too thick then this may not work since the finishers would have to apply way too much mud to fill it in. Julie
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I prefer no texture on the ceiling. We're mid-reno right now. Tore out the plaster ceiling because we were running so much lighting that it made sense. Our plaster has a very random figure-8-ish texture. Very random. I know because I spent a ton of time when we first moved in patching small areas that needed attention. But, I digress. We have 8 foot ceilings and we are keeping the ceiling untextured. The rest of the walls (now a mixture of original plaster walls and some drywall) are going to have texture. We are having discussions with our guy right now trying to get him to get the texture right...did I mention that we have a random figure-8? Anyway, do you have texture on the rest of the walls? If you do and you're trying to match it, it might be difficult to do so. You don't want to go with a high-gloss paint for the ceiling - you'll see every variation of the ceiling. We opted for a satin finish for the ceiling...it's still got a bit of sheen, but not really glossy...I've found satin easy to clean (unlike a flat or even in some cases, an eggshell) if I wind up with a tomato sauce pop up on the ceiling. We're doing cabinets to the ceiling and we're hoping that gives a illusion of higher ceilings. We're thinking of doing a glass tile that has long thin strips, and if we run it vertical instead of horizontal, it will also help with the illusion of higher ceilings. Another thing that I think helps, is keeping simpler lines. I think that the more ornate things are (fancy countertop edges, complex cabinet door styles, etc) from the floor to eye level, the more your eye gets drawn to them and gets stuck from traveling upward.
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lazy_gardens
9 years ago
Where is this house?

country, state, city

And how old is it?
JeremyDL
Original Author
9 years ago
1920's house in Western, NY.

I don't think the finish material is original. It is unique to one bedroom. The rest of the house is either plaster or wallpaper over plaster.
woodbutcher_ca
9 years ago
Hi, It may be easier to just put a skim coat on top of it.
Woodbutcher
JeremyDL
Original Author
9 years ago
I had thought about skim coating, drywalling over the top, or tearing out the plaster and lathe and starting fresh with drywall.

It just seems to me that there must be another option.

On the skim coating front, it wouldn't be too skim. Some of the "peaks" are .5'' out from the valleys. That is a pretty thick skim coat.
lazy_gardens
9 years ago
I'm thinking it's one of the textured decorative "cover up your problem walls" decorative coatings that were used in the 40s-60s.

If you buy the house, chip off a chunk and have it tested for asbestos, because they were often "fiber reinforced" and the fiber of choice was asbestos.
sombreuil_mongrel
9 years ago
Could be one of those commercial/industrial decorative finishes that companies like Benjamin Moore and Sherwin-Williams developed, and were only sold through a few suppliers, like Janovic in NYC.
They made sprayed-on suede and marble too.
Spray with water/detergent (or fabric softener?) and see if it peels off with a putty knife. If water beads up and runs down, then you may have to sand it off to expose a water-soluable material, then repeat the wetting/scraping. If the whole thing is an acrylic or an epoxy, sand the best you can, if still too textured, skim coat, oil prime, and paint.
Casey
JeremyDL
Original Author
9 years ago
Thanks for the advice. Looking forward to getting into it (with a respirator on :))
JeremyDL
Original Author
9 years ago
My thoughts on the order of attack are:

1. Use putty knife to get in behind it to the plaster in a small inconspicuous area just to get a better grip on what I'm working with.

2. Water/Fabric Softener out of a pump sprayer. If it soaks in, let it sit for a while and see if it comes off with a putty knife or scraper.

3. Try this product from Amazon (link at bottom) - EcoSolve Home Strip X-Tex Textured Coatings Remover

4. I'm going to be renting a steamer for all of the wallpaper in the home and will maybe give that a go as well.

5. If none of the above works, I will try to sand. If this works, I will likely rent a power sander/vacuum combo.

6. If all else fails, I will skim coat with joint compound.

Does this sound reasonable?

Here is a link that might be useful: EcoSolve Home Strip X-Tex Textured Coatings Remover

Removing Wall Texture - Unknown Texture Material Over Plaster

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JeremyDL
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Removing Wall Texture - Unknown Texture Material Over Plaster

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