How to Apply Acoustic Texture to Your Home

Acoustic texture or popcorn texture is very popular in homes, and businesses. It adds depth to a room by creating a texture on the ceiling. The acoustic texture comes in three grades. Fine, medium and coarse. You should use an USG or similar acoustic texture for ceilings.

The items you should gather to do this job like the pros do are as follows: You will need one (1) clean 5 gallon pail. A few rolls of scotch tape. Painters grade plastic, the USG or similar texture in your choice of type. Primer (as needed) Air compressor and hopper or texture machine. Drill and beater brush. Just so you know all of this is easy to get a hold of. All of the materials can be bought at your local Menard's or Home Depot. The texture machines are for rent at many local hard ware stores.

If the ceilings have not been painted or primed yet you should do so. A flat or matte surface is what the texture needs to adhere to the ceiling. Walls should also have a finish to them for similar reasons. If there is not a covering on ceilings and walls you should prime them and let dry. The reason for the walls to be at least primed is because during preparation you will have to adhere the scotch tape to the wall to protect it and tape does not adhere well to drywall and could possible damage it.

Preparation of the area is essential to prevent any over spray of texture onto walls, flooring or any furniture items that may be in the work area. The first thing you should do is to cover the floor and tape it down at the edges, this prevents any texture from getting onto your floors. Take the Scotch Tape and put it along the ceiling line, getting as close as possible without attaching it completely to the wall. Take the Painters grade plastic and attach to the tape at the ceiling line. It should cover the walls like a long, flowing curtain.

Mix the texture with water in the clean 5 gallon pail. Just be careful not to fill more than 3/4 of the way full. If you over fill you could end up with a mess on your hands, and on the floor. Mix well using drill and beater brush. The texture should be thick but not so that it clumps and it must be able to fall off of the beater brush with ease.

Applying the texture is fairly simple, Aim and spray, that's it. You decide how thick you want it to be. Remember that acoustic texture does shrink a bit when dry. So let it dry completely before deciding if you are satisfied with the results. If by chance you shoot it too thin simply add a little more. If you did it too thick than scrape it down using a stiff 6 in putty knife (available everywhere tools are) and then re shoot it. Saves you a lot of money on having a professional come out for something that you can do just as well yourself and be able to say that you did that amazing job.