How to Texture a Ceiling Yourself

The slap brush technique is a simple way to texture your ceiling. It provides a consistent texture which can be applied as thick or thin as you need to cover cracks, or ceiling repairs. If you have had to replace a section of your ceiling, putting in a new piece of sheetrock, the slap brush technique will cover all seams and edges perfectly, making the repaired spot invisible once the ceiling has been textured. The brush can be a large paint brush, and the slap refers to slapping the brush against the ceiling, sideways, so the length of the bristles are what is slapping the ceiling.

Step 1

Use painters tapes around all edges of the ceiling, on the wall surface, to protect the top edge of the wall from the sheetrock mud.

Step 2

Fill a mud pan with sheetrock mud, using a mud knife. Dip the knife into the 5 gallon pail of mud then place the mud on the knife into the mud pan by scraping it off the knife blade on the edge of the pan so that it falls into the pan. Do this until the pan is full as you will need a lot of mud to texture the whole ceiling.

Step 3

Position a 4 foot step ladder under the spot where you will be starting to texture, which should be along a wall edge, in a corner. Avoid jumping from spot to spot when texturing as it is better to work from one end of the ceiling to the other, moving the step ladder across the wall edge as need be, then out towards then center of the room more, working in 2 foot strips across the width of the room.

Step 4

Use the mud knife to spread mud onto the ceiling, smoothing a ¼ inch layer of mud over a 2 foot square section of the wall.

Step 5

Slap the large paint brush into the sheetrock mud in the mud pan, covering the side of the brush completely with the mud, not the tips of the bristles. Slap the ceiling with the paint brush repeatedly, over the ¼ inch thick layer of mud you just smoothed onto the ceiling. Do this until the 2 foot square section is textured.

Step 6

Work in 2 foot sections along the edge of the ceiling, applying the ¼ inch layer of mud with the sheetrock knife then slapping with the side of the paintbrush covered in mud. Do this until you have covered the entire ceiling with the slap brush texture.