Faux Finish A Heavy Textured Wall or Just Paint It

Wall Paint Patterns - Image by TKen via Flickr

So, simple enough question at first glance, right?

What is the best type of faux finish to use when painting over a heavy swirled plaster wall ?

A faux finish on a heavy texture requires different tools and also a different mindset for the results.

If you decide to paint a faux finish on a heavily textured wall, you need to keep in mind that all the gorgeous faux painting that you see in those great decorator magazines and books are USUALLY painted on smooth walls. Notice you don’t see a lot of texture – ever – when you look at those finishes in books.

The thing about textured walls is that the texture grabs the paint and doesn’t want to let go! By grab I mean it collects in all those little nooks and crannies. This means that the wall texture is going to be highlighted or stand out and so it will be the design that is most predominate.

It can be a real challenge to get paint in all the nooks and crannies on rough walls so you need to make sure you use appropriate tools. A good soft brush, some dry cloths are essential when working on a heavily textured wall. To do a color wash type faux finish on a textured wall here is what you want to do:

If you rag on a finish and then take a soft dry brush and lightly drag it across the wall, it will pull the collected finish away from the deeper areas.

Keep wiping the brush off on a dry cloth and then dragging it cross hatch style across you finish.

Work in 4 ft. square sections. If you need a reminder on how to keep the edges workable – “wet” – go back and read this article: “How to Keep a Wet Edge“

This technique should be an easy solution. Keep in mind it WILL highlight the texture on the wall, so make sure you love the texture design before you make a statement with it.

The other faux finish that would be good on a heavily textured wall would be a sponge painting because it CREATES texture – faux texture. The best sponge painting is done with multiple layers though so remember one layer might be nice but three or four will make it AMAZING!!!!! And constantly turn your hand/wrist so you don’t get a polka dot effect.

Just Paint It

If you have a heavily textured wall that you aren’t real fond of the design you won’t want to highlight that with a faux finish. Instead make it disappear by painting it one color.

If you have a sprayer or can afford to rent one, by all means do so. Lol! WAY easier! If not then your best option is using a high quality roller and brush. Invest in a STURDY/RIGID roller frame (the part you slide your roller on to) instead of buying the cheap one. It’ll work a LOT better for you because you’ll be applying more pressure when you apply the paint. The cheap one will flex tooooo much and that’ll let your roller cover slide off. I hate it when my roller slides off in the middle of painting!

For your roller you’ll need to spend a little more and buy a heavy-napped, 100% lambswool roller cover. It’s really the best way to go. It’ll save you sooo much time and trouble if you buy this one instead of just a standard “heavy duty” roller. The longer nap will apply the paint way more thoroughly and it’ll also carry more paint than a synthetic one. BUT…if you have to get a 50/50 blend. It’ll do ALMOST as good a job. And it’s a bit cheaper. You know we like cheap.

Same with your paint brush. Don’t skimp on paint brush quality. A good paint brush holds more paint, applies it more smoothly and allows you to paint much cleaner lines. It really makes a huge difference in the long run. And you know me…I’m all for cheap! Savin’ pennies. I use cheap chip brushes most of the time but working on heavy duty textured walls a good brush really pays off.

After you roll the paint on look closely at all those deep nooks and crannies in the texture. If you need to…and trust me, you’ll need to…use a small craft paint brush and stipple in your paint to fill the spaces so you have even coverage. Just dab dab dab a thin layer of paint into any areas that didn’t get painted with the roller.

Remember…before you do anything – Prep work is KEY!

Get out there and SPLASH some paint around!!!