Knockdown drywall textures are popular for their Old World appeal and are frequently found in Tuscan and Spanish-style architecture. The problem with repairing a knockdown drywall finish isn't in the labor required but in the ability to match the exact texture. Because this type of texture is a custom application, you'll have to figure out how the original contractor applied it before you can re-create it on your wall.
Instructions
Get the Texture Right
1. Position a drywall panel face up on the floor or braced on a couple of sawhorses. This will serve as pallet while you're figuring out re-create the knockdown finish.
2. Dip the drywall slap brush in a large shallow pan filled with thinned joint compound and tamp the brush lightly on the drywall panel to make a texture.
3. Swipe a 10-inch drywall-taping knife over just the tips of the texture and compare your practice board with the texture you're trying to imitate. This is the most common way of making knockdown texture, but the original installer may have used a thicker or thinner joint compound or a different pressure when swiping the taping knife over the texture.
4. Alter the thickness of the joint compound, the width of the taping knife or the pressure of the knife until you create a close facsimile to your wall texture.
Fix Your Wall
5. Sand off the knockdown texture to fix a small hole or gouge, and fill the hole with joint compound. Use a drywall-taping knife to smooth the compound flush with the surface of the wall.
6. Cut from stud to stud if you have to replace a drywall panel for large holes and replace the old panel with a new one of the same size.
7. Re-create the knockdown texture you made on your practice panel on the new section of drywall or on the space you sanded. Use the slapbrush to apply the texture and swipe over the tips of the texture to achieve the knockdown effect.
Tags: , drywall panel, knockdown texture, your practice, drywall-taping knife, knife over, taping knife