How to Get Rid of Interior Wall Texture

LESLIE: Kelly in Washington is on the line with a wall-texture question. What’s up? You like it or you don’t like it?

KELLY: I don’t like it on the interior walls. And it’s only on some of the walls, so I’d like to just get it off.

TOM: OK.

LESLIE: Are you sure it’s on drywall and it’s not a plaster finish on a plaster wall?

KELLY: It’s on – oh, I’m not sure. I’m not really a home builder/expert at all, by any means. It’s just looks like a normal wall to me. It’s built in the 80s and it has a texture and it’s interior wall. So what do you think?

TOM: Well, if it’s a wall surface, it’s probably a little more durable than what we would see on a ceiling. A ceiling is definitely a softer – and sometimes if you just dampen it, you can scrape it off.

Now, for a wall, not so much. So your solution here is to probably sand it off. So I would start with a very fine sandpaper: maybe like around 150 or 200-grit sandpaper. And see if it takes it off.

There are tools, also, that are wall sanders that are used in the drywall-sanding business, that hold that paper nice and flat so you don’t sort of dig into the wall. So if you find that it’s working really well, that’s probably the process to follow.

Now, when you do sand it flat before you paint it, this is a situation where it’s going to be very important that you prime it. Because if you don’t, you’re not going to have a surface that is going to be really ready for that top coat of paint. Primer is sort of the glue that makes the paint stick and whenever you have a raw surface like one that you just sanded, you definitely want to prime it first.

KELLY: OK, perfect. Great. Thank you so much.

TOM: You’re welcome. Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.