Now that the exterior siding, windows and doors, and roof are done on the Fixer Upper Main House, it’s time to get moving on the interior. While the walls are in decent shape, the knock-down texture from the 80’s is really dated. I want the calming, modern look of smooth walls! But I don’t want to pay big money for that. This post will show you how to DIY skim coat smooth old textured drywall for a modern finish.
Here is a photo where you can really see the 80’s knockdown drywall texture. This texture covered the whole house and was painted with white semi-gloss paint everywhere. Time for an upgrade!
Steps for DIY Skim Coat Smooth Old Textured Drywall:
These the basic steps to DIY skim coat old textured drywall for a modern smooth finish.
- Clean walls and ceilings with TSP substitute cleaner to get rid of grease, dirt, and grime.
- Prime walls and ceilings with an all-purpose primer such as Kilz. This creates a surface for better adhesion of the joint compound.
- Spread drywall joint compound on the walls and ceilings. Use a drywall taping knife or trowel to smooth and spread the joint compound. Depending on the amount of texture, you may need up to 3 coats to create a smooth finish.
- Sand walls and ceilings smooth.
- Prime and paint walls and ceilings.
Those are the basic steps. Now I’ll go into more detail on each step to show you what tools I used, why I did certain things, and give you some tips and trick I learned along the way.
Electric Drywall Sander
YATTICH wall sander is equipped with a aluminum alloy extension rod, the handle can be extended to 5.5ft. And the dual hook tension spring can fix the head of the sander, Ideal for grinding drywall, ceilings, interior walls, exterior walls, clearing floor residue, paint coatings and loose plaster.
1. Clean Walls and Ceilings:
If you want to smooth old textured and painted walls, it is very important to clean off built-up grease and grime to create a surface that the new joint compound will stick to.
I used concentrated liquid TSP substitute from Home Depot and diluted it in wide bucket per directions on the label. Then I wiped down the walls and ceilings using a flat microfiber wet-dry flip mop.
![Clean mop and TSP for cleaning walls](https://i0.wp.com/onehundredacreshome.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Smooth-Drywall-cleaning-mop.png?resize=768%2C1024&ssl=1)
Microfiber Flip Mop
The O-Cedar Dual-Action Microfiber Flip Mop features a double-sided microfiber and chenille mop head for wet and dry floor cleaning! The ultra-dense chenille is great for pet hair pickup, dusting and sweeping, while the microfiber scrubbing strips safely remove embedded dirt giving you twice the cleaning power.