Enhancing the curb appeal of your house doesn't have to be complicated. Along with other garden enhancements, you can spruce up your whole house or just a small area with wall texture. Exterior wall texture goes on much like thick, heavy paint, but there are some special techniques you need to apply it. Buy your exterior wall texture from paint or hardware stores or home improvement centers.
Materials Needed for Exterior Texture Application
- Brick or rubbing stone
- Broom
- Degreasing detergent
- Plastic drop cloths
- Painter’s tape
- Old newspapers
- Paint paddle or paint mixer
- Paintbrush
- Paint tray
- Paint roller
- Trowel
Prepare the Exterior Walls for Texture
Rub the exterior surface to be textured with a brick or a masonry rubbing stone to sand off any mortar burrs or flaking paint. Sweep it with a broom to remove any loose debris. Remove any oily or greasy areas with a degreasing detergent. Rinse well with clean water. Let the wall dry completely.
Spread plastic drop cloths on the slab below the wall. Mask off window casements and other areas you don’t want texture on with painter’s tape and plastic drop cloths or several thicknesses of old newspapers.
Apply the First Coat of Exterior Wall Texture
Mix the texture well with a paint paddle or electric paint mixer.
Load a large paintbrush with a generous amount of texture. Cut in the border of one side of the wall with a paintbrush. Extend the cut-in area along the bottom and top edges of the wall where the roller will not reach. Cut in only enough area that will be covered by four or five roller widths.
Pour some texture into a paint tray. Before the cut-in has a chance to dry, load a paint roller with a generous amount of texture by rolling it back and forth in the tray several times. Roll the texture onto the wall at the cut-in edge starting at the bottom and rolling upward. There should be plenty of texture left in the roller at the top to ensure an even coating on the wall section. Load the roller again in the tray and roll on a second stroke, overlapping the first one by a couple of inches to keep a wet edge.
Roll on four or five strokes of texture using the same technique. Some textures require rolling downward over the stroke seams without loading the roller again to even out the application.
Spread the texture according to label directions. Some common techniques include rolling across the initial strokes diagonally without loading the roller again. Others require spreading with a large paintbrush using random strokes in an X pattern. Heavier textures call for smoothing the texture with a trowel held at a 45-degree angle to the wall and working the texture using the rear edge of the trowel.
Cut in the top and bottom edges again and apply an additional four or five strokes from bottom to top and spread with the same technique as the first section. Work quickly and keep a wet edge. Continue in this manner across the wall. Continuously top up the texture in the tray from the bucket to reduce color variations.
Let the texture dry for the time recommended on the label.
Apply the Second Coat and Create a Wall Texture
For the second coat, start by repeating the cut-in and first four or five roller strokes. If you want a texture pattern, work it into the texture when you smooth the second coat. For example, instead of making it smooth, you may wish to leave brush or trowel stroke marks in the texture to emulate a plaster finish.
Each texture product has its own recommended application procedure. Follow label directions closely for the brand of texture that you use. Some very heavy textures require application with a hand mitt using a flat palm instead of a paint roller. These textures are usually smoothed with a trowel.
References:
- YouTube: Wattyl Solagard – How to Exterior Texture
- YouTube: How to Create a Coarse Textured Finish for Your Wall
- Unitex: Application & Fixing Guide
Karren Tolliver - Karren Doll Tolliver is from the Midwest USA and received a BA in English from Mississippi University for Women in 1984. Writing since she ...
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