Q. My bathroom is a mess. At one time, the walls were scraped to remove old paint, but the drywall was no longer smooth. There are large areas where some of the thickness of the drywall was removed along with the paint, and then it was painted over. My question is, am I able to use drywall mud over the paint? I would like to do a layer of mud over the entire surface of the wall to smooth it out, and then repaint the whole bathroom. Is this possible?
A. First wash the walls with TSP to remove any dirt, grease or debris. Than use the drywall mud to fill in any of the "low" areas that were damaged by previous paint removal. Let the mud dry and sand flush with the wall. Wash and wipe walls down again to remove any dust that may have collected.
Now you are ready to apply the final coat of mud. You could go for the smooth look, though it will be very hard to get. There are always abnormalities that show up. It would be better to rent a Spackle gun and shoot the walls with an orange peel pattern. This is a pattern that has small bumps all over the wall, and it is good for hiding the abnormalities mentioned.
Shoot the walls, let the mud dry a little and then go over it lightly with a trowel to remove any sharp points. Let the mud dry the rest of the way and put some paint on it.
You can mud over the paint. It will stick to just about anything. You might want to ruff it up a bit first. You might also want to get a darby, if you can, for a project like this. The darby will help you get larger areas smoothed out instead of just using a 12-inch knife.
There are many ways to get a textured look on the walls; it all depends on what you are looking for. You can also use one of those rag rollers, sponge looking rollers that will give you a little different texture. You can use a stiff bristled brush and "flick" the mud onto the wall. Put mud on the wall and use a sponge to make a seashell design on it. You can make an adobe looking wall by placing the mud on the wall, fairly thick with a four to six inch knife leaving the knife marks in it. The list can go on and on depending on what you would like the walls to look like. My only suggestion is to experiment on a scrap piece of drywall to see what method works for you. Try several different things; just pay close attention to the thickness of your mud on each method. It will make a difference on the end effect.
Depending on the size of your bathroom, it may be easier to rent an air compressor and texture gun. If it is relatively small, there are hand operated texture guns at you local home improvement store.
If you do not like the way it comes out, you can spray the walls with a little bit of water, get the mud damp, and scrape it off with a wide putty knife. Clean the walls up and start over. It's a lot of work, but you can do it. Do the test on the scrap and find some method to put the mud on the wall that you like and is fairly easy to do.
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