I hope I'm posting this in the right place. I saw a board for walls but not for ceilings.

I have an older house from the 70's. About 1100sqft. I took and knocked off the old popcorn and then applied a latex primer because the ceiling was yellow from being old and probably the house having been smoked in for so long. OK, now I want to respray. I have a hopper and a compressor and bought the bagged popcorn texture at Home Depot. It is made by Litex and is the Coarse type. I tried it in one room and I definitely need some help. LOL

I have had people tell me that I need to add some white latex paint to it when I mix. How much paint should I add per bag? Once I add the paint and water if any, how long should I let it sit up for to soak??? Have had some say overnight, some not, and the bag says I think thirty minutes. When I spray, what size nozel should I use with the hopper and what PSI should I spray at? Basically I don't know anything about this. In the room I tried it in it would spray some poporn and then not any and then in some areas it looked like a sandpapery texture and others it looked great, and never did it spray all the popcorn out of the hopper. It would spray a lot of the liquid out and small popcorns grouped very close together(hence the sandpapery look but coarse) and leave a big ball of popcorn remaining in the hopper. Now I am thinking that I didn't use enough paint mixed in and I didnt let it soak long enough. I beleive I let it soak for about an hour and then sprayed. My hopper has 3/16, 1/4, and 5/16 adapters. I hope someone can help me.

thanks
Dwayne
GPT MS

 

Sounds like to me the texture is too thick, thin it down some and make sure you are mixing it well, I use a paddle and drill and it really whips it up. Some of the acoustic/popcorn textures will say to use paint some say water, you will need to look on the bag for that, the same with the sitting time. If the paint is not thinning it enough add water a little at a time until it feels right coming out of the hopper, it should be blowing out good and making a big mess But don't go overboard with the water, too thin and it will drip off the ceiling. Also giving the hopper a good downward shake from time to time will help it unload. The size of nozzle will be one of the 2 largest on your hopper, 3/16 is a bit small for course texture. Set your compressor at 30 psi and go from there, depending on how your hopper blows, how thick and long the hose is will determin whether you need to go up or down. Keep the hopper moving when spraying to keep the texture as even as possible, when finished with a room quikly walk around the room looking at your work to see if you need to add a little here and there before moving on, it is a lot easier to determin how much more an area needs when it is all wet, instead of adding texture to areas that have dried.

 

Chip,

Thanks for the reply. I think I had the hopper set around 20 psi and I have a 60' hose. So I should definitely increase it from what you are saying. I looked on the bag and it just says that you can add a flat ceiling type paint if desired, but it doesn't say to what proportion. I have been told that the reason you add the paint is to help hold the mixuture together so that say when bumped or if dusting a cob web, just whatever reason, the popcorns are better adhered and wont fall off. To what cusistancy should I look for? Something that is thinner than pudding but thicker than say paint? Also, how long do you recommend letting it set up for before spraying? I talked to some guys in the store and they said the mix it in either 20 or 40 gallon trash cans and let it set up overnight. Is that long really necassary? I am using an industrial drill and a paddle mixer to mix with so I know its getting mixed well. Thanks

Dwayne

 

You got it, lean toward the pudding, if it is not coming out to your satisfaction dump it back in the container and add a little water. Yes the paint does add strength to it but I have found that sometimes the paint just doesn't get it thin enough (without overdoing the liquid content) so I add a little water along with paint. If you have to add too much paint to get it thin enough you will be spraying so much liquid with the texture to get it to cover good that the paint will sometimes drip, adding a little water helps get it thin enough to spray good without "thinning" the texture out, if you know what I mean. Just go easy on the water until you get the feel of it. Be sure not to mix up all the powder, if you get it to thin you will need to thicken it. 20 minutes is long enough to let it sit. Letting it sit overnight? Only what I have left over. But, everyone has there own style.

 

Chip,

Thanks for the advice. I'll give it another try this weekend.

Dwayne