Thank you!!

HI -- This seems to be an American thing that is done . We don't texture walls in Canada . Too hard to clean and repair . Maybe you shouldn't do it . Nice smooth walls are better .

Lefty, texture is how the mud is applied to drywall, smooth or textured. Yes you have it in Canada.

I lived in older houses with plaster walls (smooth) but when I moved into a newer house they had what's called "orange peel" which is a slightly bumpy texture but definitely not smooth. I have been told the reason for that is because it hides the taping and drywall screws that have been poorly mudded. This makes building faster and easier. It's not that much more work to do a smooth wall but very difficult to get a smooth wall after texture of any kind has been applied and painted over. I've also heard it called "knock down".

Yes, I was going to say "orange peel" too which is very common and shouldn't add expense. It is quite subtle and it is "knocked down" to be unobtrusive. If you paint your walls in "flat" paint the texture is barely noticeable. Plus, if you have nail holes removed with art change up, the holes are way less noticeable when filled. Orange Peel is a good thing. :)

Orange peel is as Darcy said barely noticeable. Texture does hide drywall tape and nails - but not necessarily because it has been done badly. Imagine trying to tape drywall together and not having something show if painted as is.

From: http://www.kldrywall.com/textures.html

Orange Peel:

Knock down:

Splatter:

When a good drywall person does do orange peel, it is "knocked down" and sanded to nearly a smooth looking finish. I have orange peel walls and can only see "texture" if I'm up close.

You're right jhmarie. I was using "knock down" term incorrectly. Our sheetrock guy did the mud splatter machine thing, but then he smoothed it with a trowel, then took a step further and sanded it down a lot when dry (what a dusty mess every where). I can barely notice the texture.

Actually pretty unusual in Canada and I would strongly discourage my clients from doing it IMO it looks tacky like the drywallers wern’t good at what they do ergo the popcorn ceilings that everyone hates.

For sure Patricia...popcorn ceilings...ugh! We had the entire house popcorn ceiling removed and many walls had to be re-sheetrocked too. A good sheetrock person is a must. A professional is needed as it's sort of an art form/technique to make it look nice.

Heres the deal, textured walls{popcorn ceilings are a entirely different thing} are more prevalent because they are more cost effective, faster and and less labor intensive than smooth wall (even in Canada by the way} Pick the method that you afford.

It only cost us an extra $900 or so to get smooth walls in our house, and it was entirely worth the extra expense. Some people don't like to do it because it doesn't let them be lazy. Get an actual price before you make up your mind, and don't let them push you into something you don't want!

Popcorn ceilings are done with very heavy drywall mud (joint compound.) My husband and I removed popcorn from seven rooms and it is exactly like joint compound when wet. BTW, it's not difficult to do if it hasn't been painted. Just spray plain water in large amounts and it will scrape off, or if wet enough, fall off by itself. Then you smooth the ceiling just like you would smooth a wall. Also, as I mentioned in my earlier post, texture is used to make it easier to cover sloppy taping. When you put two pieces of sheet rock together, you tape the seam and then use mud/joint compound on the seam, let it dry completely, sand and reapply mud if necessary. Then prime and paint. It's a much nicer look than texture of any kind. If you're going to wallpaper, the texture, if not removed, makes the wallpaper look horrible.

Smooth wall is also usually considered a level 5 finish. More expensive because it takes more time and labor. Even light texture will hide slight imperfections that smooth wall will not. Smooth wall looks richer when painted in my opinion. But that being said, It comes down to your budget.