I live in the southeast and only tract houses have orange peel. Anything over 150k or so has smooth. I know there are regional differences- I’m working on a million+ house is Las Vegas and the walls and ceilings are heavily textured.

@HALLETT & Co. Yes... California track homes seem to have orange peel... I heard the level 5 is for Beverly Hills style LOL... so is the look really worth it?

I would never want textured walls. So yes to me it’s worth it.

We LOVE our orange peel walls, custom stick built circa 1970's ranch--but always before had sand paper so this is a definite step up. We discovered the advantages when repainting. All the chips and nicks a wall acquires disappear into the texture. To each his own but flat walls never are--there is always some anomaly that screams at you. I would NEVER go back to sand paper but would choose orange peel EVERYTIME!!!

I love the look of smooth walls --- if done correctly. BUT I would opt for orange peel - because everyday living is hard on walls.

remodeling all of the walls?

Have you gotten a price diff for orange peel/smooth skim coat? The latter takes more time and skill and will cost more.

Orage peel is there to hide small mars , uneven finishes, and blemishes in the drywall/ceilings.

I have smooth walls and the imperfections show quite a bit. However, I'm ok with it.

We decided to do smooth level 5, I’ll post once done 😉. Thank you for all your comments.

Level5 finish used when a certain finish will be applied to the wall or when a pointed light shines in any direction you will not see any imperfections. If you do the entire house level5 finish, be ready to dish out some $$$.

95% of the time, the level4 is more than enough, tape/2 coats drywall compound/sanding/touchup.

Can anyone give me a guestimate in price differential percentage between level 4 and orange peel? This is a remodel where there will be some new walls, some walls that will be having wallpaper removed and some that are currently painted with a fairly smooth coat.

julieste, how could we give you an estimate? price varies upon skill level and where you live. It's all over the place. Call up local drywallers and ask them!

but remember, time is money. and doing a fine skim coat takes a heck of a lot longer than spraying on an orange peel texture. But again, depends on where you live and who's doing the work.

@julieste Wallpaper removal is a very difficult task to bid and often done on a time and material basis. If you have the time, you may find it works out cheaper to do the wallpaper removal yourself. If an estimator looks at it, the bid will likely be high to cover the risk of the wall not having had the proper prep before the wallpaper.

I just helped on a wallpaper removal and repaint job. If done as part of a larger project, tearing out the wallpapered drywall and starting with new would have been cheaper. I'm in the midwest and smooth walls are standard practice here so textured walls wouldn't save you much money.

Smoooooooooooooooth!

Since we are shut up wanting to protect ourselves during this raging pandemic, I think we may start on removing the wallpaper ourselves as Lyndee Lee suggested. I was just trying to get an idea if there is a general percentage fee structure like, for example, smooth walls will cost double orange peel.

@julieste yes from what I found and everhome has shared it is Double the cost if not more. I just had our drywall guy start...@ed star drywall. I’m excited! And will share when done.

Our level 5 smooth walls are done. Definitely worth the money!
Love the beautiful smooth clean looking walls. Now time to paint !

Great decision, would love to see some pictures.

what do you think would be the price difference between all three types?

Good question about price difference...
I’m not a contractor nor did I really check but I would think double or up to triple the cost. My drywall guy @Star Drywall did an amazingly gorgeous job.
Now trying to get my painter to finish it off !

Hi Djmo,

I know it is an old thread but i am facing the same dilemma. Have your walls showd any imperfections when you sand them. Also if you could share some pictures i would really appriciate it.

SMOOTH! We did level 3 smooth and they are great, but they are mixed in with old plaster walls so perfection wasn't the goal.