When it comes to repairing or remodeling walls within your home you will find it is imperative to know how to skim coat a wall or ceiling. Without this most important technique, walls will have many imperfections that are noticeable on your walls. Skim coating helps to level and smooth out the wall or ceiling and by doing this, it hides many imperfections. Today L.W. Winslow Painting, Inc will share how this technique is done to help those with their next repairs or remodeling projects.

Step 1: Primer Explained

When you either add or replace drywall, or even remove wallpaper before your repaint and skim coat a wall, you will first need to seal it with primer. This is an important step that never should be skipped. By using a primer on the walls or ceiling that is being skim-coated, it will help protect the drywall, especially if any water damage has ever occurred. You will apply it the same way you would regular paint. You will need a painting tray, rollers and paint brush. Then you will want to make sure the entire wall has been sealed with the primer which looks like a white paint.

Step 2: Skim Coat Drywall

You will need to use all-purpose joint compound (also known as mud) to skim coat the walls. After the primer has fully dried, you can begin to apply the compound. The all-purpose joint compound is normally in a powder form. Therefore, you will need to add water in small portions. Use a bucket for mixing the joint compound together. You will want to add a little bit of water at a time as you mix it together until it is the same consistency as that of mayonnaise. You will apply each mixture of the joint compound the same way as you did the primer or paint. Once again you will need to use a paint tray and roller to apply the joint compound on the wall. Don’t worry about any imperfection such as raised ridges or bumps. You will attend to them later.

Step 3: Smoothing Joint Compound

For this next step you will need a rubber edged putty knife or squeegee to begin smoothing out the wall while the joint compound is still wet. You will want to run the squeegee or putty over the entire wall. You will want to start by working from the top to the bottom of the wall in a single roll, and work your way across the wall. You will then want to repeat the action of running the trowel or squeegee over the wet mud, but this time in the opposite direction–meaning go from side to side, starting from the top of the wall and work your way down. Afterward, allow the joint compound to dry. Small imperfections are still okay at this point. Once the joint compound is dry you can use a high grain sandpaper to smooth out the imperfections in the wall.

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L.W. Winslow Painting, Inc hopes we were able to walk you through the steps to properly skim coat the walls or ceilings within your home. If you need help in repainting, skim coating or many other of our provided services, contact L.W. Winslow Painting, Inc today.