New Wall Finish to Match Existing Walls

[Cmudr1]

Hello All,
We've just recently finished extending the wall of our sons closet out to make a bigger walk in. We have all the drywall up and has been mudded sanded and primed. We're trying to match the texture of existing walls. It almost looks like a light spray sand texture. It looks like tiny airbubbles all over the wall. Sorry Im not up on the names but i know its not a knockdown texture. The old walls have so many coats of paint over a very wallpaper. Just from counting layers of paint, if they painted one color a year it's close to ten years old.

The problem I'm having is even though ive put many coats of mud on all the joints there are still slight bubbles and ridges here and there. Ive sanded the best we can and didnt notice any tell we put on the primer. They are only noticeable when within a foot of the wall, but am afraid after painting they'll become more noticeable. Will paint cover these imperfections or bring them out more. Also how would I go about getting the same texture. My wife's convinced that by using a longer nap roller it will give these small bumps.

The closest thing ive found online is a spray sand, some of which we've used at work. But these seem to spray too many particles too close together. It almost reminded me of the orange peel technique, but then again not as many or as close together. If needed I can post a picture. Does anyone here have an idea what Im describing and the best way to achieve the same finish. Thanks for all the help. You guys are always great!
Chris

[skeezix]

I can't really tell the kind of texture from your description. You can see some textures online at www.drywallschool.com

It almost sounds like you have flat walls with no texture. On flat walls if you spray using a paint sprayer you will get a tiny orange peel texture, and if you roll them you will get tiny bumps and waves as roller marks (even on no-nap rollers for flat walls.) Maybe I am wierd, but I like the look of flat walls with sprayer or roller cover marks. After years of painting over them I would imagine that they would become more bubble like.

[Cmudr1]

Thank for the reply. I know my description is a little bad. It does look similar to the "perlite" sand. But I dont think thats what they used. As you said I thinks its just from the multiple coats that have been used.

If I wanted to try the sand what would be the best kind to try and the best place to get. We have a Menards and Home Depot in our town. I guess I'll have to try and see if the roller gives a look close to it and if not then maybe try the sand. Would you recommend spray or roller? Does it make a diff.

Thanks again for your help.

[skeezix]

You can get perlite/sand textures at any paint center or home improvement store. Just ask someone at the store.

As far as textures go, it's really a matter of personal preference. I prefer flat walls with slight roller texture... but you have to do a really good job on your taping and mudding jobs. You have to kill all imperfections, seams and edges. For my bathroom I went with a roller even though I have a sprayer. I did this for two reasons. One, because I like the texture, and the other being that it will be easier to touch up in the future. There is no way that I would bring a sprayer into a finished room and spray the walls in the future. Sprayer's end up being foggers and overspray gets on everything. Plus they are a pain to clean.

[Cmudr1]

Thanks so much for the help. What I had to do is get some of that stucco textre (red Devil I believe) and added it to the primer. I had to get the right consistency to match. It said to add to the paint but I added to primer to help match the upteen coats on the other stuff. Once it was up I took a fine sandpaper and knocked off all the rough parts to help dull it down. Then we put on 3 coats of paint over it and its a prettuy close match. I could tell that the amount of paint was what was really dulling it down, so I tried to put the texture before anything else. It is as close as I could get, and you can still tell a major diff. But at least its better than just a flat wall against a textured one. Maybe this will help to disguise the new wall and help mimic the existing walls. Thanks again for the help. Chris