For the life of me I cannot figure out how to make good texture on my walls before painting them. I don't want anything extreme just a little texture. I buy the powder texture mix at Lowes. Tried brushing it on with paint brush, tried buying a special texture roller. All looks like crap. Got a friend that bought the air powered hopper gun, says his still doesn't look good. Need to repaint the bathroom now and might as well retexture as well cause I'm not happy with my previous work. How do yall apply texture to walls? Must be an art to it.

Hire someone

Youtube should have some pretty good stuff on there.

They actually have a wagner plug in texture gun that works pretty good. Key is to make sure and thin the mud !! Practice on a piece of plywood or drywall to get down the texture consistency and application.

Hire a professional,,, if you want a professional result. Some things can be done by a homeowner, texture is not usually one of them.
Good Luck

Trowel and damp mud. Lay trowel on mud and pop it.

This X40. That wagner will pizz you off, you could invest in a hopper if you have a compressor but in the end it will cost more than having it shot. Texture work is cheap and not a great DIY especially if you are doing whole rooms.

Good luck man

Youtube is your friend! Heres one of many.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lC4lrNtmXHA&sns=em

Wife uses sheetrock compound and a putty knife. Works out great. One room the wallpaper took off part of the sheet rock and you can't tell. In the kitchen she used kilz then the compound to texture. Nothing too drastic but looks good.

I didn't think to check Youtube. I'm pretty sure rocket science is involved when it comes to texturing.

you need a hopper cost around 70 bucks and a box of mud , thin your mudd with water till it just starts to run off your hand, and just spray the walls with a medium to small diameter setting for popcorn type finish or medium to large diameter and drag a float across for knock down, let it dry a bit before knock down.

I'll bite-
we just built a 16x20 new addition room at the house. I looked at renting a hopper gun, got a couple of estimates, and did some shopping. I ended up buying the Kobalt gun at Lowes (70 bucks and it's a good gun).. I practiced just a bit on some scrap drywall, and went to town.. Mine took about 30 minutes for all of it (taking my time). I was thoroughly impressed with my new found abilities.. However, I won't be going into the texture business. LOL
I'd mix up your mud with water as mentioned above, and just play with the different nozzles that come with the gun, until you get a desired finish..
BUT BE PREPARED- THAT SH*T GETS ALL OVER EVERYTHING !!
If it's within 50', and you don't want it textured, then COVER IT UP !

In our old house we put the thinned mud on and then used a great big damp sponge and dobbed it against the surface. When it dryed it had a nice surface that looked good and took paint without too much trouble.

If you do this make sure the sponge is "damp". Soaking wet will thin the mud and dry will cause the mud to stick to the sponge.

Good Luck!

This is exactly what I did and it turned out great I get compliments on it all the time.

Here is a pic. It is of a gun but you can see the wall behind it.

I am a Paperhanger by trade. After the bottom fell out of that look I did Faux textruing and painting for a few years. It is an art and a bandaid. We use it down here to hide the bad drywall, but to get whatever look you want even and consistant it either in you, or you can pratice. If you are having trouble getting a look you want and do not want to hire someone buy some sheet rock and just pratice.

Don't use the powder get the premix its cheap and works a lot better. I just trowl it on and dab at it with a flat circle brush this makes the older looking crows feet .....