How to Wallpaper Textured Walls

However, there is a way create a smooth surface on textured walls. It costs only as much as a pail of sheetrock mud.

1. Fill a mud pan with a generous amount of sheetrock mud. Use a 5-gallon pail of mud for this project as you will use a lot of mud. Close the lid of the pail after filling your pan to keep the mud from drying out.

2. Apply the mud to each wall that you will be applying the wallpaper to. Use a mud knife to generously smooth the mud onto the wall surface. Smooth the mud over the entire surface of the wall, from top to bottom and side to side, covering the texture with a layer of mud that is about ¼ inch thick. Allow the mud to dry two hours.

3. Apply a second coat of mud to the textured wall to ensure that all of the texture on the wall is completely covered. The second layer of mud should cover all of the texture that the first coat of mud did not. Allow the mud to dry for four hours.

4. Wearing a face mask, use a handheld sander and fine-grit sandpaper to sand the entire wall surface until it is smooth. Dust the wall off completely using a soft cloth. Use a shop vacuum to remove the dust on the walls and floors that a soft cloth will not.

5. Apply a coat of primer to the wall using a roller and tray. Fill in the edges of the walls using a small paintbrush or an edger. Do this to give the wallpaper paste something to adhere to, as it will not properly adhere to the sheetrock mud. Allow the primer to dry 24 hours.

6. Apply wallpaper that has been cut to size according to how tall the walls are in the room. Apply the wallpaper paste to the back side of the wallpaper using a 6-inch wallpaper brush. Hang the wallpaper on the smooth wall.