Drywall Dilemmas
Ok, did you catch my drywall blunder this week? I made a reel about our drywall finishing andddd I got the details a little wrong. Ugh. I talked about it in my stories (which I’ll make into a highlight for clarification purposes).
Basically, I was thinking this past weekend about how grateful I am to have smooth walls that don’t require covering with wood when we build shelving or wall features over top. Our drywall is smooth enough that we have painted it with semigloss paint in some areas for a cohesive look (i.e. the pantry, the hallway wainscoting feature). I fully believe this smoothness has saved us lots of time and energy with projects and I would choose it again every time. But, I know not everyone gets the option to do smooth and also that regionally drywall finishes and textures can vary drastically.
The backstory according to Matt: Due to the timing of our home build coinciding with the county-wide rebuild post Hurricane Michael, every one in our area had construction projects also. Matt had to interview several drywall crews (lots of crews were here temporarily to take on jobs from hurricane damage) before he finally found a crew that was willing to do a smooth finish. We opted for both a smooth wall and smooth ceiling finish. Our drywall crew completed a Level 4 finish throughout our entire home. Additionally, Matt wanted extra coverage in some areas due to imperfections he saw so he did a complete mudding + smoothing technique, which technically would be considered a Level 5 finish. The running joke has been that we have designated our drywall finish a 4.5 because we have a little of both going on.
According to TheSpruce.com (I’ll link to their full article below), the drywall finishing levels are as follows:
LEVEL 0- no finishing technique, drywall is hung but that’s it
LEVEL 1- drywall has joint tape is applied but is visible
LEVEL 2- apply a thin coat of joint compound over tape and screws
LEVEL 3- joint compound is applied to cover screws and seams
LEVEL 4- apply another coat of joint compound and then sand down to a smooth finish
LEVEL 5- apply a skim coat to entire area so there is no textural difference between the areas where the tape and screws are located. The smoothest level of drywall finish
Let’s chat about why you’d want texture vs smooth. Texture usually costs less, requires less time on job site, covers imperfections in drywall, and sometimes disguises knicks and dings that can occur during regular wear and tear. The downside would be that your walls would all have noticeable texture to them (only a negative if that isn’t your preference), you would have to cover the wall with board if you did any wall treatments. It really comes down to preference. If you see the comments on my drywall reel, you’ll see the huge variance in what different areas of the nation prefer. Pretty wild!
Paint is the final piece of this equation. If you want to use a glossy finish, you want perfectly smooth walls otherwise the light is going to reflect off each imperfection and really call attention to it.
The Spruce has a great article that I would suggest if you would like more info!