Ron invited two new friends and faux finish experts, Cheryl and Julie, to his home so that they might teach him one of the trowel finishes they specialize in. Ron was looking for a finish that was rich in texture as well as color.
To learn more about Cheryl and Julie's work visit www.customworksfaux.com
When practicing any faux finish, but especially ones with texture, it is a good idea to begin on a text panel. That way you can experiment a bit and get the feel for how to work with the materials before actually putting it up on your wall. |
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Begin with a textured paint, which has a very thick consistency, similar to slightly thinned joint compound. Texture paint is commonly used to hide wall and ceiling imperfections and is reinforced with interwoven fibers to resist cracking. This paint also bonds well to surfaces that have been previously painted.
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| Apply the textured paint to a test panel using a trowel with rounded ends, designed for applying cement to the curved surfaces of swimming pools. The trowel should be at almost a 45 degree angle to the surface while you distribute the material over the surface. With a large trowel, you can cover a lot of area in a short amount of time. |
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Once the paint is distributed somewhat evenly, you will go back to get the texture you want. To achieve the desired effect, you need to flatten the trowel a little more and drag it across the paint allowing it to grab a little as it skims the surface. You still need to maintain a little bit of an angle, otherwise the trowel is likely to get stuck.
At times it may actually feel like the trowel is skipping, which is perfectly normal, and is why this is sometimes called skip toweling.
Once you have achieved the desired effect, set the paint aside to dry for approximately 24 hours.
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| For the next step, which is painting over the textured surface, select a water based eggshell or satin finish. Using a long nap roller, the idea is to fully cover the surface getting down into all of those recesses that you created with your texture. A flat paint is not recommended for this process. |
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| Water based paint usually takes about one hour to dry before you can apply the translucent top coat.
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| To prepare the top coat, begin with a clear water based glazing liquid and then add concentrated colored pigment to create your desired color.
The advantage of using a tinted glazing medium rather than just the diluted paint is that the glaze allows you more time to work than you would have with just a watered down paint, which dries much more quickly. This is especially important if you are just learning to get the hang of some of these techniques. |
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| Apply glaze to the entire surface with a medium nap roller. Once the glaze covers the surface then you will go back and take most of it off again, leaving just a little bit behind. |
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| Using a contractor rag towel, simply wipe off the glaze in circular motions. Keep going back over each section until you can no longer see any clear swipe marks. But you also don't want to push too hard, because you want to allow the glaze to collect in the low spots or depressions that you created with your texture. |
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| If you overlap your glaze, you begin to see a darker effect if you let it dry too long. In some cases this may be the look you are after, so it is good to experiment. You might also want to vary the effect in different areas, pushing down slightly harder in some areas to get a lighter effect. |
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| After you have achieved the look you are after, the paint needs to cure for about 7 days. |
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| When you are finally done, the textured faux finish should have the beautiful, warm look of old plaster. |
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