Talking Walls
Volume 2, Issue 8
September 2003
A regular look at decorative
wall finishes.
Remodeling
Tips
Over the years we have done
wall finishes on a large number of remodeling projects. We have seen the
good, the bad and the ugly. Here's a few tips regarding walls that
you might find useful on your next remodeling project. To the
left, you will see a recent project of ours, shot before it was
completed. Even incomplete, it illustrates a few of our
points.
*To Texture or Not to
Texture? Almost all modern construction on the West Coast
uses wallboard that is then textured over with a skip trowel or other such
finish. Walls with this sort of texture have the same quality, whether
they are in an apartment or a million dollar home. If there is any chance
you are going to want to do a faux or decorative plaster finish, omit texturing
the walls. That way, you have a smooth canvas on which you can create old
world, or contemporary finishes. We offer many finishes that have a rough,
Mediterranean feel, but we always start from a smooth wall, skim coating if
needed. So save the expense and time - don't texture under a decorative
finish.
* Crown
Molding. Putting in crown molding in a
room has several advantages. It gives it a richer look, defines the room
better and creates a natural break the ceiling and the walls, such that if you
want to do a decorative finish on the walls and not the ceiling, you can.
Also crown molding, along with a nice baseboard "picture frames" your walls,
particularly when they have a decorative finish. The majority of crown molding
we have seen on remodels is usually painted out in white or off-white.
Something we have done that you might consider for your next project is
using darker colors or metallics on trim to create a completely different
look.
*Bold, Striking Colors.
In many projects we have come across and seen over the years, the walls
or wall finishes are done in light colors and shades as a backdrop, conventional
thinking being that it wouldn't darken the room up too much or make the walls
too intrusive in relation to the other elements in the room. However, you
might consider testing out deep vivid colors in your wall finishes, whether
paint, plaster, faux, etc. obviously using your color wheel to harmonize with
the other elements. Another nontraditional use of color is to do your
ceiling whether paint or decorative finish in a darker shade than the
walls. It can create a very different feel for the room, as it brings the
ceiling closer and pushes the walls out. To see if this is going to work
for you, ask your finisher to do a sample board which you then tape up, or paint
a swatch of color etc.
*When to do the Wall
Finish. Questions come up on a remodel as to when to do the wall
finish -- before the trim, after the trim, before the floor, after the floor,
etc. One of the pluses to doing the wall finish before anything else is that it
is easy to get done for the wall finisher. Also no worries about getting
anything on new carpet or flooring. Downside being guys putting in
carpet,cabinet or trim can nick, bang or dirty your new wall finish. One
other point to take into consideration, when doing a special wall finish,
particularly anything with more than one color in the finish, you are trying to
make sure it will work with all the other elements (flooring, cabinetry,
lighting, etc.) and while you can use samples to try to see if it will all work
together, it is much easier to do the finish with all the other elements in
place. This way you can really see how the color and lighting are going to
play off each other, and will know for sure the colors in your expensive wall
finish are going to work.
Please Answer a Short Survey
Did you ever get one of our sample
books?
Yes______
No______
If so, have you found it
useful?
If you have any projects
you would like to use plaster finishes on, call us at 408-448-1683 for an
appointment.
Next month:
surprises
venetian plaster * marmarino *
stucco veneziano * eco friendly wall finishes
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