Skip Trowel Techniques

What It Is

• Skip trowel texturing is used to create an aged patina on the walls. It is performed like other knockdown techniques. Namely, the mixture of plaster or joint compound or another texture mix is sprayed on the walls. The trowel is then used to knock the splotches of texture mix down. This is where the skip trowel techniques differs from others. The smoothed-out compound is again spread with a trowel that is angled and raised to skip along the surface as the hand twists at the wrist. It is allowed to dry before painted.

When It's Used

• The skip trowel texture is dried and then painted with a thinned- texture paint that gives the walls a patina. It adds age and a coloring that is more interesting thnt a traditionally painted wall, in that the texture paint often has highlights and lowlights that are visible and made even more dynamic by the hills and valleys created in the textured wall. Builders and decorators use this texture to create a home-spun look.

Tools Needed

• The tools needed to perform the skip trowel technique are the trowel, a texture mix and a special sprayer made for applying texture mix. Texture paint is also needed to finish the wall. Do-it-yourself texture workers should also get covers for the furniture and tape to separate the areas that do not receive the texture.

Considerations

• The skip trowel technique is used to finish a texture job, over a skimcoating texture job. The skip trowel technique may also be the secondary technique used under another textured finish.