Randy’s Painting & Drywall

Hellertown, Northampton County

Drywall texture matching & removal in Hellertown, PA.

More than half of Hellertown's homes were built between 1940 and 1979, among them the Cape Cods of Durham Terrace, with bedrooms under sloped ceilings. That is where a texture repair has the least room to hide.

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A ceiling and walls patched in white compound, a work table of tools in the middle of the room.
Ceiling and walls, patched mid-job.

Drywall texture matching & removal for Hellertown homes

From 1940 through 1979 the borough added most of the houses it has today: the Mountainview section from 1940 on, the 154 Cape Cods of Durham Terrace from 1951 to 1954, and the houses of the 1960s and 1970s after them. Those were the years when drywall replaced plaster and sprayed ceilings were in fashion, so original texture in any of them went on before the mid-1980s.

That makes the order of work simple. Before a textured surface in one of these houses is cut, sanded or skimmed, a sample goes to a lab, and if it shows asbestos, a certified asbestos abatement contractor removes it. Once a test is clear, the work is matching: giving a repaired ceiling or wall the same pattern as the rest, so the repair stops drawing the eye in a small room.

Hellertown

Sloped ceilings in the Capes of Durham Terrace

A Durham Terrace Cape is a story and a half, with a central stair rising to two small bedrooms under the roof. Upstairs, sloped ceilings meet knee walls below and flat ceilings above along long joints, and those joints move with the seasons. Where the ceilings carry a texture, fixing a cracked angle means retaping the joint, then matching the pattern along a strip that can run the length of the room, close to eye level.

Light is the hard part. On a slope, texture is seen at a glancing angle that exaggerates any difference in height between old pattern and new, so the match is tried on a board held at the same tilt before it goes up. The township around the borough adds other houses: about a quarter of Lower Saucon Township's homes date from 1960 to 1979 and nearly half from 1980 on, where a builder's texture may be matched or skimmed away.

Close-up of a wall part-way through a skim coat, the compound’s knife strokes catching the light.
A skim coat, close up.

Worth knowing

  1. Fix the joint, then the pattern

    Texture laid over a cracked angle cracks again with the next season. The joint is retaped and feathered first, and the texture match comes last.

  2. Test before the angle is opened

    Retaping an angle cuts into its texture and the compound beneath. In a house from the 1940s or 1950s, both are sampled before the knife goes in.

  3. Small rooms, close looks

    Upstairs rooms in a Cape are small, so a repair is seen from a few feet away rather than across a room. The match has to hold up at that distance.

The work

How the work goes

The same care on every job, in every town. The full guide to drywall texture matching & removal.

A two-story stairwell wall patched and primed in white over a wood banister, a chandelier hanging below.
A stairwell wall, patched and primed.

  1. Read the wall

    The texture is studied in side light: its pattern, its height, how it was applied. Then Randy talks through the choices with you: match it, change it, or take it off. The walkthrough and written estimate are complimentary.

  2. Test older texture first

    Texture or compound from before the mid-1980s should have a sample tested before anyone sands or scrapes it. If it tests positive, removal is work for a certified asbestos abatement contractor.

  3. Repair and prime

    The patch is finished flat and primed before texture goes on, so the new texture absorbs and dries the same over fresh compound as over old paint. Primer also keeps the patch from flashing through the paint later.

  4. Match it, or bury it

    To match, mix and pressure are tried on a scrap until the pattern dries the same, then texture is applied and feathered past the repair. To remove, the wall is skimmed in thin coats until the pattern is gone.

  5. Prime and paint the whole wall

    Primer evens out new and old surfaces. The whole wall is painted, corner to corner, so the sheen reads as one.

Questions

Drywall texture matching & removal, Hellertown.

The upstairs ceilings in our Durham Terrace Cape are textured, and the cracks at the angles keep coming back. Can the texture be matched once the joints are fixed?

Yes, after a sample of the texture and compound has tested clear. The angle is opened, retaped and feathered wide so it is less likely to split again, then the texture is matched along the repaired strip and the whole slope is painted. If the sample is positive, removal is a job for a certified asbestos abatement contractor.

Our Mountainview house has popcorn on one ceiling and a flatter texture on another. Are they the same job?

No. Popcorn is a thick acoustic texture that is usually scraped off before the ceiling is skimmed, which is a job of its own. Flatter textures, such as orange peel, knockdown or a swirl, are matched for a repair or skimmed over to go smooth. In a house from the 1940s or 1950s, either one is tested before it is disturbed.

Do you work on texture in Lower Saucon Township?

Yes, along with the villages of Leithsville, Seidersville and Wassergass. Nearly half of the township's homes have been built since 1980 and about a quarter date from 1960 to 1979, so whether a test comes first depends on when a texture went on.

More in Hellertown

Other services here.

  1. Level 5 drywall finishA skim coat over the entire surface, for walls that hold up under raking light and dark paint.
  2. Skim coatingRough, patched or uneven walls resurfaced smooth, often after wallpaper comes down.
  3. Plaster repairCracked, loose and failing plaster in older homes, repaired and made sound.
  4. Interior paintingWalls, ceilings, trim, doors and millwork, prepared properly and finished clean.
  5. Exterior paintingSiding, trim, porches, stucco and brick, prepared to stand up to Pennsylvania weather.
  6. Drywall installation & repairNew drywall hung, taped and finished; cracks, holes and water damage repaired invisibly.
  7. Popcorn ceiling removalOld acoustic texture taken down and the ceiling finished smooth.
  8. Wallpaper removalOld wallpaper and wall linings stripped without tearing up the wall beneath.
  9. Wood stainingDecks, porch floors, doors and trim, inside and out, stained by hand.

Consultation

Request a private consultation.

Private walkthrough & written estimate, complimentary. Tell us a little about the house and the rooms, and Randy will be in touch to arrange a time.

Hours
Monday – Friday8:30 AM – 5:30 PMSaturday10 AM – 3 PMSundayClosed
Service area
Easton, Bethlehem, Allentown and the greater Lehigh Valley; Bucks County, Pennsylvania.

Fully insured — proof on request. Residential and commercial.

Randy’sPainting & DrywallReply card
The project
Preferred contact

Walkthrough & written estimate, complimentary.