I recently had to patch a 1' x 1' section of drywall in my game room. After securing the patch, I would use DryDex joint compound to cover the repair and sand it smooth. Then, apply an Orange Peel texture, let it semi-dry, and take a putty knife to knock it down in an attempt to match the existing wall texture.

However, I have never been completely satisfied with the final result as there is still a noticeable difference between my wall repair and the existing texture.

Besides feathering out the Orange Peel, any other suggestions how to get a drywall patch surface to more closely resemble the existing knock down wall texture?

Knock down is one of those things that varies from person to person and day to day based on consistency of mud and timing of the application and knock down. Best bet is to feather out the new texture to as large an area as you can and make sure you prime and paint corner to corner to help hide the patch.

Where are you located. How are you spraying your splatter

I'm located in the DFW metroplex.

I use the Orange Peel spray texture on the heavy setting making several left to right passes with the can held about 6" - 8" from the wall. I attempting to feather my spray pattern but as mentioned above I can never get realistic looking results.

We need pictures. Orange peel texture isn't the same as knockdown texture.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Homax-20-oz-Wall-Knockdown-Water-Based-Spray-Texture-4065-06/100000364

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Homax-20-oz-White-Orange-Peel-Wall-Texture/3439958?cm_mmc=shp-_-c-_-prd-_-pnt-_-google-_-lia-_--_-wallrepair-_-3439958-_-0&store_code=1579&placeholder=null&gclsrc=aw.ds&&gclid=Cj0KCQjw0rr4BRCtARIsAB0_48OAmenuo4K17ck4Am6eY8mumdr80etJwa5GCZiJ6vThevqixfWGYAAaApALEALw_wcB

I can't speak to knock down but I patched orange peal this week. All cans I looked at said to spray from 2ft away or further.

You are not going to get it to match. It is an art form to try to match it like that. Even experienced drywall guys will float out the wall from corner to corner and re texture the whole thing. To do what you are doing, you need a hopper and compressor and then you can experiment with different water ratios, air pressures, and nozzle sizes to get it just right.

There is a bit of an art form to this, and I've done 6-8 repair jobs in my house , some larger than other. My wall is a HEAVY knockown, so the knockdown cans on heavy settings are still too small. What I have found is (specific to my knockdown texture):

a) go over the smooth areas with a pass or two of the fine setting on knockdown as a first "coat". Don't knock it down. This just provides a non-smooth under coat of sorts, which matches my walls

b) make sure you shake the can like hell....if there is not enough pressure in it the stuff just dribbles out and doesn't spray.

c). to get some variation for some larger spots, I would take some excess that usually dribbles down the can and just fling it at the area with my fingers

d). let it set for awhile and use a clean, smooth tool to lightly ever so lightly knock it down flat, then leave it alone

e) I sometimes then after it dries and before painting, take a damp sponge and wipe it just to dull the sharp edge of some of the spots (sharper edges remind me more of orange peel).

Builder93 said:

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You are not going to get it to match. It is an art form to try to match it like that. Even experienced drywall guys will float out the wall from corner to corner and re texture the whole thing. To do what you are doing, you need a hopper and compressor and then you can experiment with different water ratios, air pressures, and nozzle sizes to get it just right.

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Not true. I would never float a whole wall to match a texture. I will say not easy but I am damn good at it

And what an extra cost for floating out a wall for a 2x2 hole

But you are so right also no can will match hopper texture
Mud. Has to be exact. Hopper hole has to be close. Air needs to be exaxt and how far from the wall when you spray

Op. Text me and i can walk you thru this

979-eight two o -l87o. Gary

CapCity12thMan said:

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There is a bit of an art form to this, and I've done 6-8 repair jobs in my house , some larger than other. My wall is a HEAVY knockown, so the knockdown cans on heavy settings are still too small. What I have found is (specific to my knockdown texture):

a) go over the smooth areas with a pass or two of the fine setting on knockdown as a first "coat". Don't knock it down. This just provides a non-smooth under coat of sorts, which matches my walls

b) make sure you shake the can like hell....if there is not enough pressure in it the stuff just dribbles out and doesn't spray.

c). to get some variation for some larger spots, I would take some excess that usually dribbles down the can and just fling it at the area with my fingers

d). let it set for awhile and use a clean, smooth tool to lightly ever so lightly knock it down flat, then leave it alone

e) I sometimes then after it dries and before painting, take a damp sponge and wipe it just to dull the sharp edge of some of the spots (sharper edges remind me more of orange peel).

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Is that a patch job. If so that is unbelievable. Very good

maddiedou said:

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Builder93 said:

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You are not going to get it to match. It is an art form to try to match it like that. Even experienced drywall guys will float out the wall from corner to corner and re texture the whole thing. To do what you are doing, you need a hopper and compressor and then you can experiment with different water ratios, air pressures, and nozzle sizes to get it just right.

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Not true. I would never float a whole wall to match a texture. I will say not easy but I am damn good at it

And what an extra cost for floating out a wall for a 2x2 hole

But you are so right also no can will match hopper texture
Mud. Has to be exact. Hopper hole has to be close. Air needs to be exaxt and how far from the wall when you spray

Op. Text me and i can walk you thru this

979-eight two o -l87o. Gary

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Yeah, but you said you are damn good at it. I've done it before also, even without the knockdown and gotten it so close I had to double check to locate it after I got it painted. It's not easy, though, and if you had never done it before, it's even harder depending on your standards.

Plus, I still have all of the equipment to do it. I have even mixed dirt from the yard in my mud to match a sand texture, then used a sponge to feather it into the rest of the wall.

And, yes, I have redone whole walls for a 2x2 patch, but that was commercial work.

thank you but no, that was just to show how thick my knockdown is....here is a patch job. If you zoom in and look closely you can see the outline of it, but the sheen at this angle makes it stand out more. I would be the only one to tell without close examination. It's not 100% perfect, but good enough for me

I'd say that's pretty good. The paint sheen helps the outline show up, but it's something that only you will notice.

it's not any worse than some of the spots I paid to have done

CapCity12thMan said:

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it's not any worse than some of the spots I paid to have done

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I can not believe that is out of a can. You need to do a utube video and show people your procedure. That is pretty close for a can. Good job

Good enough for the girls I go out with. I have done a lot of drywall patches and I would be happy if I got that result every time.

CapCity12thMan said:

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it's not any worse than some of the spots I paid to have done

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What kind of makes the seam is the squareness and linearity of the knocked down texture. Everything inside matches the outside, but there's too much texture at the seam, and when you go to knock out down, it makes a line of knocked down texture where you've filled in the gaps between the original knock downs.

I wonder if taping the seam when it's sprayed, pulling the tape, then adding just a small touch at the seams would help hide it.

ABATTBQ11 said:

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CapCity12thMan said:

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it's not any worse than some of the spots I paid to have done

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What kind of makes the seam is the squareness and linearity of the knocked down texture. Everything inside matches the outside, but there's too much texture at the seam, and when you go to knock out down, it makes a line of knocked down texture where you've filled in the gaps between the original knock downs.

I wonder if taping the seam when it's sprayed, pulling the tape, then adding just a small touch at the seams would help hide it.

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I have gotten the line to sort of disappear by using thinner drywall for the patch and then tapering the edge of the existing with a rasp. Then I tape it and build up the patch with a few layers of mud. The key is to use a drywall sponge to keep feathering out the edges.