Textured Drywall Pros & Cons

Textured drywall is easy to spot. The rough bumps can be on textured walls or ceilings Textured drywall ceilings are often called popcorn ceilings, since the texture creates a look similar to popcorn kernels. 

Plenty of people have opinions about the look of textured drywall. But there are a few benefits. Weighing the pros and cons of this popcorn texture finish can help you plan your next drywall project.

Benefits of Textured Drywall

Just because people have their criticisms of textured drywall doesn’t mean it has no benefits. It may be a good choice for your home improvement project if you want to:

• Add dimension to a room: If you have a room in which the walls and ceilings are all drywall, adding texture to one of those panels can create a sense of dimension in the space and prevent the room from looking homogenous.
• Create a unique look: Texture can create a unique finish for a wall or hallway to make a room look more interesting.
• Act as camouflage: The most common reason textured drywall is installed is because it can hide imperfections in the drywall finish so it doesn’t have to be repaired, repainted, or refinished as often. (Source: D&D Painting)

While these benefits are worth noting, painting professionals (and most home and business owners) prefer smooth drywall for their walls and ceilings.

Cons of Textured Drywall

All American Painting Plus teams have noticed that working with textured drywall has drawbacks, too.

• Dated look and feel: Textured drywall, and especially popcorn ceilings, have a way of dating your home or business interior. If you are looking for an update that includes a more modern finish, it’s time to think about removing the textured surface from your drywall. 
• Difficult to remove: Removing textured drywall is difficult to do without damaging the surface beneath the texturing without hiring a painter.
• Harder to clean or paint: When you’re ready to clean or paint your textured drywall, the texture itself can make this more challenging by trapping dirt and debris or affecting how well paint adheres to the surface.
• Decreased appeal for buyers: Because they look outdated and are hard to remove, textured drywall isn’t appealing to most buyers. If you’re preparing to sell, popcorn ceilings or textured walls could hurt your resale value. (Source: SF Gate).

If you are dissatisfied with texturing on your drywall or want to remove that orange peel texture or popcorn ceilings, your painting company can help you plan your drywall renovation project.

All the Pros, None of the Cons

Removing textured drywall ceilings or interior walls and applying fresh paint has all the pros of textured drywall, with none of the cons. 

You don’t have to worry whether paint will make a room more interesting. A near-infinite number of paint colors and finishes can add variety and dimension to your space.

The smoother finish will make repainting, repairing, and replacing drywall easier in the future. And debris won’t get trapped in the textured bits, meaning you can wipe or dust smooth wall much more easily.

Further, while you may not be able to hide all the imperfections you could with textured drywall, smoother drywall means you’ll notice problems sooner, before they spread, worsen, or cause further issues in your interior rooms.

Whether you want to update your home to impress potential buyers or check a long-overdue project off your list, All American Painting plus can help. Call us for your drywall project estimate today.