Matching Sand Finish?

Thewallfixer

Is there anything more difficult than matching sand finish?

I repair a lot of plaster and sometimes some jackass put sand finish on it in the 80s. I tell my clients it's impossible to match but I do better than most. Still try my hardest and it never matches, sometimes it looks worse than when I started, except the plaster crack is gone. Today I painted the ceiling without trying to match the sand finish I just left the sanded cracks alone, and it looks better than the other room I did where I tried to match it.

Anybody have any secrets? I am considering turning down all jobs with sand finsh in the future.

Luckily people don't look at ceilings very often.

Any thoughts?

MarvinWilleyJr

Yes....repairing this impact resistant stuff we are doing.

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MarvinWilleyJr

Can you sell them on doing away with the sand finish and slicking it or something. Be easier than trying to match.

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A stupid man's report of what a clever man says is never accurate because he unconsciously translates what he hears into something he can understand.

Thewallfixer

by slicking do you mean sanding it all down and skim coating? because every ceiling in this 3,000 square foot home has it. Plus sanding an entire room overhead makes my arms hurt just thinking about it.

MarvinWilleyJr

Yeah, what ever would be easiest. Not sure what a sand finish is.

Maybe a pole sander, just looking at different options than matching.

We are running into a problem repairing this impact crap we did. First time we have ever done it...now we gotta repair patches. We have no clue.

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A stupid man's report of what a clever man says is never accurate because he unconsciously translates what he hears into something he can understand.

Thewallfixer

sand finish=put sand in paint, put it on walls, usually ceiling, sometimes in a pattern usually not and usually it has 7 coats of paint on it. a little less worse than the popcorn ceiling.

Sanding is not an option I could skim coat it, but this room it 17x20 and the homeowner I am sure would not want to pay what I would have to charge to do that.

that job you are doing looks brutal as well. good luck

jackrabbit5

There's lots of different kinds of sand finish. There's sand finish plaster (100 years old with 30 coats of paint or brand new) where the sand is actually part of the plaster and there's sprayed on sand finish and then there's the perlited sand you add to paint and problably lots of others. Some are easier to match than others but they are all a challenge.

Da Vinci

What is that impact resistant product? is it plaster? It looks like some of the projects out here where they spray texture (more watered down than usual) heavy. Once it starts to set up, they trowel to look alot like your pic.

It looks like it could be a cementitious product as well. How big a patch are doing?

Bay Area Painter

MarvinWilleyJr

It's Triarch Plastic.

You apply it with a faux plastic loop roller, and them do it like knock down with a little paddle. email me if ya want more in depth pics and explination about it, before we hijack the thread.

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A stupid man's report of what a clever man says is never accurate because he unconsciously translates what he hears into something he can understand.

Paul_R

Whoa, Marvin, the surface looks like it might have some dreaded disease!! The whole subject of texture makes me quiver in uncertainty. I tell my customers that texture can be often imitated, but never duplicated, especially when I am doing repair to some weird ass ceiling that has multiple patches!! You just have to give it your best, and let them know that it may not perfectly match the surrounding area.


Happy Patching and Painting!!

Sincerely Paul

MarvinWilleyJr

exactlly

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A stupid man's report of what a clever man says is never accurate because he unconsciously translates what he hears into something he can understand.

KellyPainting

I do allot of ceiling repairs with it.
Just figure out what grit it is...(like sandpaper)... there is fine / medium ect..... prep area (prime if needed) then mix it yourself... into ceiling paint you'll try a few before you get it right..... I use an old exterior brush to put it on (over the repair) then just twist to any pattern needed.