# Sand finish plaster repair



## MIZZOU (Nov 18, 2012)

We have a job coming up that has a sand finish on plaster walls. We have some cracks to fix and were going to attempt to match the existing sand finish. The finish is pretty sporadic and not very uniform so I think we can repair instead of skim coat. 

I plan on adding a sand additive to a coat of something for the repairs. I'm thinking about using gardz so I can see the repair better. Bad idea? Im going to pick up a key from the HO later today so I'll take some pictures and post them.


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## Paradigmzz (May 5, 2010)

MIZZOU said:


> We have a job coming up that has a sand finish on plaster walls. We have some cracks to fix and were going to attempt to match the existing sand finish. The finish is pretty sporadic and not very uniform so I think we can repair instead of skim coat.
> 
> I plan on adding a sand additive to a coat of something for the repairs. I'm thinking about using gardz so I can see the repair better. Bad idea? Im going to pick up a key from the HO later today so I'll take some pictures and post them.


Add sand to thinned out mud and use a hopper. I'd sand the areas first and skim them then do this though.


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## Sir Mixalot (Sep 8, 2009)

Paradigmzz said:


> Add sand to thinned out mud and use a hopper. I'd sand the areas first and skim them then do this though.


Yep! That's exactly what I do. Just feather it out or go corner to corner. :thumbup:


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## MIZZOU (Nov 18, 2012)

Never repaired a sand finish, thank you guys for the help. I'll thin some mud, add sand and give it some practice in the shop.


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## Wolfgang (Nov 16, 2008)

This is where a paint tray comes in handy. You can add the sand to the paint in different areas of the tray to get the different sand texture. Roll on the base color, let it dry and then you can add the sand texture as needed by either brushing or daubing it on. Let it dry thoroughly and top coat if needed to match the sheen and wall texture. Nothing real hard about it, just time consuming - so charge accordingly.


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## MIZZOU (Nov 18, 2012)

Wolfgang said:


> This is where a paint tray comes in handy. You can add the sand to the paint in different areas of the tray to get the different sand texture. Roll on the base color, let it dry and then you can add the sand texture as needed by either brushing or daubing it on. Let it dry thoroughly and top coat if needed to match the sheen and wall texture. Nothing real hard about it, just time consuming - so charge accordingly.


I think this is going to be a better option then a hopper on this job. I won't be masking anything off, so not using the hopper will probably be quicker.


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## Paradigmzz (May 5, 2010)

Only issue with this is the sand looks more ****ounced on the wall. In mud it has a better smoothed appeareance. Also, with a hopper its much more consistent. Rolled on is patchy and chunky. It will work this way, I think with a hopper is a more pro job but I have rolled on plenty too.


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## Paradigmzz (May 5, 2010)

The fact you can't write pro nounced is mega gay.


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## Wolfgang (Nov 16, 2008)

Paradigmzz said:


> Only issue with this is the sand looks more ****ounced on the wall. In mud it has a better smoothed appeareance. Also, with a hopper its much more consistent. Rolled on is patchy and chunky. It will work this way, I think with a hopper is a more pro job but I have rolled on plenty too.


It all depends on the existing texture. All of the jobs I've done are random type textures with some larger sand clumps. If it was uniform, then definitely as you said.


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## Gough (Nov 24, 2010)

Wolfgang said:


> It all depends on the existing texture. All of the jobs I've done are random type textures with some larger sand clumps. If it was uniform, then definitely as you said.


Most of the sand finish plaster around here has more of the random texture, so the brush technique works well. We also often use some inexpensive block filler after the sand to "bury" the new texture a little, especially in older homes that have many coats of paint.


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## MIZZOU (Nov 18, 2012)

View attachment 20612


Here's the stairway on this job, It's a random enough finish I'm going to try brush or weenie roller. I tried the sand finish outta the hopper for fun last night. Definitely needs to be thinner mud then I thought. Para - when you shoot it with a hopper do you knife it after or leave it?


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## Hines Painting (Jun 22, 2013)

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## MIZZOU (Nov 18, 2012)




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## MIZZOU (Nov 18, 2012)

I'm going to use the hopper on the patch by the window. This is surprisingly the only really bad spot, the rest are settling cracks.


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## Gough (Nov 24, 2010)

MIZZOU said:


> I'm going to use the hopper on the patch by the window. This is surprisingly the only really bad spot, the rest are settling cracks.


Is that really necessary? I think one coat of ProMar 200 should cover that lath just fine, two coats in a pinch.:whistling2: Just get it done.


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## Lazerline (Mar 26, 2012)

I had a job like this once where sand was actually a bit too fine and uniform in size. What I had to do was get a bunch of perlite and crush it until it had a comparable texture which gave me a perfect size and texture variation. I then mixed it straight into my primer. Worked great.


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## MIZZOU (Nov 18, 2012)

Thanks to everyone for the advice. I decided to brush and roll the sand finish but I'm still curious about shooting it out of a hopper. Just thin it way down and spray it like an orange peel? Thanks again.


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## Sir Mixalot (Sep 8, 2009)

MIZZOU said:


> I'm still curious about shooting it out of a hopper. Just thin it way down and spray it like an orange peel? Thanks again.


Yes. :thumbsup:


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