Skip Trowel Drywall Texture
Skip Trowel Texture refers to various hand-applied drywall textures depending on your region of the country. The most common and likely original Skip Trowel Textures can be found in the southwest United States.
The original Skip Trowel texture is applied using a special curved knife that is 18 or 22 inches wide. The drywall mud used for Skip Trowel Texture is mixed with quite a bit of water and thus is a very thin viscosity mud.
The angle of the curved knife relative to the drywall surface in combination with the use of very thin drywall mud causes the knife to skip across the drywall surface, leaving behind small circles (1-2 inches in diameter) that are the signature-look of a true Skip Trowel Texture. These small circles are usually found in rows at least as long as the length of the knife.
Skip Trowel Drywall Texture is sometimes confused with Hawk-and-Trowel Drywall Texture. Hawk-and-Trowel Drywall Texture consists of straight lines and layers of texture flowing over one another as opposed to the distinct circles that define a true Skip Trowel texture.
Skip Trowel Drywall Texture at times resembles a very thin Santa Fe Texture, however, they are not the same. The main difference between Skip Trowel Texture and Santa Fe Texture is the percentage of drywall covered by drywall texture.
Skip Trowel Texture covers at most 50 percent of the drywall surface. Whereas, a Santa Fe Texture can cover between 60 and 90 percent of the drywall surface. Similar techniques are used to apply a Santa Fe Texture and a Skip Trowel Texture but Santa Fe does not always have a distinct circle pattern as Skip Trowel Texture does.
Where can you buy a Skip Trowel knife?
Many online stores sell Skip Trowel knives. They are usually called knockdown knives or perhaps drywall texture knives. In the southwest United States, you can find a Skip Trowel knife in brick-and-mortar stores since this texture is very common in this region. But in the northern, midwest, and northwest United States, you may have to look online to purchase a Skip Trowel knife.
When looking for a Skip Trowel knife, tradesmen and retailers may be thinking of different style drywall textures depending on their region of the country.
If you are thinking of having a contractor apply a skip trowel texture to your next drywall project, make sure to see samples of drywall textures he has created before you approve of his style of Skip Trowel Texture. His idea of Skip Trowel may vary greatly from what you are expecting.
