Having fun with mud

OK now, grab the texture gun and head for the house, don't worry about the crazy woman blocking the door thinking you lost your mind. Well maybe you should slow down a little bit and make sure you are ready.

Once again preparation is the key!
It is now time to refine your masking skills.

When I look at a job there are many things to consider.
Is the ceiling in good condition or will it be redone also?
Is it textured already? Does it have crown molding?
Is the room empty?
It needs to be easy to move around in.

How you answer those questions is going to determine what type of masking you need to do for protecting it. The best option is protect it no matter the answer.
This can be done simply by using 2" green or blue tape and 1.5 mil painters plastic, I recommend buying the 400 ft rolls for the best value.

If it has crown molding the job is fairly easy.
Take the 2" green tape and tape nice straight lines on the bottom edge of the crown all the way around the perimeter making sure to over lap pieces a few inches for strength and press first half of tape on lower part of crown so it will hold firm, leaving top half of tape hanging so you can attach plastic to it.
Take your roll of plastic and pull about 4-5 ft of and cut, you will then be able to pull the folds apart and it will stretch out 9-12 ft depending on which size you bought.
Start in a corner and attach the cut side one direction and the length the other direction.
Take small tabs of tape and secure plastic towards the center of ceiling and then over lap next piece of plastic and tape seam together, repeat process around ceiling.

If you have slick ceilings with no crown you just tape the perimeter in the same fashion.
When it comes to popcorn ceilings you have two options.
If you are going to repaint which I stress must be done with a spray gun you can shoot texture and then mask off walls when dry and paint.
If you are not going to repaint you will want to staple plastic around perimeter about 4-5 ft wide.
You can touch up staple holes with a dab of mud and paint if needed.

OK that covers the ceiling, the hard part is done.
Now we move on to the floor , doors, windows and base board.
I still like to use the 2" green tape for this job, some will say why not blue tape and my answer is.
I have had it come loose from glossy finishes and you do not want that in the middle of a job!

First have enough drop cloths to cover the floor and get them positioned, it is not a bad idea to do this before you mask the ceiling even.
Start with the windows and run 2" tape around the casing leaving the inside edge loose to attach plastic.
Grab your plastic roll and walk up to window, pull running length and measure so you have a couple extra inches on each side and cut. I like to use the snap off razor blades for this.
Start at the top of window and tuck plastic under and down one side to tape, move to other side of window and fold plastic behind itself so there is no loose plastic left dangling next to the wall.
Then fold plastic inside itself at bottom of window and attach to tape.
The doors can be done in the same fashion except you will let it lay on drop cloths on floor and secure with a couple tabs of tape, leave your entrance to the room unmasked until you have every thing in the room you need to spray and work with.
Next is the base which is pretty simple, run your 2" tape on the top lip of base and leave bottom loose to attach plastic, I'm sure you have the hang of running plastic by now.
Make sure to overlap pieces, about 2 ft wide is good and tape the seams together and secure to drop cloths with tabs of tape.

You are now ready to get your equipment and mud supplies into the room with you which I will list and explain process in next post.