Interior Textured Wall Painting: How to Get Smooth, Even Coverage Every Time

That bumpy wall in your living room isn’t going to paint itself—and if you treat it like a flat surface, you’re in for a frustrating afternoon. Interior house painting requires different approaches depending on your wall type, and textured surfaces demand extra attention, more paint, and specific techniques that most homeowners never learn until they’re already mid-project with streaky results. Interior textured wall painting doesn’t have to be a headache, but it does require you to throw out some of the “rules” you’ve picked up from painting flat drywall.

Here’s the good news: once you understand why textured walls behave differently and adjust your approach, you can get professional-looking results without hiring a crew.

• Textured walls require 15-25% more paint than flat surfaces due to increased surface area.
• Using the wrong roller nap is the most common mistake—thicker textures need thicker naps.
• Proper priming prevents flashing and uneven sheen, especially on repairs.
• Back-rolling after cutting in prevents visible lap marks on textured surfaces.
• Two coats minimum; some deep textures need three for full coverage.

Flat drywall has a predictable surface. You roll paint on, it spreads evenly, and you move on. Textured walls have peaks, valleys, crevices, and shadows. Every bump creates more surface area. Every crevice hides from your roller.

This means three things for your paint job:

1. You’ll use more paint. Those peaks and valleys add up to 15-25% more surface area than a flat wall of the same dimensions. Budget accordingly.
2. Coverage is harder to achieve. Paint loves to sit on the peaks and skip the valleys. One coat rarely does the job.
3. Lap marks show more easily. The texture catches light at different angles, which makes any inconsistency in your application more visible.

Understanding these differences before you start saves hours of frustration and touch-up work later.

Not all textured walls are created equal. Before you grab a roller, figure out what you’re working with:

• Knockdown Texture: Flat, irregular patches that look like stucco. Medium depth. Common in homes built after 1990.
• Orange Peel Texture: Small, rounded bumps resembling—you guessed it—orange skin. Light to medium depth. Very common in production homes.
• Popcorn Texture: Heavy, cottage-cheese-like bumps. Usually found on ceilings but sometimes on walls. Deep texture that’s tricky to paint.
• Skip Trowel Texture: Hand-applied plaster look with random arcs and swirls. Medium to heavy depth. Common in Mediterranean-style homes.
• Sand Texture: Fine grit mixed into the paint or applied separately. Light depth but rough to the touch.

Why does this matter? Because the depth and pattern of your texture determines which roller you need, how much paint to buy, and what technique to use.

This is where most DIY painters go wrong. They grab whatever roller is in the garage and wonder why their walls look patchy.

Roller nap—the thickness of the fuzzy cover—needs to match your texture depth:

• 3/8-inch nap: Flat to light orange peel texture
• 1/2-inch nap: Medium orange peel and light knockdown
• 3/4-inch nap: Heavy knockdown and skip trowel
• 1-inch nap or thicker: Popcorn and deep stucco textures

The thicker nap reaches into the valleys and crevices that a thin roller skips over. Yes, a thick nap uses more paint and can leave slight stippling on flat surfaces. But on textured walls, that’s exactly what you need.

Pro tip: Buy high-quality rollers. Cheap roller covers shed fibers that stick in your texture and show through the finish. Spending an extra $5-10 per roller saves you from picking fuzz out of your walls.

Skipping prep is tempting. The walls look fine, and you just want to get painting. But textured walls hide dirt, dust, and oils in all those little crevices. Paint won’t stick to grime.

Clean the walls. Use a damp cloth or sponge with mild detergent for washable areas. For dusty textures, a vacuum with a brush attachment works better than wiping, which can damage delicate texture.

Repair damage carefully. Here’s where things get tricky. Patching a hole in a textured wall leaves a smooth spot that shows through paint like a sore thumb. You have two options:

1. Use a texture-matching spray (available at hardware stores) to recreate the pattern over your patch
2. Skim coat the patch and feather the edges, accepting that it won’t be perfect

Either way, let repairs dry completely—24 hours minimum—before priming.

Prime problem areas. Fresh repairs, stains, and any bare drywall need primer. Without it, those spots absorb paint differently than the surrounding wall, creating visible “flashing” where the sheen doesn’t match.

For whole-room repaints over previously painted textured walls in good condition, you can often skip priming. But if you’re changing from dark to light colors, covering stains, or painting new texture, prime everything.

Cutting in—painting the edges where your roller can’t reach—takes patience on textured walls. The texture makes it harder to get clean lines along ceilings, corners, and trim.

• Use a quality angled brush. A 2.5-inch or 3-inch angled sash brush gives you control. Load it with paint, tap off the excess, and work in short strokes.
• Don’t rely solely on tape. Painter’s tape struggles on textured surfaces. The bumps create gaps where paint bleeds underneath. If you use tape, press it down firmly with a putty knife to seal the edges. Better yet, develop your brush skills and cut in freehand with a steady hand.
• Feather your edges. After cutting in, lightly feather the brush strokes toward the center of the wall. This prevents a visible line where your brush work meets your roller work.

Here’s where technique matters most. Random rolling leaves holidays (missed spots), lap marks, and uneven coverage that textured walls love to highlight.

• Load your roller properly. Dip the roller into the paint tray, then roll it back and forth on the tray’s ramp to distribute paint evenly. The roller should be saturated but not dripping.
• Work in sections. Paint in 3-foot by 3-foot sections, working from top to bottom. This keeps a wet edge and prevents lap marks.
• Use a W or M pattern. Roll paint onto the wall in a W or M shape, then fill in the pattern with parallel strokes. This distributes paint evenly across the texture.
• Back-roll every section. After filling in your W pattern, make one final pass with light pressure from top to bottom. This evens out the coverage and catches any spots you missed in the crevices.
• Maintain a wet edge. Textured walls show lap marks easily. Keep each section’s edge wet and overlap into it with the next section before it dries. On hot or dry days, work faster or do smaller sections.

The old “one coat coverage” claims on paint cans rarely hold true for textured walls. Plan for two coats minimum.

• First coat: Gets paint into all those crevices and establishes base coverage. It’ll look blotchy. That’s normal.
• Second coat: Evens out the color and builds up coverage on the peaks where the first coat may have thinned out.
• Third coat (sometimes): Deep textures like popcorn or heavy knockdown may need a third coat, especially if you’re covering a dark color or using a lighter shade.

Wait for each coat to dry fully before adding the next. Check the paint can for recoat times—usually 2-4 hours for latex paint, longer for oil-based.

• Using too little paint. Trying to stretch paint thin leads to poor coverage and more coats later. Load that roller.
• Pressing too hard. Heavy pressure squishes paint off the peaks and doesn’t help it reach the valleys. Let the roller do the work.
• Painting in direct sunlight. Sun-heated walls dry paint too fast, causing lap marks and adhesion problems. Paint early morning, late afternoon, or on cloudy days.
• Ignoring humidity. High humidity slows drying and can cause paint to sag on textured surfaces. Low humidity dries paint too fast. Aim for 40-70% relative humidity.
• Cutting corners on supplies. Cheap paint, cheap rollers, and skipped prep create more work in the long run. Quality materials make the job easier and the results last longer.

Some textured wall projects make sense to DIY. A single accent wall or small bedroom? Go for it.

But whole-house repaints, high ceilings, heavy textures, or damaged walls often benefit from professional help. A painting crew has the tools, techniques, and experience to finish faster with better results.

Consider calling a pro if:

• You’re painting more than 2-3 rooms.
• Ceilings are over 10 feet tall.
• The existing texture is damaged or inconsistent.
• You’re dealing with lead paint concerns (pre-1978 homes).
• Time is limited and quality matters.

Painting textured walls takes more time, more paint, and more attention than flat surfaces. But armed with the right roller, proper technique, and realistic expectations, you can get results that look professional.

Start with a small section to practice your technique before tackling the main walls. Notice how the paint sits in the texture. Adjust your pressure. Watch for holidays and lap marks. The first wall is a learning experience—the rest get easier.

If you’d rather skip the learning curve and get straight to beautiful walls, Overland Painting is here to help. Our crews paint textured walls every day and know exactly how to get smooth, even coverage on any texture type. Call 602-905-6815 to schedule a free estimate and see what a professional finish looks like.