Expert: Richard Taylor, AIA - 2/22/2010

Question
Mr. Taylor,
I have volunteered to texture the inside of our church building which is of cinder-block construction. I would like to end up with a typical drywall texture when I am finished and I understand that simply spraying on a drywall topping compound will not actually conceal the grout lines which is desired. I have been looking online for some guidance and have not found anything that speaks directly to my issue, so before I go through the effort of applying a layer of drywall (which, of course, will impact door and window trim, etc.) and subsequent tape and texture, I was hoping that you may have another approach to this project.
Thanks in advance,
Clint Worland

Answer
Clint - thanks for you question.

You're right, the spray-on method won't get you the results you want, and drywall will be a significant effort.

I'd recommend you think of this as a stucco job.  Attach a metal lath over the block, and trowel on a couple of coats of stucco.  It's a little bit time-consuming, but not expensive - and you can give it a range of texture to suit your taste.  And you can control the thickness to avoid too much work at the wall openings (you can use a J-bead and bring the stucco right up to the existing trim).

Just about anything else will require the installation of some sort of panels; if you end up going that route you should consider pre-finished insulation panels (Dow sells them for basements) rather than drywall - no taping or finishing needed, and you get some insulation value to boot!

Hope this helps,

Richard Taylor, AIA
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