Meet Sam Lea, A Drywall Contractor in the Pacific Northwest
Meet Sam Lea
If you want to see how a perfect orange peel texture is sprayed with an American Spray Technologies texture machine, look no further than Sam Lea for expert advice.
Sam has been spraying texture in the Pacific Northwest for over 30 years, primarily in new construction.
He has perfected his texture spraying process including how to mix, how to spray orange peel, and how to work efficiently with a big rig texture sprayer.
Preparing to Spray
An important step before texturing is preparing the house. Sam and his crew use plastic and tape to protect anything that shouldn’t be sprayed.
Once the house is prepped and before Sam textures, he uses an airless sprayer to shoot the entire house with a primer. This simple step creates a more uniform surface on the drywall, which becomes beneficial when the painter comes in to paint the walls. Priming before or after texturing helps eliminate blotchiness and uneven spots that may have otherwise shown up after painting.
Tips for Mixing A Batch of Drywall Mud
Once the prep work is done, Sam puts his spray rig into use and starts to mix up a batch of drywall mud. For this house he was using Hamilton Green Line Wall Texture mud. According to Sam, every brand of texture mixes and sprays differently and this is the mud he has come to prefer. Bag after bag of texture went into the tank while Sam continuously added water to thin down the mixture.
“Every texture bag mixes different too. Beadex, Hamilton, they all have a different mix and they all spray different.” – Sam Lea
Sam notes that it’s important to keep an eye on the tank the entire time you mix. While water is the primary way to thin down the mixture, simply mixing the mud for a longer period of time can also have a thinning effect.
A full tank of mud can be mixed and ready to go in as little as 30 minutes. To test the mud thickness, Sam stops the paddles and waits to see what the texture does when it falls off the paddle. For an orange peel texture, the mud should fall off the paddle and sit on top of the tank of mud briefly until it combines with the rest of the mixture. If the mud doesn’t combine, it is too thick. If it combines instantly (like a liquid would), it is too thin.
Spraying the House
Once the mud is mixed and the hose unwound and brought into the house, the spraying process goes by relatively quick. An entire home like the one Sam was spraying in the review video can be done in about an hour and a half. Sam has dialed in his settings for how he likes to spray, which allows him to spray a nice, even texture at a speed that is comfortable but efficient.
Sam goes through each room of the house with his Flex Gun until every wall is textured.
Working Efficiently
For Sam, his AST texture machine is an indispensable tool in this process. It allows him to deliver a finished product that is professional and looks amazing. Better yet, he gets these results without the headache of breakdowns, an underpowered machine, or a messy separate mixing process.
See what Sam has to say about his texture machine: Testimonial Video