Allentown, Lehigh County
Drywall texture matching & removal in Allentown, PA.
More than eight in ten Allentown homes were built before 1980, so most original texture in the city is old enough to be tested before it is sanded. After that comes the usual choice: match it, or take it off.
Drywall texture matching & removal for Allentown homes
Of the city's roughly 49,000 homes, more than eight in ten were built before 1980, and only about one in nine has gone up since 1990. Drywall texture arrived with drywall after the war, so an original textured wall or ceiling here very likely dates from before the mid-1980s, when texture and joint compound could still contain asbestos. That makes a lab test the first step in this city, not a formality.
After the test, the house decides the rest. Rowhouses and twins, the city's most common kind of home, are plaster in the older neighborhoods, and any texture on them was probably added later. Drywall and original texture are likeliest in the homes built from 1940 to 1979, about 43 percent of the total, and in Salisbury Township, where more than half the homes date from 1950 to 1979.
Allentown
Eight homes in ten from before 1980
A positive test changes the job entirely. Texture that contains asbestos is removed by a certified asbestos abatement contractor, and finishing resumes only after that. A clear result opens the ordinary choices, and in a room that is otherwise sound, matching is often the smaller one: the pattern is studied in raking light and rehearsed on spare board before it touches the wall, then carried past the repair so no edge remains.
The townships next door are only a little younger. More than half of Salisbury Township's homes were built from 1950 to 1979, and about six in ten of South Whitehall's from 1950 to 1989, so the same caution applies there to any texture that may be original. On ceilings a mismatch is hard to hide. Light from the windows runs the whole length of the surface, and a patch that sits a fraction higher or flatter than its surroundings catches it.
Worth knowing
What gets cut gets tested
A texture added in the 1990s can sit on joint compound from decades earlier. Whatever a repair will cut, scrape or sand is what gets sampled.
Before a fan or light goes in
A new ceiling fan or recessed light means cutting through texture. In a house built before 1980, the sample comes before the saw.
Humid summers slow the coats
Compound and texture dry more slowly in humid air, and summers here are warm and muggy, so the wait between coats is set by the air, not the calendar.
The work
How the work goes
The same care on every job, in every town. The full guide to drywall texture matching & removal.
Read the wall
The texture is studied in side light: its pattern, its height, how it was applied. Then Randy talks through the choices with you: match it, change it, or take it off. The walkthrough and written estimate are complimentary.
Test older texture first
Texture or compound from before the mid-1980s should have a sample tested before anyone sands or scrapes it. If it tests positive, removal is work for a certified asbestos abatement contractor.
Repair and prime
The patch is finished flat and primed before texture goes on, so the new texture absorbs and dries the same over fresh compound as over old paint. Primer also keeps the patch from flashing through the paint later.
Match it, or bury it
To match, mix and pressure are tried on a scrap until the pattern dries the same, then texture is applied and feathered past the repair. To remove, the wall is skimmed in thin coats until the pattern is gone.
Prime and paint the whole wall
Primer evens out new and old surfaces. The whole wall is painted, corner to corner, so the sheen reads as one.
Questions
Drywall texture matching & removal, Allentown.
More than eight in ten Allentown homes predate 1980. Does every textured wall need a test?
Every one that will be disturbed and may date from before the mid-1980s, which in this city covers most original texture; nobody can tell by eye which ones contain asbestos. If a sample comes back positive, removal belongs to a certified asbestos abatement contractor; if it is clear, the wall can be matched or skimmed smooth. Texture in good condition that nobody plans to disturb can simply be left alone.
Why is there texture on the plaster walls of our Old Allentown rowhouse?
Most likely a later owner added it. Rowhouses of that age were plastered, finished smooth or with sand, and spray textures came later with drywall. Texture over plaster sometimes covers cracks or old patches, so it is worth knowing what is underneath, and having it tested if it may be older than the mid-1980s, before it is matched or skimmed away.
Our 1960s house in Salisbury Township has a ceiling patch from an old leak. Can it disappear?
Usually, once the leak has been fixed and a sample has tested clear. The patch is set flush and primed, the texture is matched on spare board and feathered out past the repair, and the whole ceiling is painted, since window light runs the length of it and would pick out a painted square.
More in Allentown
Other services here.
- Level 5 drywall finishA skim coat over the entire surface, for walls that hold up under raking light and dark paint.
- Skim coatingRough, patched or uneven walls resurfaced smooth, often after wallpaper comes down.
- Plaster repairCracked, loose and failing plaster in older homes, repaired and made sound.
- Interior paintingWalls, ceilings, trim, doors and millwork, prepared properly and finished clean.
- Exterior paintingSiding, trim, porches, stucco and brick, prepared to stand up to Pennsylvania weather.
- Drywall installation & repairNew drywall hung, taped and finished; cracks, holes and water damage repaired invisibly.
- Popcorn ceiling removalOld acoustic texture taken down and the ceiling finished smooth.
- Wallpaper removalOld wallpaper and wall linings stripped without tearing up the wall beneath.
- Wood stainingDecks, porch floors, doors and trim, inside and out, stained by hand.
Nearby
Drywall texture matching & removal nearby.
Consultation
Request a private consultation.
Private walkthrough & written estimate, complimentary. Tell us a little about the house and the rooms, and Randy will be in touch to arrange a time.
- Hours
- Monday – Friday8:30 AM – 5:30 PMSaturday10 AM – 3 PMSundayClosed
- Service area
- Easton, Bethlehem, Allentown and the greater Lehigh Valley; Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
Fully insured — proof on request. Residential and commercial.