Walls and Ceilings - knocked down wall texture

anyone know how to get rid of the 1970's knock down wall texture? I prefer the softer rounded corners that are in the new homes being built today....more of an eggshell texture finish on the walls with rounded corners.would I sand the place down, put 'bullnoses' (?) on the corners, and then replaster it, or just paint it after I sand the place down and skip the rounded corners thing. Any good suggestions? What plaster should I use to replaster my walls if that is what is needed?

Assuming that you have sheet rock walls,

If this is the texture made from joint compound, you will need to cover the floor and everything with sheets of plastic. Use a pump or hand held sprayer and thoroughly wet the ceiling and scrape. Water will soften the texture and destroy the bond. If you have paint on your ceilings, you will need to scrape it first to expose the texture so it can get wet.

They have ceiling texture scrapers with a long handle to which you can attach a plastic bag. If you can't get one of those, then a long handled scraper and someone holding a plastic bag to catch the texture will do. It's more fun when someone is sharing the work.

Once ceilings are smooth and clean, prime, and paint.

The bullnose look you mention would require that the metal corner bead be removed and the corner trimmed back.

Here's a howto on bullnose installation.

http://www.trim-tex.com/installation/general.htm

Hope this helps.

I don't think you will be able to scrape off Knockdown. You can, however, skim over it with mud and make it smooth ready for a hand texture. If you have square corners now you will have to remove the bead then apply new bullnose corner bead.

Thank you.....:)