Patching and Plastering - ceiling repairs

Our kitchen ceiling has a textured design what looks like a 1/2 shell or moon overlapping throughout the ceiling. It obviously has been done with a tool. Previous owners had a large box light. I took the light down & installed a paddle fan. However this left a lot of markings & toggle bolt holes from the box light. It looks like regular drywall mud but would definitely require a special tool to get the proper swirl design so the mud would seat down into the grooves. I could not find any mud design tools at local hardwares . Any suggestions?

This half-shell design that looks like it has record album grooves in it? I've had to try to match that and I think I used a wallpaper brush. Very tricky. You have to pay attention to which way the overlap is going, as you replicate that. (In other words - which side of the room to begin on. And not just one way, but BOTH ways!) You also have to be aware of the spacing, and be aware of the straightness across the ceiling. You give the brush the same twist motion, every time. Very tricky.

If memory serves me - when I did it, I think I made a couple of attempts at it before leaving it alone. I think the first attempt I was unsatisfied how it was working out, and 'erased' it, by scraping the fresh mud back off.

This is how I did it: I first troweled on ready mix mud in the area. Do not aply mud to a HUGE are at a time because the mud will be trying to dry! Only do several square feet of mud at a time. Then swirled the brush. Then, after it dried, I found that the grooves were too sharp compared to the original and all the layers of paint over them. So what I did is I used a sponge and washed the swirls to round off the grooves. I was very pleased.

I did this twice in 2 different rentals several years ago, and I still find myself looking up at those spots, marveling how I was able to pull that off, quite reasonably well, without ever having attempted this before. -I- can see those areas, but most people would not have their eyes drawn to them.

On a large job about 14 years ago where me and my construction partner expanded a living room by 4? more feet, we hired out a sheetrock finishing man with lots of texture experience to blend in that additional 4 x 14 foot area and he did a marvelous job. All the swirls were straight and he blended right into the swirls that were up there. I was amazed.

But, I became proud enough of my own fudge work that I did at those 2 places, at later dates. I look at them and say to myself that if I tried that today, I probably wouldn't get it as good. Things like this, where I've gotten older now, drive me more whacky.

.....................................................................................


I came back to add this. You might be thinking that wall paper brushes are too long. But here is the deal. When you swirl the brush, it does not matter too much what the back of the brush, closest to your hand is doing in the mud, really. It is only the exposed swirl that is out infront, left behind to stay, that counts. When you go to do the next overlapping swirl, then that back pattern, closest to your hand erases and leaves only the pattern the front of the brush makes. You will understand what I mean if while you read this, you take your hand, on edge, and act like you are simulating these motions.

A little tip doing this texture when useing a brush is in the length of the hairs. The shorter the hairs and " seperation " of them, the firmer the brush is to make the grooves and for blending in ....for this type of texture.

When adding sand to the mix for a sand swirled texture , we did it differently useing a sponge instead of a brush.

You might want to try a 1/16" grooved trowel. depending on the size you might have to use the end.