Does your wall have to be really flat/smooth to paint??

A good paint job requires preparation. The time it takes to actually paint a surface is almost always less than the time it takes to prepare it to lay down the paint - and it shows if you don't. You have a $1500 projector, don't give it a cheaped out screen to shine on, get your moneys worth. It looks amazing now because you're in the honeymoon phase, of course it looks amazing its 150" and vibrant with color.

You can skim the wall lightly with drywall mud to get rid of the walls texture (make an even coat all the way across the surface) and lightly sand it so that its ready to accept the primer (its extremely easy to sand mud). Next, prime it with KILZ 2 Latex Primer give it a little sand (you're smoothing not removing) and you're ready to shoot.

What it comes down to is, why half ass the job? You've got the spray gun, you're going to buy $50-$100 worth of high quality paints and then spend all the time mixing them up just right. Take the extra time at the start to prep your surface and you will enjoy the results for years to come (instead of one day 6 months from now, wishing you did).

I "Know" you need more gain...and more gain means you cannot afford to have surface imperfections.

vullcan gives you good, sage advice.

I tried...and somehow hit a wrong button and all my drywall finishing instructions went up into smoke. now i gotta go make a somewhat honest living.

Answer these posers and I'll be back later with some real advice and help if you need it.

Height of ceiling?
Height of top of screen from floor?
Distance from Side Walls to sides of Screen?
Is PJ throw set in stone?
Will you be watching 3D content?

I'll leave you with this...Skimming your wall with Drywall Compound is easy stuff...as is the sanding smooth of same. You will need to consider it as being mandatory.

Skimming an entire wall with drywall mud is easy? For someone who may have never done it before? NO WAY !! You are still going to have to tape and mud the tapered drywall joints. But that's a LOT easier than skimming the entire wall.

Not at all true.

While skimming involves only apply a light coat to fill in the depressed areas between the regularly spaces bumps that make up light texture, actual Joint taping and Mud-ing "and" Sanding requires at least 4 separate steps, judicious application of the compound, effective Feathering at the edges of the application, at least three steps of sanding....., and those joints better be feathered "WAY" out from the center and done right or they will show....especially under the intense light of projected content.

Besides...whose talking about the entire wall. Just the area within a Taped boundary. A big boundary, yes. But not the entire wall.

Skimming is as easy as sliding on the compound evenly, and keeping the pressure on the "flattened" edge of the 12" Knife. You only doing it lightly, and you only do each area of application in 1-2 swipes and then move on.
The resulting thickness is very thin.

You let that dry until no longer cool to the touch (6 hours minimum under good drying conditions...) and sanding down "ONLY" the ridges made by the Knife's edge, you then apply another Skim coat. These coats go on very quickly....and "EASILY"... ...because there really isn't much going on.

After the second coat, and a light "overall" sweep sanding using a 3" x 8" Fine Grit Sanding Sponge (Drywall Tools Section @ HD), usually a last, evenly applied Skim where you are careful not to press too hard or overwork the coating will leave you with enough of a thickness of a coat of Compound that a light sanding will provide a exceedingly smooth surface, ready to prime and paint.

Anything from barely noticeable pits or defects to Orange Peel texture is child's play to fix. Heavier "Texas Splatter-Wall" texture, not so much...but all that requires is a knockdown sanding using a medium grit Sponge to flatten the high points, then you "fill in" and then "smooth over" just like the Orange Peel.

Anyway...anyone can learn if they want to...and for those who are antsy...help is here every step of the way if it's needed. Few things are more forgiving than thinly applied coats of Drywall compound. Yes...sanding does produce dust, but of you "sweep" lightly, most dust produced winds up on your hands & shoes. But wear a Dust Rated Paper mask at least.

OK...back to our regularly scheduled programming.



For one thing...your wall is actually masking defects because it's not even 1.0 gain. I suppose your eyesight might have something to do with it, based on how far away your watching. But I'm positive certain that if you go to within 3' of the surface, and look at any area where there is bright, panned (moving) content, you'd see the texture of the surface. If not...and if you have good, sharp vision, then what your calling "orange Peel" would have to really be just a slight dappled texture.

Orange Peel looks like the Skin on a healthy orange. Bumpy in most places, slightly "Pitted' in other places between bumps. Usually caused by applying too much paint so that it does not "set' quickly enough, or when another coat is applied too soon and the 1st coat absorbs and traps moisture, raising little "bumps".


Well that tells me a lot. At least the Top corner of the screen closest to the "slope" must be closer to the Ceiling the the opposite side of the screen is to the other Wall. It's that Sloped ceiling that will be the biggest reflector of the projected / reflected light...and the most detrimental hurdle to maintaining the best possible contrast under "ALL" conditions.

Make it the least reflective surface in the room, at least 5' out from the Screen Wall.

[quote]Distance from Side Walls to sides of Screen?
Not too much but i attached a pic for ref
Is PJ throw set in stone?
its mount but no way set is stone. primary reason for the distance is b/c i wanted the screensize. i have positioned the projector closer but the bigger screen just puts me in awe. [quote]

You still have a full 3'-5" to go forward before you'd lose any "diagonal inches"
Moving Forward to 14' 10" will still give you a lot of zoom adjust-ability, and the 3010 exhibits no deleterious effects to PQ at that level of Zoom

But what you do get us any increase in foot lambert of reflective light off the Screen. You jump fro 12 fl to 15 fl, a significant uptick when your dealing with a 150" diagonal screen.

Benefits if doing so?

• watching 2D content you could set the PJ to Low lamp to preserve Lamp Life and further improve Contrast.
• When you watch 3D content, you will start out with the brightest possible image.
• If your really wise, you'll shoot for a Paint that will provide at least 1.3 gain.
• At 1.3 gain, and 14' 10" throw, you'd achieve 20 fls...which is exactly where you really want to and need to be.

See above.


RS-MaxxMudd LL sprayed onto that well skimmed wall.

I'm not going to go there........................................

1 normal size mix should do the job but to play it safe, I'd up your com
ponent levels 50 percent:

Not initially if properly applied. However in some cases, a final very light sanding prior to the last 2 Dusters can really help obtain the smoothest finish possible.