Popcorn Ceilings - Removal?

[Satori]

When you remove the stupid "popcorn" from the ceiling, is it as simple as just scraping it off and painting? Does it leave some sort of texture, or is texturing required?

[dinoman]

Its easier when you just eat it and don't get it stuck to the ceiling in the first place.

Sorry, somebody had to...:-D

[crp]

We had that on our family room ceiling. It doesn't scrape off easily. We ended up plastering and texturing the ceiling and then painting it.

[Satori]

Originally posted by crp
We had that on our family room ceiling. It doesn't scrape off easily. We ended up plastering and texturing the ceiling and then painting it.

^^not the answer I was hoping for.

[Sk8r]

Depends on what you want to follow it. If textured plaster [and I recommend you hire a plasterer for that one] they can probably cover it if just scraped. I'd consult a plasterer before even attempting to remove it, since they may have specific recommendations for the success of what you want to put up in its place.

Another alternative, re-sheetrock: they make a very thin sheetrock [under 1/2 inch] that is designed for covering very bad walls/ceilings, etc., doesn't lose you much space and can be a way of handling a lot of nastiness at one stroke. You might be able to just nail the stuff up right over the popcorn.

[Satori]

It's for a house we're thinking of buying. Maybe we can work it into the contract that the ceilings need to be redone before closing.

[mltmtascp]

Why does everyone have such an adversion to popcorn ceilings? We have smooth downstairs and popcorn upstairs. The smooth ceiling show every flaw whereas the popcorn covers any flaws in the ceilings. I like my popcorn ceilings and if I every sell my house the buyers will have to take or leave em.

[BigSkyBart]

popcorn is simple to remove
**HOWEVER** get a sample and have it tested for asbestos before you mess with it, depending on the part of the country, and the year the ceiling was textured, (late 70's it was phasing out) asbestos was still an ingredient in "popcorn" ceiling
if it's "hot" then you have to decide if you want to live with it (Inert if undisturbed) or call in an abatement specialist and fork over some big bucks for removal & disposal

[itsthesong]

Originally posted by BigSkyBart
popcorn is simple to remove
**HOWEVER** get a sample and have it tested for asbestos before you mess with it, depending on the part of the country, and the year the ceiling was textured, (late 70's it was phasing out) asbestos was still an ingredient in "popcorn" ceiling
if it's "hot" then you have to decide if you want to live with it (Inert if undisturbed) or call in an abatement specialist and fork over some big bucks for removal & disposal

That's a good point. Not to mention the fact that the ceiling may contain lead paint if it is that old.

[Satori]

Good advice Bart. In my free time over the last couple of hours, I've actually made the effort to google it. I found out that even though asbestos was banned in like 1976, testing labs are finding it in samples from as late as 1985.

[Satori]

The house was built in 1983, so lead paint shouldn't be an issue.

[Blindmelonbob]

We've got it downstairs. I was told that it's easy to remove once it's wet. Simply spray with a water bottle, and it scrapes right off. It's probably really mess, tho, and not a lot of fun.

[jpfelix]

^ that's how you do it. spray it, scrape it, dry it, resurface it, and finish it.

it is messy (wetter is better!) but plastic and duct tape can go a long way.

[dc]

Originally posted by Blindmelonbob
We've got it downstairs. I was told that it's easy to remove once it's wet. Simply spray with a water bottle, and it scrapes right off. It's probably really mess, tho, and not a lot of fun.

Then get a really long hose for the shopvac.

[BigSkyBart]

correct removal procedure, and being wet will prevent most if not all of any asbestos fibers from becoming airborn, however, PLEASE check before doing anything

[Scuba_Dave]

Oh great. our downstairs ceilings are all popcorn
The house was built in the 50's
But maybe popcorn was added at some point?
Bedroom looks like it was mooth at one point, since some is falling off pretty easy

[MandM]

Unless you really want to do this yourself, call and get an estimate from a drywall/texture place. My mom got the old stuff scraped, disposed of and new texture sprayed for $200.
If you must, it's pretty quick if you have a couple of people to help:

Empty the room.

Lay out plastic sheeting on the floor.

COVER the aquarium!

Put on a mask. That is everyone in the room, no tough guy stuff, when this stuff gets wet in can irritate your lungs and the dry powder is worse even without asbestos.

Use a new garden sprayer that you pump up to spray , they are cheap and you don't want any oil or residue from garden sprays that may stain and bleed through. Use the adjustable nozzle to get the right flow. When you are done you have a new sprayer for the garden.

Follow behind the sprayer with a wide sheetrock taping blade, letting it fall in clumps to the floor. It just takes a little coordination to work out how much spray and how long to let it soak in before you scrape without soaking the drywall underneath. Once you get the hang of it you will be done really fast.

Then roll up the plastic when the crap is still damp. That will limit your exposure to dust.

[jpfelix]

garden hose works faster!

[rlee81indy]

I have done this 5 times.......as mentioned before in this thread, use a sray bottle to get it wet. THE IMPORTANT PART is dont spray the whole area at once. soak in a spot and use a wide putty knife to scrape it off, dont dig though...just scrape. Ive found that if someone has a large trashcan under where you are scraping it doesnt make a huge mess. Its wet so it just drops in clumps. Then wet the next small spot, its not as time consuming as it sounds. Though it is tiring on the arms. Just wear a paper mask from the dummy depot and you will be fine. BTW make sure everything is dry before applying a new finish...kindof a duh thing though.

[MandM]

Squeezy spray bottle hand cramps suck. It'll work, but it sucks.

[2fishy]

Originally posted by Blindmelonbob
We've got it downstairs. I was told that it's easy to remove once it's wet. Simply spray with a water bottle, and it scrapes right off. It's probably really mess, tho, and not a lot of fun.

This is how I saw it done on a home improvement show one night, however, rather than using a spray bottle they actually brought the hose in the house & covered the floor with a tarp, then proceeded to scrape the ceiling with what looked like an ice chopper, or perhaps a wide spackle blade on a long pole. The ice chopper would work just as well, in my opinion. Seemed that once it pretty wet it came off pretty easily.

Google removing popcorn ceiling and there are a lot of message boards that talk about it. The good, the bad, and the ugly!

I did read something that I didn't even think of. One of the message boards references another one on HGTV, & recommends if the house had the popcorn added prior to the late 70's that you may want to have it tested for asbestos.

[Muttling]

I've done it and the removal isn't that bad. If you want a smooth ceiling, the refinishing is a PITA. If you want a plaster texture ceiling it's pretty easy. (Although, NO overhead work is easy as it's always hard on the shoulders.)

My method was a couple of 2x10's on blocks to stand on. (You have to relocate a ladder far too often.

A tape and lots of plastic.

A pump up type garden sprayer with water.

A wide blade putty knife and a long hose shop vac with a HEPA filter on it.

Ear plugs, a dust mask, and safety gogles or glasses are highly adviced.


Don't get in a hurry.

[Satori]

Thanks for the replies. We haven't decided if that's the house we want, but it's the front-runner.

[beerguy]

We did one room ourselves using the method mentioned here (mask the entire room,spray it down and scrape it off)

While not technically difficult all of the work is down over your head and it's a royal pain in the Brian. For the rest of the house we paid a contractor to do it. They charged us $1.15 per square foot. For that price they moved the furniture, removed the "popcorn", re-textured the ceiling and painted. It was absolutely worth the money.

[Satori]

Thanks beerguy. I think you might be right about it being worth the price. If we make an offer on this house, we're going to try to get the seller to cover it. (or at least make an allowance)