Popcorn ceiling removal

[f35phixer]

https://www.thisoldhouse.com/ceilings/21015203/3-ways-to-remove-popcorn-ceiling

The above link talks to removal of popcorn ceiling via the dry scrape. All the YouTube videos show spraying with water and then scraping. i have two small closets downstairs with popcorn, was going to experiment with those, start dry see how much of a PIA it is or not. Then decide if I want to try the water method.

Has anyone ever removed popcorn from the ceiling?

What pros and cons did you observe?

 

[tmm99]

It was a PIA. I peeled off a couple of pieces of the popcorn ceiling to a lab first to make sure it was asbestos-free. I used one of those garden jug-type pressure sprayers to wet the ceiling. I put too much water in some areas and ended up scraping the drywall off a bit, so we had to fix that.

Because the popcorn is on the ceiling surface, looking up with my arm raised and stretched was tiring, and it also hurt my neck. And it got a little messy (you would need to cover everything on the floor), but I imagine it would be worse if it was dry scraping. We had a professional in to get another area done (free due to a water leak). I imagine you will get a hang of it after a while, but I did just one room (with DH's help at the end) and we kind of stopped. We might just get a professional involved for the rest of the house, but I didn't know that it would be so expensive. If I was thoroughly bored, I might tackle it again myself, but it's not something I would look forward to doing by any means...

Youtube videos made it look so easy. So maybe it's supposed to be that easy, if you know what you're doing.

I think it's a good idea to do a trial run for your closet space. Maybe you're one of those people who are good at it.

 

[stepford]

My 50 year old cr*p box starter home has popcorn ceilings throughout. It's easier just to learn to live with them.

 

[RetireeRobert]

.
The above link talks to removal of popcorn ceiling via the dry scrape. .

Has anyone ever removed popcorn from the ceiling?

What pros and cons did you observe?

An alternative I remember from somewhere years ago was that an easier safer method is to just add a new layer of sheetrock on the ceiling. This seals in the old popcorn (and whatever asbestos may be in it), and lets one do a nice new ceiling finish on a good brandnew surface. When done, since the height is dropped only 1/2 inch, no one notices any difference.

 

[Aerides]

It's a great thing thing to do, but it's not just the removing, but the replacing - smoothing and repainting, etc.

The amount of work and back/neck strain - even if it goes beautifully - not worth it to DIY.

 

[timo2]

My 50 year old cr*p box starter home has popcorn ceilings throughout. It's easier just to learn to live with them.

When I retired and sold our home built in 1972 we considered removing the popcorn from the vaulted ceiling over the living room and kitchen to make the house more up to date. But it was awful to consider doing or paying for. Additionally, the popcorn reduced the sound level and echoes in the area under the vaulted ceiling. So we left it.

I can see getting rid of it in a room with 8 foot ceilings, but it's really not that terrible looking and can be quite good on reducing sound issues.

 

[Out of Steam]

An alternative I remember from somewhere years ago was that an easier safer method is to just add a new layer of sheetrock on the ceiling. This seals in the old popcorn (and whatever asbestos may be in it), and lets one do a nice new ceiling finish on a good brandnew surface. When done, since the height is dropped only 1/2 inch, no one notices any difference.

This is almost certainly the right answer, and can be done with sheetrock less than 1/2 inch thick.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

Absolute pain. After messing around for 1/2 a day with it, we contracted it out. It took them a good day and a 1/2 to do a kitchen and dining room and they admitted that they bit off more than they could chew. The rest of the house that had it...well, it stayed that way. Didn't affect resale of the house in the least...even *before* the madness that is today's R/E market.

 

[athena53]

I used the spraying water method, putting drop cloths down on the floors. Removed it with a broad plastic spackling tool and held a cookie sheet under it with the other hand to catch most of the scrapings. Yes, it was dirty, tiring work and I did it over a few months one winter. When we sold the place I wanted to scream when the prospective buyers whined about the superficial stuff- appliances not stainless steel, light fixtures "dated" when I'd made such a major improvement. Two houses down, a place with a similar floor plan with a few more updates but the ceilings intact, went in 3 days.

I'd still do it all over again. I hated that they could never be freshened up by repainting (which would just seal in all the particles) or washing (which would make a giant mess).

 

[cbo111]

This is almost certainly the right answer, and can be done with sheetrock less than 1/2 inch thick.

+1 agree. Removing ceiling popcorn often reveals poor quality construction techniques. Hard to fix those "wavy" ceilings without some serious remodel. Best to just sheetrock over the popcorn.

 

[Dalmore]

An alternative I remember from somewhere years ago was that an easier safer method is to just add a new layer of sheetrock on the ceiling. This seals in the old popcorn (and whatever asbestos may be in it), and lets one do a nice new ceiling finish on a good brandnew surface. When done, since the height is dropped only 1/2 inch, no one notices any difference.

That is a brilliant idea!

DW and I have been talking about replacing the popcorn, but have put it off because of the disruption and mess. The sheetrock approach is a total game changer for me. Fixes the cracks in the ceiling too!

 

[Teacher Terry]

9 years ago my ex did it in the main living areas before we moved in. It was messy and he used water. In my condo my son did all the remodeling and we decided against removal but used a paint sprayer so we could paint over it. I looked at having it professionally done but the cost here is awful.

 

[craigbro63]

I removed the popcorn on my vaulted 20x20 living room, I used the "wet" spray and scrape method. I laid plastic sheeting on the floor to catch the mess and was careful not to gouge up the sheetrock too bad I did need a little bit of mud here and there but all in all it came out great.
Applying new sheetrock over the popcorn is a great idea as well. Just know that it is heavy, but you can buy/rent a lift to help with it, and you will have to tape, float, and sand the new joints which will be very messy as well!

 

[Major Tom]

On buying a house in 1997 that I lived in for a few years, I was keen to remove the popcorn ceilings. After moving in, I figured they weren't so bad, and never quite got around to it. When I sold it 4 1/2 years later, the buyers declared that one of the first things they were going to do, was remove the popcorn ceilings. I occasionally wonder if they ever got around to it!

 

[RetireeRobert]

A story about popcorn ceilings. I remembered this after reading posts here.

A neighbor in the old neighborhood had a house with popcorn ceilings, as did most house on that street of similar vintage, including ours. Neighbor decided they wanted ceilings painted, and hired a painter. Painter painted the popcorn ceiling. A short while later after painters had left, while in the bedroom, they heard some funny noise in the living room. A whole bunch of the popcorn, newly painted had let loose from the ceiling and dropped all over the floor. The weight of the new paint on the popcorn (and I guess, the wetness) caused it to let loose. They told the painter about it. He bit the bullet and took responsibility. His solution was to get a new layer of sheetrock put up in the LR.

 

[ownyourfuture]

Let's do a 180°
My house was built in 1980 (I purchased in 1994) & the entire home, except for the basement hallway (hung ceiling) is popcorn.

I actually like it. Here's the 180°
I had a plumbing issue upstairs a about a year ago. Water leaked to the ceiling in the basement shower & stained a 2.0' diameter area.

The 'popcorn' in about half of that area fell off.
Anyone familiar with applying popcorn ?

 

[mboley]

I say go ahead and practice and then do it yourself. Its easier than I thought it was going to be; Im no professional and I recently did four apartments with just me and another guy. Yes its really messy and if you opt for a smooth ceiling you will spend more time mudding and sanding. But you can also spray a new texture of your choice, but not popcorn!

 

[RobbieB]

I had the whole place done professionally a couple years ago. 1400 sq-ft, took 2 days and cost $2500.

Day 1, cover everything in plastic sheet including the driveway, wet and scrape the stuff off and last, apply the texture.

They made it very important to have a working furnace as the temp had to be set to 78 degrees to cure the texture overnight. When I met them the next day to let them in the house was humid like Miami inside.

Day 2, paint over and remove the debris.

So yeah, hire the pros, it took a crew of 3 guys 2 whole days to get 'er done.

 

[mountainsoft]

Has anyone ever removed popcorn from the ceiling?

We removed the popcorn ceilings from my mom's house a few years ago so we could sell it: Apr 20, 2018 - Fixing up the Dallesport House

Unfortunately, she had been a heavy smoker and the popcorn was saturated with smoke and nicotine. Disgusting. Covering it was not an option, painting it was not an option, it had to come down to get rid of the smell.

We used the wet method. Covered the entire floor with a large sheet of plastic, then sprayed an area of the ceiling with water using a pump garden sprayer. Waited a couple minutes, then used a 6" drywall knife to scrape the popcorn off. It's a lot of dirty, tedious, work. I did one of the bedrooms. My wife loves that kind of monotonous work, so I let her have fun doing the rest of the house.

Unfortunately, when the popcorn was gone, there were a lot of poorly finished seams, nail depressions, etc. that I had to repair with joint compound before we could sand, prime, and paint.

In the end it looked great, but it was a lot of work. We were repainting the walls and replacing the floors anyway, so we weren't too worried about the mess that fell down.

We probably should have had the popcorn tested for asbestos, but we didn't. What you don't know can't hurt you...

 

[Sunset]

I don't mind pop-corn ceilings, I've painted them without it falling down, didn't know it could happen.
They are a pain to paint, as I found I needed to paint in 1 direction and let it dry, then paint in the other direction so that not too many spots were missed.

The other issue with them is if you have to fix a hole a tenant put in the ceiling , it's tricky to get the new popcorn blend into the existing ceiling, took me a few attempts.
They sell popcorn in a spray can, so no special equipment was needed

 

[pb4uski]

Let's do a 180°

My house was built in 1980 (I purchased in 1994) & the entire home, except for the basement hallway (hung ceiling) is popcorn.



I actually like it. Here's the 180°

I had a plumbing issue upstairs a about a year ago. Water leaked to the ceiling in the basement shower & stained a 2.0' diameter area.



The 'popcorn' in about half of that area fell off.

Anyone familiar with applying popcorn ?

Yes, I did it back in the early 1980s. Our first house was an "expandable" gambrel... the first floor was finished with a kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, living room and dining room but the second floor was unfinished... just a single studded wall down the middle of the footprint perpendicular to the ceiling joists.

We built out 3 bedrooms and two bathrooms upstairs and wanted to have the ceilings match the popcorn ceilings on the first floor. I remember renting a machine that had a hopper of some sort and spraying the ceilings upstairs. A very messy job, but not a particularly hard job.

 

[pb4uski]

I don't mind pop-corn ceilings, I've painted them without it falling down, didn't know it could happen.
They are a pain to paint, as I found I needed to paint in 1 direction and let it dry, then paint in the other direction so that not too many spots were missed.

The other issue with them is if you have to fix a hole a tenant put in the ceiling , it's tricky to get the new popcorn blend into the existing ceiling, took me a few attempts.
They sell popcorn in a spray can, so no special equipment was needed

Other than our current house that we built, all of our houses have had popcorn ceilings, including our current winter condo. I've grown to like them, but DW hates them.

I've painted them many times. The trick is to roll over an area no more than twice... and even then lightly with little pressure. Anything more than twice and the moisture of the paint causes the popcorn to partially peel off and you end up with a mess.

 

[FIREd]

I covered my popcorn ceiling with a stretched ceiling. Beautiful, perfect finish and no mess.

 

[Marita40]

I had this done in my living room last year. I hired a painting crew who just scraped the high peaks and then covered it with a thin layer of mud, then painted. Worked perfectly.

 

[tassocat]

I covered ~1300 sq. ft. of vaulted popcorn ceiling with Armstrong's Woodhaven product. Came out beautiful and I think adds value to the home. For a flat ceiling the installation process is quite straight forward. My vaulted ceiling was a little more complicated, but still did the project by myself.