grasshopper
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
- Joined
- Oct 9, 2010
- Messages
- 2,475
We covered our popcorn ceiling with whitewashed tongue and groove. Even Ms G is happy with the new look.
You just used drywall screws to hang the 1/4 drywall? Did you use a lift or just build "tee" braces?I roughly scraped off the popcorn and covered it with 1/4” sheetrock. This was in my old house. If I had popcorn ceilings in my new home, I’d do the same. Don’t like it at all.
You just used drywall screws to hang the 1/4 drywall? Did you use a lift or just build "tee" braces?
My 50 year old cr*p box starter home has popcorn ceilings throughout. It's easier just to learn to live with them.
I have extensive experience with removing popcorn. And replacing drywall, installing drywall, taping and mudding in existing and new construction. On flat ceilings, angled ceilings, in vertical skylight wells, etc. On 8' ceilings, 12'+ ceilings, and in-between. I don't think it's that big of a deal to remove popcorn. It just takes time, and some technique. I will caution though, if one is impatient, or lives in a household situation that all tasks must be completed in the same day, forget it. Also, for 12' and taller ceilings, a wheelable scaffold makes the job much easier.
Scraping it "dry" sounds like nonsense to me. All that's going to do is knock off the largest popcorn bits, and leave a bumpy mess, at best.
FWIW, here's what I do:
Prep work - I lay a plastic tarp down. If a small area, then a light-duty tarp is ok. A whole room, a heavier-duty tarp, like you can cover stuff outside with. If it's over a tile floor, can duct-tape some of the edges down to the tile to stop tarp movement. If over carpet or wood, get tarp over to wall, fold if needed, and cover wall-tarp joint with folded-lengthwise old bath towels or any kind of cloth, to cover that joint for tarp movement. - Have an old doubled-over bath towel or something similar to use as a doormat to wipe your feet off onto before leaving tarp to get something. You CAN get dried popcorn/compound out of carpeting later, but it's a big job you don't need to do! Plan ahead!
Suit-up - Ball cap. If warmer, no shirt, easy to wipe yerself once in awhile if needed. Particularly for high ceilings, avoid summer in a hot climate if possible, as it will be a lot hotter up there!
Tools - One gallon garden pump-up sprayer with adjustable nozzle to a cone spray. Warm water to start. - A cardboard box, lined with doubled plastic bags sitting on the floor to dump loads of popcorn/mud mix into. It gets heavy fast, so don't use a big box! - Two plastic drywall "knives". They actually look like plastic putty knives, which will work, too. One 6" wide, one narrower, like 2" wide. The 6 incher will be the primary. If either knives have sharp 90 degree corners, round them a bit with sandpaper first, don't want a sharp corner edge that can gouge. - A large spray bottle with water, the ability to actually spray a cone of water is important, not a mister bottle!!! Wrap the upper part of the bottle with some folded-over paper towels rubber-banded on, the area of the bottle you hold while working the pump handle, as the bottle will get wet gloppy and slippery, and the PT helps you hold on to it.
** A critical tool that makes the job much easier** - a reverse of a plasterer's mortar board. From Walmart years ago, I got a round combination cake/egg carrier. Has about a 5" height, had a removable disc inside with egg-bumps in it, all I care about is the lid. About 12" in diameter, has about a 3/4" lip on it, and two plastic handles that are close together. I masking-taped the handles together in a position that I can slip my hand into comfortably (knuckles-up, like I was going to punch the ceiling), while holding it upside-down up parallel to the ceiling. As I scrape, the glop drops right into the lid. Then wipe the knife off on the raised lid edge, and scrape again, repeat repeat. When the lid starts getting heavy or running out of room, scrape it all into the box and head up the ladder again. This really reduces the mess, and the ladder does not become an awful white slippery dangerous mess.
Technique - If 8' ceiling, do this from the floor first - spray a 2' x 2' or so square to the point of dripping. Wait a minute, and do again. Once you get going you can keep a "softening up" square ahead of you while you scrape another. Use plastic knife to scrape almost parallel with ceiling. If it's not just gliding off when the knife goes under it, it's too dry, use spray bottle to add water. IMPORTANT! do not scrape 90 degrees into drywall tape! So along the ceiling/wall joint, you want to be scraping parallel to the wall, not 90 degrees right up to it! Out in the field of the ceiling, you will get a feel for the pattern of how the drywall sheets were put up, and go parallel down a joint, not 90 degrees across them.
"Dry spots" - you will find spots that don't want to scrape easily. These are deeper spots of drywall compound, like the spotted nail or screw dents, and approaching and over the drywall tape joints themselves. They will suck up the water, so spray them more. You want to scrape the popcorn and it's compound off, but don't go overboard and start scraping off a lot of drywall compound nor the paper tape of the joints!
My experience has been that houses that were going to be popcorned may not have the absolute best drywall taping job done, so some taping repair may be needed. But don't abuse the tape joints to add to it.
Geeze, I think I wrote a BOOK here! But it's all free!
Wasn't aware of this.....thanksThey sell popcorn in a spray can, so no special equipment was needed
Unfortunately, she had been a heavy smoker and the popcorn was saturated with smoke and nicotine.
Bought my first & only home on July 1, 1994. Popcorn ceilings throughout.
Of course I didn't know they were called that until I found this thread yesterday...lol
I made the decision not to allow smoking in the house from day 1.
Thank God for that!
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.
this is called a skim coat. sometimes it takes 2 coats. need to lightly sand it before painting.
Has anyone ever removed popcorn from the ceiling?
What pros and cons did you observe?