Lessons Learned - Popcorn removel

[poconoproud]

Originally Posted by Donn2390

It's easy to remove if done correctly. You use a Hutson sprayer and soak the popcorn with water. It then will scrape right off with a wide scraper. then simply mask and paint. it's a simple, easy, inexpensive process if done by someone who knows what they are doing.
sounds like you hired a clown...!

great post donn! I was hoping someone would suggest wetting the popcorn before removal. Your "professionals" cost you extra time and money for what should have been a quick and somewhat mess free job.

[Caseynj]

Originally Posted by Cecilia_Rose

I did all that once. Once was enough for me. Thats why I drywall over it now.

We also dry wall over the ceilings that have popcorn. This way worked out better for us.

[TriMT7]

I recently had popcorn ceilings removed from the kitchen, dining room, living room, two bedrooms and a hallway for $900 (about 1000 sq. ft total or so).

I tried to do it myself and after just a short while decided it was a "no go." The guy I hried off Craigslist was very good and there was no mess. He put up a "knock down" texture in its place, but didn't paint it. It only took one day too.

[crazyma]

I like popcorn ceilings........comes in handy when you want a snack.....heh heh

seriously though, I could care less what it is on ceilings as long as they are clean and fresh, no stains or cracks. The thought of taking popcorn or any other finish off a ceiling makes me shudder...

thanks for your story...can always learn from what others have been through

[texdav]

Personaly wetting it is even worse and very hard to cleanup.I've done it both ways. But tapeing a large shop vac hose to the front of a big wide scrapper blade will suck most before it touches anything. Then shop vac the rest and you done. Use blue painters tape it comes off easily.Heck spraying a popcorn ceiling is also a mess.

[jmiddaugh]

Has anyone tried mudding over the popcorn? Looks like that might be the easy and less messy way of covering especially if asbestos is involved. Maybe using a long nap roller for texturing? I'm looking for ideas to get rid of popcorn of my mid 70's house

[Cecilia_Rose]

Originally Posted by jmiddaugh

Has anyone tried mudding over the popcorn? Looks like that might be the easy and less messy way of covering especially if asbestos is involved. Maybe using a long nap roller for texturing? I'm looking for ideas to get rid of popcorn of my mid 70's house

Not a good idea. Anything with lots of moisture in it will soak into the popcorn and cause it to fall off. Sorry. You either need to take it off or cover it up If it has asbestos in it I would cover it up. If you want a smooth ceiling I would drywall over it. Removal vs redrywalling has already been discussed.

Some people dont mind the popcorn texture. Its not my cup of tea but I have lived with it when I had to.. I freshened it up with popcorn touchup sold in spray cans. Or you can have a professional spray on another coat.

You can spray paint it if you do VERY VERY thin coats. Its tricky. If it gets too wet it will fall off. Once the paint dries it it will be a b*tch to get off. Its the same principle as painting over wallpaper. The next person will probably have to drywall over it.

[southernnaturelover]

Drywalling over it creates a lot of extra weight, you'd have to be sure your ceiling joists are strong enough to support it so that it didn't sag over time. You'd basically end up with a double layer of sheetrock which is heavy.

My house was built in '73 so it has popcorn throughout it. It doesn't bother me since the majority of houses in my area have it. Strangely they even put it in the garage, but I did scrape that off because I got tired of spider webs sticking to it.

[NCyank]

Don't they make 1/4 inch drywall for covering existing walls and ceilings? It wouldn't double the weight that way.

I'm scraping most of our ceilings myself but may opt to drywall over our vaulted family room since I don't do ladders well. I'm assuming it will be cheaper to hire out for the drywall than the popcorn removal.

[momojojo]

We covered our popcorn ceiling with drywall. Looked awesome, didn't sag.