Popcorn Ceiling Help (how much, houses, asbestos)

[MissLizzie85]

This may be premature, but I have just put an offer down on a house that is great except for the popcorn ceilings. I've been doing some research in the hopes that the offer will go through, and I have some preliminary questions about textured ceiling removal:

- If we don't remove the ceilings, but the rest of the house is great, will the ceilings have a large effect on resale value? The house in in the Museum area.

- How much would it cost to have someone else remove the ceilings and repaint them? Could anyone recommend a good local company that they have used?

We're thinking about removing it ourselves, but just wanted to weigh the options first. Just for reference, we have heard that the house was built recently enough that it probably doesn't have asbestos, though we'll test it anyway.

[gettinoutofjersey]

its an easy do it your self but messy. i was taking up the rugs so before i did i brought in a garden hose and misted the cielings. i then duct taped a 16 inch steet rock tape tool to a pole and then scraped it. no dust but it was raining down. let it dry and then lightly sanded it. patched any spots. i then got a contractor that does texture to orange peel walls and cieling. then i took up the carpets which were replaced with tile.

[kbuild]

Soap and water and spray from a bottle onto the ceiling and a lot of elbow grease. Be careful though depending on the year the application some older homes may have asbestos in the texture.

[loves2read]

definitely check about the likelyhood of asbestos--some houses were still having it in popcorn ceilings in the 80s--
you should not take a sample yourself if you are concerned and that should be something in the disclosure documents--shouldn't it ???

maybe get it done as part of your inspection process--sort of like checking for chinese drywall now

IF you think there might be problem with asbestos--it is easier just to texture OVER the ceiling composition--depending on the state of the ceiling or maybe add new layer of sheetrock ==encapsulating the old popcorn texture...
more extensive, lowers ceiling somewhat--but no problem with it escaping..

[Scythykins]

Agree with previous posters, asbestos is your biggest concern. Other than that, ask anyone who's ever tried to paint over a popcorn ceiling as to the best method of removing it

If you wanted to ::replace:: the popcorn to maintain resale, you can get a very excellent textured paint that mimics it flawlessly from Behr @ Home Depot. I've used it in my house (built in '74, seams in the flat painted ceiling starting to show) and it holds up nicely. I recommend a full respirator both for taking it down and putting it up though, or some other method of covering as much of your face as possible. Dust and debris go EVERYWHERE.

[loves2read]

OK--we were doing house remodel prior to putting it on the market--and had bought home and moved out
we were not doing it ourselves and frankly the price the contractor quoted to remove and retexture the ceilings in the house were just too much--maybe he was high and someone else could have done it for less but he said that lot of the cost of the removal/retexture is not in the removal part but in the reworking the new texture--time consuming to float the seams and touch up what are probably nail pops/indents-then refinish the ceilings...
you also have to take into account that if the ceilings were not put up there the right way, that you can be pulling off the paper covering the sheetrock sections as well...so don't get it too wet...

also you can't just paint the ceilings with paint--you will have to put some sort of texture on it to minimize the reflection showing the seams and nails--

chech out site called GardenWeb - The Internet's Garden Community
the home building/remodeling forums and search for popcorn ceilings
good advice there--contractors, professional trades, people building their own homes
probably get some insight into what is best way to approach this process--

IF you do this you should make sure you have a high quality HVAC filter in place and change it often
you would be surprised at how much dust even wet texture can put out...

apparently because of the light bouncing off the ceiling you can't just paint the

[WAwannabe]

I just had it done last year. It depends on the size of your home. I would NOT use Gillis Construction! Ever - for anything.. I would get some quotes from different companines. Our home is 2400 sq ft and the highest we had was around $3,800 . It's very messy and you need to cover everything. You may also need to float the edges and tape joins as scraping usually lifts them. Good luck.