Everybody loves .
Nobody wants .
Like cork walls, mirror tiles and , acoustic ceiling texture was and 1980s. Builders of thousands of new Colorado homes relied on it for a quick, inexpensive finish.
“Texture covered a lot of imperfections,” says Ramiro Lozano of Gens Remodeling in Aurora. “You don’t have to finish the drywall as well,” apply multiple skim coats or even paint the ceiling afterward.
But roofs leak and homes settle and a damaged popcorn ceiling is impossible to match, says Todd Wortmann, owner of Handypro of Denver. “We’re the bearers of bad news a lot. We start peeling back the onion and find other damage,” he says. “Water uses the popcorn as a wick and spreads.”
Wortmann estimates that 99 percent of homeowners with popcorn ceilings want a smooth, flat finish overhead to brighten their rooms. Not only does popcorn collect dust and spiderwebs, the texture creates shadows that make a space look darker. “The light just gets eaten,” he says.
The most common complicating factor in popcorn ceilings is asbestos. Until it was banned in 1978, asbestos was used in ceiling texture, and disturbing it creates a health hazard. Paint and drywall contractors will require that your ceiling be certified free of asbestos before they move forward.
Cost guides provided by Golden-based HomeAdvisor estimate that popcorn ceiling removal projects in Denver cost an average of $1,500. Professional asbestos abatement more than doubles that cost, to an estimated $3,300.
If your home dates from the early 1980s or earlier, wet down a small patch of ceiling, scrape some texture into a plastic bag and send it to a lab for asbestos testing. An abatement contractor can also be hired to collect materials and recommend solutions. You can find testing labs and abatement contractors through HomeAdvisor or in the phone book.
In the absence of asbestos, popcorn ceiling texture removal becomes a job that’s easy and oddly satisfying. “It’s not that hard,” Lozano says. “It’s just messy.”
What you’ll need to DIY
A stepladder will suffice for a regular 8-foot ceiling. Fill a clean garden sprayer — the kind with a tank and a wand, and not one that’s already been used for yard chemicals — with warm water, adding a squirt of dishwashing liquid. Lozano using suggests an 8- to 10-inch drywall spatula. Shorter and the blade won’t be flexible enough; longer and you’ll risk damaging the drywall.
To contain the mess, you’ll want to scrape into a drywaller’s mud tray and empty it regularly into a garbage bag. Wet mud gets heavy, so get a good supply of bags so you can change them out frequently.
First, cover and prep
Remove as much furniture as you can. Cover large pieces, the floor and the walls with plastic sheeting and/or resin paper. Don’t be tempted to skip the step of masking the walls all the way up to the ceiling — this stuff gets everywhere.
Cut the power to overhead lights and fans at your fuse box. Then disconnect them, cover them and mask them off.
You’ll want to wear eye protection and old clothes and keep the kids and pets away while you work. This is going to be a drippy, muddy, high-humidity job. Take frequent breaks to cool down and hydrate.
Spray, then scrape
Spray a 4-foot square of ceiling, wait 10 to 15 minutes and then test it with your scraper. It may take a few tries until you get a feel for the right moisture level. The texture should have the consistency of oatmeal and come off easily, but spray on too much water and you can damage the drywall or loosen the tape that covers its seams.
Holding the scraper at a 45-degree angle, push the texture off the ceiling and into your drywall mud tray, being careful not to break the surface of the drywall underneath. Use a putty knife or painter’s 5-in-1 tool for the edges and corners.
A painted, textured ceiling will need at least two passes; one to remove the layer of bumpy paint, which comes off in sheets, and a second to clean up the loose texture underneath. Then make a final pass with a blade or sponge to catch the shreds you missed.
Clean up
Some people let everything fall onto the floor covering, which they then roll up and throw away, mess and all. Scraping into a drywall mud tray catches much of the goop, but requires a lot of trips up and down the ladder to dump out the tray.
This reporter got her 10,000 recommended daily steps and the equivalent of 30 flights of stairs during the popcorn-removal process, according to her Fitbit. But she also looked like she’d run the Tough Mudder afterward.
Once the ceiling’s scraped clean, let it dry overnight. Now you’re ready to assess the state of your ceiling and decide whether to call in a professional. It may need damage repaired, seams taped and mudded, nail holes and low spots filled with joint compound and high spots sanded.
The pros with a smooth, skim coat of joint compound, a final sanding drywall primer and finally, two coats of finish color.
Supplies for diy popcorn removal
Stepladder
Garden sprayer
Drywall spatula with an 8- or 10-inch blade
Small putty knife or Hyde 5-in-1 tool
Drywall mud tray
Plain warm water
Dishwashing liquid (like Dawn)
Plastic sheeting and/or resin paper
Masking tape
Garbage bags
Eye protection
Read more, get estimates in your area
Two Home Advisor websites have more information on popcorn ceilings.
A primer and average removal cost
More about asbestos removal
