"Popcorn Ceiling" Question

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turbocruiser

turbocruiser

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I have a couple of questions regarding "popcorn ceilings". I'm not sure if that is the right term but basically these are the ceilings where small styrofoam balls are suspended into the paint and put on the ceiling with a "popcorn gun".

1st. Is it okay to paint these ceilings? If so is there a particular paint that's recommended and is there a particular roller that's recommended? Any painting tips other than to be a bit gentle so as not to knock off the popcorn?

2nd. Are these ceilings considered old fashioned? I was watching some improvement show and saw a small clip of suggestions to update things in the home. On a list of ten or so things they mentioned scraping out smooth ceilings for "a more modern look". Its not that I care too much about the "fashionability" of the ceiling but if this "old fashioned" product has been replaced by something better, I'm willing to entertain that. However, one thing that I would assume about smooth ceilings is that they make the rooms they're in louder and more echoey? I would not want that.

Anyways, any thoughts that you all can share would be welcomed. Thanks. :cheers:
 
I would think that if you tried to paint it, that it would start to fall down in patches. Half the time the stuff will start to fall down on its own.
I'm not one to point out what is and is not fashionable, but if you do scrape it off, I *highly* reccomend buying one of the special removal tools that you can pick up at the hardware store. I know that Lowes has them. They have a place to attach a bag to catch most of the stuff as it comes off and you just screw it on to the end of a long wooden handel. Misting the stuff with a little bit of water to soften it up and running one of the special scrapers is by far the easiet way to get the stuff off that I have found. If you do remove it, you can usually get away with using something thick like Kilz to cover up the seams that will now be visible. It's a messy job, but it does look nice when you're done.
 
It's WAY out of date here in California. My parents had it scraped off all the ceilings in their house and they said it was pretty easy and not too messy. Spray with HOT water, let it sit a bit to soak and then it will scrape off pretty easily......

I've seen ceilings where owners have painted over the popcorn and it is a HUGE pain to remove it after that. I wouldn't roll it (if you decide to go this route) - spraying would allow a thinner coat (and less weight). I say take it off, though.....

Just my 2 cents....
 
if you decide to scrape it, get it tested. some joint compound and acoustic material had chrysotile asbestos in it, up until the late 70s. Our was painted so we had the sheetrock installed over it. Worked out to be the same price as having it scraped.
 
X2, testing for asbestos is expensive, just be on the safe side, mix a little dishwashing soap with water and spray it on, scrape it off. The soap will lock down the fibers and keep them from staying airborne for hours. Find you a half face mask, not a dust mask but a real half face made of plastic and get the correct filter. If it is asbestos you don't want to be breathing that stuff in. I think I paid 20 bux for mine.
 
x2 on it being a nightmare to remove after it's been painted. It may have been painted previously anyway though, so it may not matter. My house has it in every room, painted, and I'll be grinding it down and floating it. Major PITA.
 
I've removed a bunch in my house as well. Not really that messy if you spray it down really well. I second the recomendation for the face mask and soap. I also taped plastic across the whole floor and across any door openings so any mess wouldn't leave the room. Go back over the cieling with some other mud finish. go to youtube and experiment with some finishing techniques. I just did 650 sqft of cieling last week in my house. It wasn't too bad.
 
paint

i painted all my popcorn ceilings white with ceiling paint from home depot, use thick roller. looks fresh with my colorful walls. i never had a problem with the popcorn falling off. :D
 
Scrape it off. My vintage 1978 house has that crap and I've been slowly scraping it off room by room. I bought a cool scraper that you can attach a plastic bag to that catches the wet popcorn.
 
Fellas thanks for the responses. I can tell that this was a feature from many moons ago and isn't so stylish anymore. One question I would want to ask to those who took the stuff off, did it change the acoustics at all within the room? IOW, was the room "louder" afterwards? Thanks. :cheers:
 
Easy solution scrap it. If you paint it it will seal it up forever and you will NEVER get it scrapped of properly & will end up tearing sheetrock down.

Set up a containment supper easy,

Blue tape (2" wide)
12" flashing paper (brown rolls in painting section of home improvement stores)
3mil Plastic in sheets or rolls.
One can of HD77 adhesive spray
3M P100 mask.

Take blue tape & flashing paper & tape perimeter walls at the ceiling. Take the HD77 spray (the Elmers sucks even though it's cheaper) and spary about 6' of the flashing paper. Wait about 10-15seconds and put the edge of the plastic on paper letting it drap down the wall. Repeat throughout the room and spray the plastic at the bottom and attach more plastic until the floor is covered too. make sure you can get a ladder up against the base boards when your overlaying the plastic.

Get a CLEAN Hudson type sprayer (what you use for Round-up) and a 12" drywall knife. Lightly spray a 6' square area untill you see it change to a darker color and give it a minute to soak in. Apply more water as necessary until the popcorn litterly falls off as you run the drywall knife over it.

Be extra careful at tapped joints not to over water the tape/mud.

When done pull and everything is still wet/moist, just grab the plastic at the walls close to the ceiling and pull. The tape comes right off with the paper and roll it up in a neatly contained ball to dispose of in the trash.

You will need to float the ceiling a little over the nail holes and taped areas to make a smooth finish. And texture it if you want now too, but you'll have to set up another containment identical to the first.

This is easily a one day project for one DIY person for a 20x20 room.
 
turbocruiser said:
Fellas thanks for the responses. I can tell that this was a feature from many moons ago and isn't so stylish anymore. One question I would want to ask to those who took the stuff off, did it change the acoustics at all within the room? IOW, was the room "louder" afterwards? Thanks. :cheers:
Click to expand...

I damaged some in one room and found out its impossible to match so I had to redo the whole room, while the old stuff was off I could not tell any notice any difference in echo's, the room was empty though and already had more echos than normal.

popcorn ceilings main purpose is to hide the drywall work on the ceilings, the way light plays across a ceiling imperfections show up more than they do on walls so finishing ceiling flat and hiding the seams take more labor.

with popcorn texture all a builder has to do is tape and one coat of mud and sand and hide it all with texture, cheaper and goes on faster than paint also,

in removing, I laid down think painters paper type "tarps" on the carpet, lightly moistened it with a spray bottle and after it softened a bit scraped it off with a 10" drywall knife, most of it came off in one pass, second pass was bare drywall. easy, my house was built in 97 so i did not have to worry about asbestos.
 
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best way imo is rent an airless sprayer (if you dont have one already), plastic off floor, use hot water,soak the whole ceiling down. wait 10 min soak it again, and keep soaking it as you progress. scrape it off with large putty knife 8-12'. almost always comes off easily if you use HOT water and keep it nice and wet;). most i have done (50 or more), dont have much in the way of patching afterward, if your careful scraping.Again, like wallpaper, the trick is to soak it well, this also helps with dust. Wear your mask just in case. Same advice if your going to paint it, rent an airless. rolling these kinds of ceilings is a nightmare and you may end up having to remove it anyway if it falls apart. Use latex flat to make it look the best, imo. Good luck:beer:
 
If it hasn't been painted, it scrapes off easily. If it's been painted it's a :censor:. I've done it two ways. With a drywall knife on a ladder and with a floor scraper from the floor. There's a simple way to catch the popcorn, tape a wire hanger to the handle and attach a shopping bag to it.

Personally, I hate popcorn ceilings. If you paint it you're pretty much stuck with it.:doh:
 
hedonist said:
best way imo is rent an airless sprayer (if you dont have one already), plastic off floor, use hot water,soak the whole ceiling down. wait 10 min soak it again, and keep soaking it as you progress. s****e it off with large putty knife 8-12'. almost always comes off easily if you use HOT water and keep it nice and wet;). most i have done (50 or more), dont have much in the way of patching afterward, if your careful s****ing.Again, like wallpaper, the trick is to soak it well, this also helps with dust. Wear your mask just in case. Same advice if your going to paint it, rent an airless. rolling these kinds of ceilings is a nightmare and you may end up having to remove it anyway if it falls apart. Use latex flat to make it look the best, imo. Good luck:beer:
Click to expand...
Having done reno's for a living - removing the popcorn will add value. Painting it will decrease value as ALL buyers want it gone unless you find someone who likes shag carpet and lime green cabinets. Paint it with an enamel paint and you'll have to tear down the entire ceiling later on and re-drywall, mud & tape(expensive).

You can however paint it using a regular flat primer paint instead and it will make it easier to scrape off down the road with a bit of hot water.

If you do remove it, first test a small area to see if it has been painted before. If it comes off super easy - it has never been painted any you're in luck. If it is hard and brittle - than it HAS been painted before, probably w/ primer. REALLY hard - then it's been painted with an enamel -you're outta luck and you're better off re-painting unless you have the energy to tear down the entire ceiling and re-drywall.

Using a ladder, lightly mist a 4'x4' area with a spray bottly a couple of minutes before you scrape it with an 8" drywall blade(flexible one). If you soak it too much - the water will soak into the mud/compound at the joints - and destroy the existing taping. Too much water will also soak the paperface of the drywall board and allow the blade to dig in. Go slow as anywhere your blade tears in will require very time consuming patching jobs. It's only a pain to scrape at the joints.

After it is scraped - you will need to skim coat all the joints and anywhere your blade dug in and sand. Do this a bunch of times - then repaint. Might be a good idea to call a pro mudder at this point - otherwise your ceiling might end up looking like the moon.

Hope it helps - good luck - oh and buy a good 3M rubber dustmask and lots of thin poly if you scrape.
 
x2, my first place was unpainted. It took 20 to 30 minutes per room, to clear a ceiling. No water needed. Enough texture was left so it looked good with a couple of coats of paint.

My current place was painted:bang::bang:
I had to soak the ceilings and still it was 2 to 3 hours per room. Worse yet, the water took off everything down to the drywall. I had to plaster, sand and re-texure the ceiling before painting.

Don't paint that sh!t if you ever want to take it off.:eek:
 
Our new home has the popcorn, I h8 it. I am a little worried about asbestos. The home was built in '79. Its a nice place as far as construction goes. Well built. But...

So testing for the stuff is pretty spendy?

Is there any reliable DIY test kits? or any mud chemistry guys that know a way to test?

At least ours is not the popcorn with gold flakes LOL
 
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