How Do You Remove Popcorn Ceilings
A big trend in the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s; a headache in the 2000’s. It seems like if you have popcorn ceilings you either ignore it for as long as you can or have it all removed.
Popcorn ceiling textures was the popular thing when the housing construction boom started in the 50’s after WW2. It was a cheap way of covering the ceilings joints quickly and for the lowest cost. Now its a huge mess looking to be removed.
Now the ceilings are aged and out of style, maybe its time to remove that yellowed popcorn look for good. Now that all sounds great but how do you go about doing it. If you call around your quotes are going to range and it all depends on the method.
We see 3 main methods of getting rid of the dated texture; Scraping the ceiling, skimming the ceiling, and drywalling straight over it. You can see that they’re all very messy but which ones the best for my home. Let’s go through the ins and outs of each.
Scraping The Ceiling
We’ll start with the one that everyone thinks of when considering removing the textured ceiling, scraping all the popcorn off. Scraping the ceiling has its benefits and its drawbacks like every process.
Scraping is the most affordable method of removal and probably the messiest for the same reasons. By wetting the texture you can use a taping knife and run it along the ceiling scraping down the texture in long lines.
The best use of this method in our opinions is when you’re already doing renovations to the floor and don’t need to protect it because the popcorn texture gets into every crack it can. The ceiling must be untreated as well if it has been painted this method will not work.
The end result is a flat paintable surface in most cases, although sometimes an extra skimming will be necessary before its ready to be painted. The result can vary depending on what the builders were covering up.
Skimming The Ceiling
The next most popular method is skimming the ceiling with a few layers of mud to flatten right over top of the texture. This is the method preferred by tapers because it can be done clean (with skills) and cost effectively.
Skimming the ceiling takes a bit more skill then scraping the ceiling to make the surface a consistent flat texture. When done correctly the finished product is much flatter then the scraping method because you don’t risk gouging the ceiling board.
This is by far the cleanest method of removing popcorn ceiling and in the middle when it comes to cost. The messiest part of this method is the drips of mud and the sanding at the end.
For CW Paint and Tape this is the preferred method to remove popcorn texture. it is very labour intensive in large spaces but much easier in tight spaces like bathrooms and closets.
Drywalling Over the Ceiling
This method is by far the most excessive in our opinion and we only have heard it a couple times. This is the drywallers preferred method in our experience. Although, we could see some use in larger spaces.
For more obvious reasons this would be the most expensive way to remove popcorn texture and would tun the entire ceiling into a construction project. You’d need to tape the joints and the top corners as well as refit lights so it would be the most labour intensive.
We won’t spend to much time talking about this method just because its not one that we have used or would recommend. We prefer to choose the more cost effective strategy for our clients so we stick with the first 2.
So Which Will It Be?
If you have a larger room that has not been primed then laying down floor protection and scraping the ceiling will be the most cost effective way. If the room has been primed and painted then we would recommend skimming it.
For smaller rooms like bathrooms we usually just recommend skimming because its easier to clean up then scraping and will leave you with the best finish. Especially if you have bright wall lights and could have shadows.
Are you looking in Barrie, Orillia, or Muskoka for popcorn ceiling removal and the cost? Get in touch with us today and take advantage of our free home assessment!
