# Popcorn ceiling removal ?



## CreativePainter (Feb 21, 2007)

What's the best way to remove never painted popcorn ceiling ?
Tks in advance !!!


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## Mr. Mike (Dec 27, 2008)

Best thing you can do is run a search before posting a question like this, You can rest assure this question has been asked many of ways and answered many of ways also. 


here is a short cut to catch up...


http://www.contractortalk.com/f49/popcorn-ceiling-removal-laminate-ceiling-3-8-a-53002/


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## Teetorbilt (Feb 12, 2004)

Take it off dry with a garden type scraper, skim, and run! 

Or you can try it wet with a garden sprayer. Huge mess on the floor and very difficult to keep from tracking through the house.

Plan C (untested). Get out the 9" sander and prepare for lots of dust.

Acually you should run first. Removing popcorn rates with septic problems.

The real issue here is that popcorn was used to cover up bad lid installs which brings up the question 'Where do I go from here?'.


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## Darwin (Apr 7, 2009)

Lots and lots and lots of scrapin' :whistling


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## CreativePainter (Feb 21, 2007)

Mr. Mike said:


> Best thing you can do is run a search before posting a question like this, You can rest assure this question has been asked many of ways and answered many of ways also.
> 
> 
> here is a short cut to catch up...
> ...


Mr. Mike, i do apologize for asking this, many times asked question, but i do not visit this site on a daily basis. However i do thank you for your answer and a link to more solutions. I've done spray-scrape-skim procedure twice already, but i was curious if anyone came up with a less messy solution.
Thank you everyone.:thumbsup:


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## Mr. Mike (Dec 27, 2008)

> Mr. Mike, i do apologize for asking this, many times asked question, but i do not visit this site on a daily basis.


I apologize if I sounded negative, I'm new at this also and only meant to help you better by speeding up your answer, that thread was in drywall and probably would of been pretty hard to find anyways.:thumbsup:

There might be less messy ways but this is the quickest and best for me.


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## the hague (Aug 16, 2007)

Keep in mind that acoustic ceilings dating to the early seventies could potentially contain asbestos. Don't dry scrape it, wetting it down doesn't create any more mess than keeping it dry and no dust. If its never been painted, once you get it wet (sprayer or paint roller) it'll peel right off with a flat shovel or wide drywall blade. Just put some visquene down on the floor. You'll need to texture it too as it will only have been taped and topped.


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## billbender (Oct 19, 2008)

I've been dealing with these ceilings for awhile now. I spray em down, strap on my stilts,scrape with a 6" knife with either a mud tray or plastic roller tray directly under my knife. Fill the tray and dump in trash can, keeps the floor pretty clean.


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## AboveAndBeyond (Dec 5, 2008)

the last time we removed popcorn ceilings it was the entirety of a house, ~3k sq. ft... some of them all you can do is scrape and re-coat. however give thought to a wallpaper steamer, take it off pretty quick right to the drywall/mud. plan on re-taping the seams though.


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## jmda (Apr 3, 2008)

Messy job, but the fasted way is to spray with hot water and scrape. Tried it dry and it takes too much time.


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## A+ Texture (Sep 23, 2008)

Use airless sprayer to wet, garden sprayer takes to long. Then scrape with a wide knife. All-Wall.com has a scraper that attatches to a pole and it catches the texture in a bag. I removed the bag part, I just double plastic the floors, roll up the junk chuck it, then texture. And as previously stated there is a potential for asbestos and there is a procedure to follow to cover your arse.


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## budreau (Jun 28, 2009)

A+ Texture said:


> Use airless sprayer to wet, garden sprayer takes to long. Then scrape with a wide knife. All-Wall.com has a scraper that attatches to a pole and it catches the texture in a bag. I removed the bag part, I just double plastic the floors, roll up the junk chuck it, then texture. And as previously stated there is a potential for asbestos and there is a procedure to follow to cover your arse.


what if there is asbestos ? my house has this and i've been looking at removing it. any good ways ?
thanks


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## chris n (Oct 14, 2003)

budreau said:


> what if there is asbestos ? my house has this and i've been looking at removing it. any good ways ?
> thanks


Call in a professional asbestos abatement contractor.:thumbsup:


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## LetItBeLEED (Aug 18, 2008)

You'd need a REALLY good reason to take out asbestos popcorn. Can't you just leave it the heck alone? If its damaged or you want to sell the place, I can see removing it.

The one time I ran into this, the abatement dudes said federal or state law (I forget which) required them to drop the entire ceiling (blown insulation and all). The HO was planning on remaining in the home longterm so opted to just encapsulate the popcorn and had me run furring strips, hang new panels, and apply knockdown to hide the slight waviness.


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## Anti-wingnut (Mar 12, 2009)

The very first thing to do is to have the ceiling tested for asbestos


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## budreau (Jun 28, 2009)

been tested - not much in it but enough. lived in this house for along time,grew up in it and just want to change some things. whats the best way to hide it that would not look like you hid something ? 
thanks for all the info.


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## budreau (Jun 28, 2009)

any suggestions ?


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## Workaholic (Feb 3, 2007)

If you can't live with it like it is why not just hang some drywall on top of it?


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## budreau (Jun 28, 2009)

i guess i'll leave well enough alone. thanks again.


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## BESMAN (Jul 15, 2009)

Workaholic said:


> If you can't live with it like it is why not just hang some drywall on top of it?



sometimes this is the best thing to do when asbestos is involved...which sucks if you aren't a drywall guy.


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## budreau (Jun 28, 2009)

no drywall pro here , i'm all roofer. say i was going to try this would that be to much weight or do you do something special when hanging another layer ?


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## MZ-HANDYMAN (Jun 7, 2009)

CreativePainter said:


> What's the best way to remove never painted popcorn ceiling ?
> Tks in advance !!!


I don't know if anyone has hit on this subject but there is a scraper you can attach to your paint pole and it has a rectangle ring around it where you can hang a plastic bag. I had one but can't find it to tell you where to get one. or what it's called. I do suggest you moisten the popcorn before removal and make sure you use runners all the way out of the building. No matter how careful you are you will drop some mess where you don't want it.

Just scrolled up Bureau hit the nail on the head!

MZ


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