PopCorn Ceiling Removal and Retexture

[SDisGreat]

Hello Piggs,

I m looking for any recommendations on any contractors who remove popcorn ceiling. My home is under 2000 sq ft single story and I think it’s time to get with the times.

Thanks

[jpinpb]

I hope you don’t mind I linked this to the contractors thread. Hopefully we can get a name of someone who is good at this.

[UCGal]

What is the age of the home?
If it’s older – you need to test it for asbestos. Homes from the 60’s and 70’s often had asbestos in the popcorn ceiling. This adds *significantly* to the cost.

If the house is older, you can buy a test kit at Home Depot -scrape a little and mail it off.

[ljinvestor]

I’ve used Mr D’s painting before to do that. Reasonable price,good work, quick, and can do other stuff if needed. Contact info at http://www.mrdspainting.com

[Fearful]

[quote=UCGal]What is the age of the home?
If it’s older – you need to test it for asbestos. Homes from the 60’s and 70’s often had asbestos in the popcorn ceiling. This adds *significantly* to the cost.

If the house is older, you can buy a test kit at Home Depot -scrape a little and mail it off.[/quote]
I may get scorched for this, but: If you discover your ceiling contains asbestos, you have gained information you really could have done without. Do it yourself or find a contractor that wants to be paid cash and does not mention the a-word. If you discover it has asbestos in it, you are then obliged to disclose that to the contractors and to subsequent buyers. Do yourself a favor: Ignorance is bliss.

You get the stuff off by wetting, scraping, and putting it into plastic bags, whereupon it quietly disappears back to the ground from whence it came.

You’ll probably have to sand a little bit; do so with a vacuum sander, wear at least a nuisance dust mask, and ventilate the house well.

You probably will have to have a drywall guy re-tape some of the seams. One motivation for sprayed-on ceilings is the shoddy work they hide.

One alternative, though it is not at all cheap, is to cover the popcorn ceiling with a 1/4″ drywall layer, thereby entombing the suspected nasty stuff.

[UCGal]

[quote=Fearful][quote=UCGal]What is the age of the home?
If it’s older – you need to test it for asbestos. Homes from the 60’s and 70’s often had asbestos in the popcorn ceiling. This adds *significantly* to the cost.

If the house is older, you can buy a test kit at Home Depot -scrape a little and mail it off.[/quote]
I may get scorched for this, but: If you discover your ceiling contains asbestos, you have gained information you really could have done without. Do it yourself or find a contractor that wants to be paid cash and does not mention the a-word. If you discover it has asbestos in it, you are then obliged to disclose that to the contractors and to subsequent buyers. Do yourself a favor: Ignorance is bliss.

You get the stuff off by wetting, scraping, and putting it into plastic bags, whereupon it quietly disappears back to the ground from whence it came.

You’ll probably have to sand a little bit; do so with a vacuum sander, wear at least a nuisance dust mask, and ventilate the house well.

You probably will have to have a drywall guy re-tape some of the seams. One motivation for sprayed-on ceilings is the shoddy work they hide.

One alternative, though it is not at all cheap, is to cover the popcorn ceiling with a 1/4″ drywall layer, thereby entombing the suspected nasty stuff.[/quote]

I agree it’s not a bad DIY job – but do you want to risk asbestosis if there is asbestis in it? I don’t. But the risk is relatively easily mitigated with filter masks and containment of the debris from the rest of the house.

Also there’s the fact that it is illegal to put asbestos in the regular landfill.

When we looked into DYI we found that there are few disposal sites – and only contractors have access to them. So you’d need to hire a contractor to dispose of it – even if you did the scraping.

Here’s a list of EPA approved sites that accept asbestos
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&sqi=2&ved=0CEQQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fnepis.epa.gov%2FExe%2FZyPURL.cgi%3FDockey%3D000001EP.TXT&rct=j&q=asbestos%20in%20landfills&ei=1HOcTtq7BsWWiALH7vyhDQ&usg=AFQjCNHUTYoycqOFuoq5xK7jhvTwSDPuDA&cad=rja

Hopefully the OP has a newer house and it’s a non-issue.

[sdduuuude]

Easy but messy do-it-yourself job.

Just spray the ceiling w/ lots of water, wait a while and scrape with a big, fat putty knife. Done.

Just for fun, try it in a closet – you’ll see how easy it is. Most of your time/work will be spent moving or covering furniture and cleaning up the mess.

If you do have asbestos, I wouldn’t worry about it (but that’s just me) because when you spray the ceiling the asbestos won’t get airborne because of the water.

[Fearful]

[quote=UCGal]
I agree it’s not a bad DIY job – but do you want to risk asbestosis if there is asbestis in it? I don’t. But the risk is relatively easily mitigated with filter masks and containment of the debris from the rest of the house.

Also there’s the fact that it is illegal to put asbestos in the regular landfill.
[/quote]
Boy I’m really gonna get torched for this one, but: If you don’t have any reason to believe there is any asbestos in your ceiling scrapings, just put the stuff in trash bags in your regular curbside pickup. It’ll go to a landfill where it will be buried under a mountain of other trash and dirt and no one will ever, ever get asbestosis from it.

A whiff of asbestos particles will not give you asbestosis, just like smoking a few cigarettes will not give you lung cancer. Truth be told, both might kill you, but both are low probability. Work with asbestos or smoke regularly and you are taking a real chance. It’s hard to imagine just how many people worked regularly with asbestos for many years, sanding and scraping the stuff daily. The stuff ain’t cyanide. Personally I would rather risk a day’s worth of exposure to asbestos than go through the headaches and expense of hiring an asbestos mitigation contractor. But everyone chooses their own risk.

I speed regularly, but I don’t smoke, and I wear ear plugs when sawing tile. I also use a wet saw, and it sickens me to see hardscape contractors using dry diamond saws to cut concrete bricks. You know how much nice, fine silica dust is thrown into the air from a dry diamond saw? Silicosis, anyone? Cough, cough.

[NotCranky]

Do what dude said.
Tape cheap painters plastic to all walls about a foot down from the cieling.Make a bag of the whole room. When the room is not too hot go into the bag with a mask and hood and junk clothes and scrape the stuff off or get someone to do it.Have a sponge and a bucket of water to wipe the ceiling clean of residue. Roll up the bag and get rid of the hood,mask, sponge and clothes too. There is no mess beyond that.

I am not saying to do that if asbestos is present, or might be present, but I would.

[CA renter]

We’re right in the middle of getting the popcorn texture removed. Larry the drywall guy is doing it for us.

Here’s his info:

Larry at (760) 622-8062

Our house is under 2,000 sf, and will run between $1,500 and $2,000.

[yooklid]

Nuke it from orbit.

Only way to be sure.

[EconProf]

The consensus here seems to be do-it-yourself or hire someone to scrape and dispose of it without following all the rules of the government and scaremongers. I agree, and have done it several times on rental properties. We all , need to properly evaluate true risk and probabilities in our decision-making and not be overly influenced by vivid, spectacular, but unlikely events. Don’t worry about the tiny amount of asbestoes in popcorn ceilings, or second-hand smoke, or throwing away flourescent bulbs, but do put on your seatbelt, eat sensibly, and don’t tailgate.

[protorio]

Why not just wait until popcorn ceilings become fashionable again?

I’m sure that sometime in the 2030s, 1980s pastels, white kitchen tile, and oak ‘n brass will be all the rage with currently rugrat hipsters.

[enron_by_the_sea]

Can someone educate me on why there is this drive to get popcorn ceilings removed? Why does everyone hate them? Aesthetics?

[scaredyclassic]

I usually put on my seatbelt but sometimes I just say fuck it. I can’t explain.

I always eat sensibly.

I never tailgate.

I never snort asbestos particles knowingly …

Anything else I shouldn’t do?

[Author]

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