What Do I Do With My Popcorn Ceilings?By the way, if you are someone who loves popcorn texture, then go to my page which explains how to put it on. Check here - Popcorn Texture Here's a recent example from my experience. A customer called me to say that he had just scraped off the texture from his popcorn ceilings. He wanted a price from me to repair the multiple plaster cracks and re-texture the ceiling. I showed up on appointment early one morning with my sample texture boards and they escorted me into their living room. Yes, the ceiling, which extended into several rooms, was a mess. Besides all the nasty cracks in the rock lathe and plaster, there was still quite a bit of debris left over from the acoustic texture. I explained that my repair materials would not bond well with the plaster until all debris and dust were removed from the surface. I really didn't relish the job of doing that myself, although I have scraped and cleaned acres? (it felt like) of popcorn ceilings in my time. So I offered them a price break, provided they cleaned the ceiling satisfactorily for my inspection. Fortunately, they agreed. On my first inspection, I licked my finger tips and raked them across the ceiling. Instant white. I explained they needed at least one more wipe down with water and sponge. And to change the water frequently. They were not thrilled, but agreed to do that. When I showed up to do the job, things looked better. The finger trick did not show a lot of dust. They left for work and I checked out the whole ceiling. As I thought might be the case, there were spots they had missed, especially near walls and in corners. So I wiped the whole ceiling down with plain water and sponge. Adios popcorn texture. In three days I taped all the plaster cracks and gave the ceilings two skim coats of hot mud and a final coat of all purpose joint compound. A hand applied ceiling texture and everything was ready for primer and paint. If you have popcorn ceilings in your home, you may have encountered these problems. -- discoloration or yellowing -- grime from dust or grease -- cobwebs --falling texture material --water marks --acoustic texture with asbestos In my part of the world (Northwest USA), we have lots of little web spinners in our houses. Cobwebs on popcorn ceilings are hard to remove properly. A broom is likely to bring down a gentle rain of dislodged particles. Over time, the popcorn texture can get a patchy look, and then the question arises: now what? It is possible to overspray a ceiling with a new layer of the same texture and that will dress things up a bit. But the common problems will arise again, eventually. If the ceiling is badly yellowed or otherwise discolored, it is possible to paint over the popcorn texture, either by spraying or by roller. Regarding rollers, it is critical to use the right roller cover. A regular roller cover will pull the texture particles off the ceiling, to some extent anyway, so there is a roller cover available that is sponge. These work pretty well - they do less damage. Spraying may be better if a person is willing to do all the masking and cleanup involved. Some types of discoloration may require an application of a stainblocker, like Kilz, before the ceiling is painted. Especially true for water marks. The biggest problem with popcorn ceilings is that, of those applied prior to the later 70's, most have asbestos in the texture. In my state, it is against the law to remove acoustic textured ceilings unless you are the homeowner or a specially trained and licensed professional. Anyone, professional or not, needs to be very careful in removing asbestos materials. Common practice in my area is to drape all walls to the floor with light disposible plastic, and cover floors with heavier disposable plastic. Workmen wear good face masks and paper disposable suits. When the scraping is done, the ceiling is washed down to remove dust and a light clear sealer is put on to lock in any remaining dust particles. Then all the debris laden plastic is bundled up and taped shut and deposited with licensed asbestos disposal companies. Some landfills are set up to hand such materials. _____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ Tips on popcorn texture removal Usually a six inch taping knife works best for cleaning off popcorn ceilings. Hold it pretty flat and the texture will come off in small sheets, if dry. However, it's better to dampen the popcorn first, to reduce dust and get the stuff off easier. A small squirt bottle works well; you spray a few square feet at a time. If you're removing texture from a drywall ceiling, take care not to gouge the face paper, otherwise you will add to your work later when you have to repair the drywall. When you have scraped everything to your satisfaction, wash down the ceiling to remove dust. With drywall, don't overwet. Just use a damp sponge and rinse very frequently, and change your water often - it will turn milky very quickly. With a drywall ceiling, you may have to clean up and perhaps re-coat the finished drywall joints now exposed. I usually find that I have to apply at least one new topping coat to get them ready for texturing over. The nails may have popped, so you may have to screw the ceiling off to tighten it up. Remove or reset popped nails. Be sure all fasteners have enough topping coats to be flat, otherwise they may show through your light texture as dimples. And now comes the fun part. Texture-time. Do your own style texture and paint to suit. Now you have exchanged a difficult, not so great texture, for your own special effect you can enjoy for years to come! Goodbye, popcorn ceilings, forever! Go textures! -------------------------- ANNOUNCEMENT Just out! A newly released DVD of live demonstrations. I take you by the hand, so to speak, and walk you through the process of doing wall and ceiling textures. These are actual textures I do for my clients, textures they pay me big bucks to do. Are you ready to add that lovely touch to your newly repaired or restored plaster or drywall? This is a first run production, a small one to test the waters, and so I am offering this helpful product at a low introductory price. Go to wall and ceiling texturing techniques. ___________________________________________________________
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