Popcorn Ceilings

[John]

Is there a particularly good method to remove the popcorn plaster from ceilings. The "plaster" has been painted twice. Thanks. John

[Robert Allison]

If it has been painted, then the method I use is as follows;

Place plastic on all floors under ceilings to be removed. Place plastic over walls down to plastic on ceilings. Using a long handled scraper such as a floor scraper, take the roughest texture off the ceiling (minimal scraping). Using a pump sprayer, spray a fine mist onto a section of the ceiling. Let it set for a few minutes, but not long enough for it to dry out. I usually keep spraying the area multiple times. After it has soaked in, scrape the ceiling again and most of the texture should come off. Repeat at next area. Do small areas at a time. I usually have one guy scraping and one guy spraying to cut down on wait times. When finished, pull plastic off of walls and onto floor plastic. Roll up floor plastic and throw it all away. Repair any gouges or damages to ceiling.

[Bob F]

If it was put on before 1978 or so, it might have asbestos to think about.

Bob

[not diy]

What do you have in the pump sprayer?

[benick]

What I do is scrape it down and then I sand it with my Portercable Power Sander with shopvac using 80 grit then skimcoat twice with jointcompound. and sand with powersander with 180 grit. Same outcome alot less mess....

[Edwin Pawlowski]

I used plain water with a few drops of detergent to help as a wetting agent.

[Robert Allison]

Exactly.

[John]

[cln]

Do you need to cover the whole ceiling with compound or just the joints and repairs? cln

[Edwin Pawlowski]

I did not have to do any repair but for a few minor gouges from a scraper. I did not need a sander at all, it just came off after moistening. If you have large areas, then yes, do the entire area.

[Renata]

There is a product for sale at Lowes that removes the stuff. Spray on, wait a few minutes, easily scrape off.

It is more than just water and detergent. Blueish bottle, gallon size, about $10.

Works really well but you should have some ventilation. It's not that there's a horrible odor - it's barely discernable, but you'll notice a little something if you stay in the room and don't have the windows open.

Renata