Remove or Cover Acoustical Ceiling

[SuzerB222]

Our house was built in 1979 and has the acoustical (popcorn) ceiling throughout except in bathrooms and we both hate it!! Is it possible to scrape it off?? If so what is the preferred method?? Someone also suggested that it would be easier to apply dry wall over the popcorn (hire someone to install and tape etc.). Has anyone tried this method?? Either way it seems pretty messy but the popcorn has got to go!! Any comments and suggestions would be appreciated. Susanne

[Julie]

"SuzerB222" wrote

I just had this done. A few thoughts:

For places built before 1985 or so, you may need to worry about asbestos content - google around, and you'll find places to test it for you.

Spray it down & scrape it off - that much is easy.

But: if you've ever worked on ceilings, you'll know it can be very, very painful. And, as easy as the scraping itself *may* be, the preparation and cleaning can be much more work. (a picture from the process:

.For those reasons, I hired a crew of 4 guys to come in and scrape (and re-texture) my 1000-sf. place; it still took them most of a day. It ended up being about 700 sf of scraping, and at 85 cents a sf, well worth it. I'd guess it would have taken me upwards of 40 hours, and at that pain level, the math of money versus my time weighed heavily in favor of hiring it out.

Them's my 2 cents. You'll be much happier when it's gone!

JSH

[SuzerB222]

JSH - Thanks so much for the information!! We didn't even think about "asbestos" being a problem - Thanks for mentioning it. I did a google search and will get our "popcorn" tested.

I clicked on the Link to your photos but for some reason couldn't get them. Do I need to do something once at Yahoo or should the photos pop up automatically?

The area that needs to be removed is also about 1000sf. Having a crew come in sounds well worth the $$ spent.

Susanne

[Joe Bobst]

Suzanne wrote:>

Permit me to disagree. This isn't rocket science and there isn't a major asbestos problem with residential popcorn/acoustical ceilings. Asbestos is a rather pricey filler material and was supplanted back in the 70's by polystyrene chunks. The ease of application by sprayers and cost of the filler were driving factors.. For years textured home ceilings have been demolished by their owners (me included) by simply water spraying and scraping with wall board tools. No way the wet gook can float fibers in the air so you aren't at all at risk for asbestosis. Bag the debris before it dries, put the bags in a robust Hefty Bag and send it to the landfill. Take the money you saved and make out a check to the Americam Red Cross or a charity of your choice. HTH

Joe