Popcorn (Acoustic) Ceiling - Redo or remove

[Harry Muscle]

I just moved into a house build in 1971 and the living room has a popcorn or acoustic ceiling. It looks like it's been painted, probably a few times. It doesn't look the best anymore, so a friend of mine offered to re-popcorn the whole ceiling for me. He said I just have to prime it first. However, I'm debating if I really want to do this. I've read that the bond of the "popcorn" is very week and the more stuff you add to the ceiling the more weight and the possibility of patches coming down due to the weight of a couple layers of paint and new texture. Is re-popcorning such a ceiling a common practice? Does it usually come out good when done by someone who knows what they are doing?

Or should I just get rid of it. I'm concerned about asbestos though. I've called around to get a sample tested, but it's quite expensive and it takes a long time for results. I've got about a weeks to figure out what to do and actually do it, since that's when the floor guy is comming to refinish the floors, after that I'd rather not mess with the ceiling anymore.

Thanks for any input, Harry

[Ulysses]

If it was built in 1971 I would just assume it contains asbestos and have it removed accordingly. I had a house built in '71 and contacted the local health department to find out what I should do to prevent exposure to asbestos fibers. They sent me a book about 1 1/2 inches thick. It all boiled down to "if you don't disturb it it's not s significant health hazard." Personally I think I would patch any empty spots and just paint over it. More paint might keep any loose fibers where they are.

You also probably have asbestos heating ducts, water heater insulation (on the pipes), asbestos on the furnace ducts, and possibly even asbestos in any linolium flooring. Do you have aluminum wiring too? That is a potential fire hazard.

[SteveB]

I just had it taken off the ceiling in my family room and dining room. I wonder why I didn't take it off ten years ago.

Take it off! Makes it easier to paint, keep clean, all sorts of stuff.

But, when you do have it taken off, I would suggest that you have it retextured to match the walls. Not really expensive, and with a new coat of paint, will look like a totally different room.

If you are going to have other work done, and have to clear the floor, NOW is the time to get it done.

I guarantee you will not regret it.

Steve

[Harry Muscle]

Ya, I'm rewiring the house in a few months to get rid of the aluminum wiring ...

My biggest concern with keeping the ceiling is that I might be covering things up nice and good now, but if things do in fact get too heavy to stay put, I'll have a ceiling that's going to start falling down and release asbestos over time ...

Thanks, Harry

[SQLit]

There is absolutely nothing wrong with AL wiring. Utilities rarely use copper. The problems come from the guy installing and TERMINATING the AL wiring. If you use the labled and listed equipment for the purpose there nothing wrong with AL. If it was so bad then why is your house still standing?

You are probably in for a surprise when you remove the popcorn. I did this in 1/2 of my old home. Found out VERY quickly that the ceiling was not taped and finished for a "flat texture". I putzed with it for a couple of weeks and then hired a contractor to finish the job right. 4 trips that made. Smoothing the joints larger and larger. Last coat they were using 24 inch wide tools. I primed two coats, painted two coats and I could still see the joints in certain light angles. I got ready to sell the home and did not have the time to paint so I hired a contractor to do the painting. He endded up putting 3 coats on the ceiling. I STILL could see the joints under certain light conditions. Contractor used a splatter then knock down texture for the ceiling to complement the kitchen area. I hope yours goes better.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

I got rid of it. Asbestos is not a threat if handled properly. It is rather miniscule in scope and the popcorn is best removed when dampened to further eliminate breathing fibers.

Spray with water containing a little detergent. Scrape, then wipe with a wet sponge. Just roll up hte newspapers or plastic drop cloths and trash it.

[Chuck]

I don't believe you'll find asbestos to be an issue here..

If you scrape old texture off and hang plastic to protect all walls and windows,, it shouldn't be very expensive to have pro come in and re-apply fresh texture... I helped a friend,, He already had air compressor on hand, no experience with spraying ceilings or spraying paint for that matter. This was new construction, (office for a garage) He rented the special sprayer and bought the "texture" at big box store. Had to experiment with how much water to add to get texture to flow properly. Couldn't tell the results from a pro. It's been 17 years now.. Still looks great.

[Harry Muscle]

I'm starting to lean towards scraping the old stuff off and leaving it flat. I've got a professional respirator (P100 filters), I can get those disposable full body overalls for a few dollars each, and I can tape up the whole living room to prevent anything from espacing into the rest of the house. I'm thinking getting rid of this stuff will be better in the long run.

Thanks, Harry

[DAC]

I would echo SteveB...take it off.

When I did mine I was on a step ladder, spraying the ceiling about an arms length at a time (a radius out away from where I was on the ladder). Allow the water to remain on the ceiling for a bit, then scrape with a 4-5" taping knife. If it comes off too hard, try more water, more wait time etc. I was able to scrape the texturing into an old cake pan, and dump it into a trash can...MINIMAL clean up. The old texturing stuck significantly harder where the seams were taped and nails mudded, not so much that I couldn't make it work for me.

Patch and/or repair drywall dings, prime and texture. Coincidently, I didn't like the texturing on the walls, so when I sprayed the ceiling, the walls received a coat also. It looks like a new room when painted. I'm on the last room of my 1974 ranch house...it looks MUCH nicer.

Best of luck...

Darwin

[SteveB]

"Edwin Pawlowski" wrote

And if you use a big cookie sheet, or just lay out visqueen and do small areas at a time, it's not THAT messy. Go slow, and don't step in it a lot. (don't ask)

Steve

[Frank J Warner]

It's easy to remove with a taping knife and spray bottle of water. Don't worry about the asbestos. There isn't enough in the popcorn to be concerned about and you'll only be exposed to it for a day or two. Note that the only confirmed cases of asbestosis are in people who had heavy, long-term exposure to the raw fibers, such as miners, e.g. Virtually no consumers have been affected.

Your primary concern will be what's under the popcorn, likely to be unprimed, poorly taped gypsum board. Skim-coating and texturing that surface (with the inevitable dings and scraps from the taping knife) will take practice, practice, practice . . . or a pro.

-Frank

[SteveB]

Can anyone here give some very accurate info on asbestos?

Mainly, when was it used. I believe the OP said the house was done in '74.

If it was me, I would not be concerned about asbestos, as everything is going to be wet. Were this a demolition, then, there would be more dry dust and fibers to float around.

This will be about the consistency of pudding, and the likelihood of any fibers floating around would be very slight.

Still, I would put a very large fan pointed into the room, and open windows for ventilation. I don't know what it is, but fresh drywall mud irritates my chest. To me, it has an ammonia smell. Perhaps it is the same when water is added for removal.

Anyone know when asbestos was used?

Oh, hell, I know I can find out on Google, but going to Google is like having sex with yourself. It's more fun when someone else is there.

Steve

[Edwin Pawlowski]

I agree getting rid of it is a good idea, but I think you are going to extremes with the precautions. Just messy, not a serious danger.

[John Weiss]

That still doesn't make it legal to do such a job without taking proper precautions. Do it wrong, and the whole house will become one of those dangerous sites...

....or getting caught disposing of the residue improperly.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

It was banned in '78. Before that is a guess unless you have it tested. I never did, I just scraped it off. It thee was any, it is truly minute.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

No really. Thee is a lot of over-reaction to asbestos, but there is still plent of it around and it is SAFE in place. It is not like it is going to grab you as you walk by and strangle you. If anything, the house is safer if it is removed.

Under the popcorn is drywall. In my case, it was perfect and was then primed and painted. As for disposal, it can be landfilled. It is not going to leach out and contaminate the earth. Honest. You can legally dispose of asbestos in many forms just by trashing it or wrapping and trashing. Please take the time to get the facts.

[G Henslee]

SteveB Stoopid shook and vibrated as he yelped:

Translated: I'm a lazy f***ot who wants others to do the research for me.

[G Henslee]

Why would anyone? You don't know anything.

[Harry Muscle]

So I went ahead and removed the popcorn on the ceiling ... boy was it tough ... there were so many layers of paint that I went thru 5 gallons of water for a 300 sq ft ceiling in order to get the stuff wet enough, and even then almost half the ceiling didn't want to come off without major persuation. At the end of it, the whole ceiling needs a skim coat, which fortunately a friend of mine has offered to do (he's a pro). Looking back, it would have been way way way easier to just drywall over the ceiling with quarter inch drywall.

Thanks for all the answers, Harry

[DAC]

Sorry to hear you had to hassle the ceiling so much...I did another room the other evening, maybe 200 SqFt.

A couple of quarts of water in a spray bottle and an hour and a half it was done. My ceiling didn't have any paint...which I'm sure made a huge difference. Regardless, when it gets done, you will be happier with a refreshed look and feel.

One of my neighbors did the 1/4 inch drywall...and ended up with a bigger mess than he started with...I'm guessing he didn't' screw the drywall consistently and the existing acoustical texturing would collapse near the screw and not so away from it. Regardless, he ended up with some really large divots where the screws were located, had a devil of a time trying to get the ceiling smoothed out. The seams were a bear to tape.

You did the right thing no matter the pain.

Darwin