Some popcorn ceilings that have been painted over may simply be impossible to remove, so the best option is to cover or demolish. The cost to cover a popcorn ceiling will vary dramatically depending on whether you do it yourself or hire professionals.
Like all trends that have past their time, popcorn ceilings get a lot of distaste these days. Popcorn ceilings hide imperfections in drywall. They are easier to apply, cutting the cost of labor when building a house. They also help deaden the noise in a room. First, you clean your ceiling and wipe down the back of the tile with alcohol. Then apply an adhesive and fit them to the ceiling.
You may need thicker tiles to cover heavy popcorn ceilings. Click here to check out ceiling tiles on Amazon. For homes with a cottage or farmhouse aesthetic, wooden planks may be the best option. These are more costly than skim coating and more work than ceiling tiles, but the result is beautiful. The easiest way to plank a ceiling is to apply your finish to your planks before installing them. It takes much less effort to paint or stain planks on a workbench than on a ceiling.
Apply an adhesive to the back of the plank and then nail it onto the ceiling joist. Continue doing this until you reach the end of the row.
Start the next row with a plank that is several inches shorter or longer than your first so that the joints will be staggered. If your ceilings are high enough and you want a perfectly smooth option, you can have them covered in another layer of drywall. However, popcorn finishes and paint applied before often contained asbestos and lead, respectively, which could be toxic if sent airborne. If you live in an older home, purchase a home test for lead paint, and consult with an expert about testing for asbestos.
If it tests positive, do not scrape it. If your ceilings are not at risk for asbestos or lead paint, but they have been painted, it may be near impossible to scrape them, since the porous popcorn material will have soaked it up. Drywalling over them may be a better option. A lot of people spray their ceilings with water before scraping to loosen them up, but Poellinger doesn't recommend it. It's more time-consuming, but it's best to scrape it dry. Affix ceiling-grade gypsum board, which weighs significantly less than standard wall board, right over the existing popcorn ceiling.
You'll need to securely screw it into the framing and be proficient at mudding and taping for a seamless job. This is a better option than scraping if you have lead paint or asbestos, because you can encapsulate the harmful substance instead of sending it airborne. Plus, you'll get the smoothest possible finish, if you mud and tape properly.
Alternatively, a team of pros will be able to complete the job in no time. Finally, if the ceiling has damage or if you already need to cut into it to reroute electrical or HVAC, you can make large cuts into the existing substrate without worrying about patching, since they'll soon be covered up anyway.
It may also be difficult to maneuver the boards single handedly if you're DIYing it. And if you have crown molding, you'll likely have to remove it and replace it. Yes, it's still a texture, but according to Poellinger, it's making a comeback—and it's fairly easy for homeowners to do themselves.
Often found in older homes—pre-popcorn-era—this type of textured ceiling involves cleaning and prepping the existing substrate with quick-set drywall mud, applying a bonding agent like joint compound, and then applying a finish compound with a trowel or knife to create a new texture. These can be wiped up easily but are messy. Take off the covers of any vents in the room. This can be a good time to spray paint these and make them look new before you put them back.
Prepare your materials: Put your joint compound in a plastering tray or small bucket. Start in a corner of the room. Note: You might want to practice on a board first before you start on the ceiling. Get started plastering: Starting at the least noticed edge of the ceiling for example, near the door , press the compound down and then drag the knife across the ceiling at about a degree angle.
Press enough compound in to cover the popcorn. Some of the plaster may drop across the sides and fall which is why you needed to cover the floor! As you do this more, you will get better at knowing how to move the knife to catch the dropping compound. Plaster a 2-foot by 2-foot section at a time : Keep on scooping up the compound and pressing against the ceiling. Generally, it works to do a 2 foot by 2-foot section at a time. After you have pressed a couple of scoops onto the ceiling, you will probably want to go back over that section with your knife to smooth it and make sure that no section is too thick.
Try different types of strokes: As you work with the compound, you will see that there are different types of textures you can make depending on how close you scrape the compound on the popcorn. Finish the Edges and Molding. The edges and corners of the ceiling will look a bit ragged unless you use the tip of the knife or a finger to smooth it you can wear plastic gloves if the joint compound dries your skin.
In some cases, I also used my index finger to do the same. Avoid Ceiling Vents : Be careful not to plaster over the holes for the screws for your ceiling vents. Your vents will go back on easier if you do only a light layer of plaster around them. Before You Paint: Let the ceiling dry about a week before trying to paint it.
Actually, since it will dry white, you may not even need to paint. Before you paint, be sure to cover everything again because the paint will get into the ridges of the plaster and sometimes drop down on your floor. A Note About Colors: If you use something other than white on the ceiling, you will need to use a lot of paint to cover it.
I've used white, beige, and light mustard yellow. These all look great, but I would probably stick to a white if possible. Using this method is probably one of the cheapest ways to get rid of popcorn. I did throw the plaster tray away when I finished in celebration! Of course, you will also need a good stepladder.
Mine got covered with compound during the project, but it still works just fine. Your primary cost is the joint compound. Truthfully, the biggest cost in this project is time and effort. I was not able to work for eight hours straight because the repetitive lifting and pressing were tough on my year old wrists. However, by taking breaks every hour or so, I was able to finish most rooms in one day, or sometimes two half-days.
Doing a ceiling in a weekend is certainly a realistic goal. Doing a whole house on a weekend is not unless you have a team of people. In fact, I'm not sure a professional would want to do this work because it is labor-intensive and may not be worth their time. However, time is what a homeowner can give to a project for a house they live in. I am an over year-old female college professor and housewife. If I can do it, you probably can too! In fact, because my husband was busy on some outside gardening projects, I did all of the.
Who I am : I am an over year-old female college professor and housewife. In fact, because my husband was busy on some outside gardening projects, I did all of our ceilings by myself.
We do have tile floors, so I did not have to worry about carpet, but I was still amazed at how easy it was to change the look of our house with this one project. Our house no longer looks dated. I've done many DIY projects but this one is probably the most important one I've ever done to change the resale value and appearance of our home. If your popcorn comes off easily, this method may be a disaster. Before you attempt to do a whole room, I recommend starting in an inconspicuous place, like a closet.
I did a section in our garage first, then a small bathroom. Do a test: I let the whole thing dry for a week and then painted it. I was worried the plaster might fall off, so I waited several months, letting the bathroom get plenty of use and humidity before I started doing the other ceilings in the house.
Buy supplies one room at a time. You might be tempted to go out and buy the materials for the house at once, but I found that fresh joint compound was easier to use, so I bought just enough for one room at a time. Older mixes, especially if opened, can get dried out and hard to use. I started this process in in all of the main areas of our house. I finished the last bedrooms in All of the ceilings look great and we've had no problems, even in the bathrooms which get a lot of moisture.
Since I wrote the first article, many people have tried this method and written to me about it, saying it worked for them too. When I first decided to try this, there wasn't anything on the Internet about this technique, so I posted my experience on my blog.
To my surprise, that blog post went viral, which showed me that I wasn't alone in thinking about this idea. In fact, that post was the start of my Internet writing career. Since then, many people have written to tell me this method worked for them too. If you've tried it, shoot me an email, or better yet, share any tips you have in the comments to help other folks out. Happy plastering! Content is for informational or entertainment purposes only and does not substitute for personal counsel or professional advice in business, financial, legal, or technical matters.
Question: Are there drawbacks to not priming, sealing, or painting? Can I just prime and seal? I love it bare. Answer: I left several of my ceilings unpainted after plastering for a couple of years. They were a light grey color that worked with the decor of that room. I did not prime or seal them at all. When I did decide I wanted a new color, I just chose a paint with primer included and did one coat with some touch-ups as needed afterward.
It is very easy. Question: My plaster looks thicker than what you did. Some of mine fell off after I did it. Do you have any ideas? Answer: It might have something to do with the kind of ceiling popcorn you have, the type of plaster you put on the ceiling, or the thickness of your layer of plaster.
If you can spray water on your popcorn ceiling and then easily scrape it off, then you might want to do that instead of covering it over. My popcorn ceiling was a plaster that was hard and had been painted.
No amount of water was going to soften it and let it be scraped off. I used lightweight plaster, which let me put a thin layer on. I always suggest that you try this in a closet or other space that is not noticeable first. I did my garage ceiling first, and then a small 3x3 foot bathroom area. I waited two weeks to see how it did before continuing. Question: Do you think it would be possible to put on a thick enough coat of plaster to allow for some designs to be stamped or molded into the plaster?
I have seen some beautiful plasterwork done by using foam stamps to press repeating patterns into wall and ceiling plaster.
Obviously, you wouldn't want to press so deep the "popcorns" of the ceiling become visible. Answer: I do not know if your idea would work with a single coat of plaster and I don't know if there would be a problem with the weight of the plaster on the ceiling. I suspect that scraping the plaster off first would be a better idea if you want to use plaster stamps. However, you might be able to do this if you put on one coat to cover the plaster, let it dry and then do a second coat and stamp it.
I'd suggest trying this in a closet or small bathroom area first. If you do it, I'd love for you to come back and tell me how it went in the comments! It is a very creative idea. Hi Joe, I admire your efforts! I think grinding it down was a lot of work! I do not have the arm strength to do that and I was also concerned about having asbestos in my ceiling plaster or the paint since we have a s house.
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