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Copyright © 2008
Smoky Mountain Painting
Popcorn texture on ceilings was a very popular look in the early eighties, but looks very outdated today. As a professional contractor I am seeing more and more people who wish to remove the texture from their ceilings but don't know the proper method for doing so. In this article I will tell you what I believe is the most efficient method for removing texture from your ceilings.
1. Preparation
The first step is to move the furniture from the room if at all possible. If you have some furniture that is just too heavy to remove from the room, purchase heavy duty plastic covers to place over the furniture. Since you will be using water, go ahead and turn off the electricity in the room. Remove any light fixtures from the ceiling. Next, cover the walls and floor with several layers of heavy duty plastic. Place the plastic floor sheeting up the walls about a foot and then tape the edge to prevent water from getting under the baseboards. PLEASE NOTE: Some blown-on acoustic ceilings applied before 1980 contain asbestos (the use of asbestos in these ceilings was banned in 1978). Only a certified asbestos removal contractor should remove these ceilings. You can find out if your ceiling contains asbestos by sending a small sample to an EPA certified testing lab.
2. Popcorn removal
Use a garden sprayer and plain water to wet down the ceiling. Work in an area about four to five feet square. It's better to make several passes and then let the ceiling soak up the water. Be careful not to apply too much water because it can damage the paper surface of the wallboard underneath. Using a joint knife, scrape the moist texture from the ceiling. The water will do most of the work and the popcorn ceiling should come off easily. If you run into spots that required hard scraping, stop, apply a little more water, wait for it to soak in a bit and then try again.
3. Time to prime and paint
If you happened to cut or gouge the ceiling when you were removing the texture, just use some joint compound and your taping knife and skim a thin coat of compound on the damaged area, allow to dry and lightly sand. Next, prime the ceiling with a latex primer. Once you are finished applying your primer, apply a coat of latex paint. Once your paint has fully dried you may have to apply an additional coat.
4. Clean-up
Remove all of the plastic covers from the walls and floors. Begin with removing the plastic from the wall first. After removing all of the plastic you will almost always have some texture that will find its way onto your floor, but the texture is water based and will come up easily from your carpet or hard wood floor. You may also want to keep your shop-vac close by because it could be handy during clean up.
Removing texture from a ceiling is a messy job, but doing so makes the room much more up to date. Following these few suggestions, you should have a nice, smooth ceiling in no time. Good luck!
The author has over thirty years experience in the home improvement industry and is the owner of Smoky Mountain Painting in Pigeon Forge Tennessee.
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