# popcorn ceilings



## aplvlykat (Jan 25, 2004)

My wife has me on restiction from the outback untill the rooms are done. 
Painting is no problem but the sprayed on popcorn ceilings are another thing.
I have been scraping them with a foot wide taping knife then redoing them with a knock down texture. How do you keep the dust down, is it OK to spray water on the ceiling or will this hurt the drywall? Is there a easier way, without hiring someone or am I doing it the best way? Kirk


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## camping479 (Aug 27, 2003)

What's creating the dust and what's your process? If you're sanding, porter cable make an attachment for sanding drywall that hooks up to a shop vac. It's a little pricey, maybe you could rent one.

If you're talking about dust from scraping the knife across the texture, wetting it would probably help keep the dust down. A little water like from a squirt bottle won't hurt the drywall, it'll dry out.

How are you getting the new texture?, Those popcorn ceilings can be a pain.

Mike


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## campingtom170 (Apr 26, 2004)

Kirk,

The Northridge earthquake in 1994 nearly destroyed our house. Since we did not have earthquake insurance, I got a SBA loan and did most of the remodel work myself. Our entire, 2-story, 2200 sq ft house had popcorn ceilings that all had to be scraped. Since the plaster contained asbestoes the cost of the process was prohibitive. However, one of the contractors that gave us a bid told me how to remove the stuff safely and quickly.

I used a garden pump sprayer to wet the popcorn stuff down and then used a tool, that I purchased at home depot that consists of a scraper and a bag to catch the plaster. The result was no dust and no damage to the underlaying drywall.

Once it is wet, the plaster peels easily off the ceiling leaving the dry wall base. The drywall was not damaged. All of our wall drywall had been removed so when the walls were closed up we hired a plaster to do the finish work both to the walls and the ceiling.

I hope this helps.

Tom


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## hurricaneplumber (Apr 12, 2004)

Kirk,

My leash is short these days also. I have been instructed to finish the back porch before camper activities. I have procrastinated long enough I guess. Actually I have slacked a bit here and there. Good thing my bride keeps me on track.

I was using a wet sponge to clean up the sheet rock joints and screw holes. It gets the sheet rock damp to do so, as long as you allow it to completely dry there is no problem getting it wet.

I just primed most of it this weekend, but today the great weather took me outside for more landscaping and quality time with my bride. So it will be finished another time. This coming weekend is fishing in Canada.

Good luck

Kevin


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## Y-Guy (Jan 30, 2004)

Kirk, how old is your house? We had to scrape my dads house (1971) and found out the popcorn used has asbestos (sp?) we had to find a certified company unless we did it ourself. But neither my brother or I wanted to deal with the asbestos. Just be safe.


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## aplvlykat (Jan 25, 2004)

Steve, The house was bult me 1972, when we moved in they were suppose to have done an asbestos survey and the house got a clean bill except for the flue vents, I hope they did the ceilings. 
The dust I was talking about about was from dry scraping the ceiling then I started using a sponge to get it wet, didn't think about a sprayer, that will make it somewhat easier. 
Just finishing my youngest sons room and only three more bedrooms to go. Kirk


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## NDJollyMon (Aug 22, 2003)

I hate texture. I don't even put it on anything anymore. Wallpaper either! What a job!

I would wet down the stuff first. Just don't soak it too much, and try not to rip the paper. I'm no expert, but I have remodeled after a natural disaster!


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## And4togo (Feb 18, 2004)

This post maybe to late but here it is anyways, last summer we did the samething scraped all the popcorn off and retextured the whole house, here is what I did. I used painters plastic on the floor then on the walls just to keep them alittle cleaner then used a garden sprayer to wet the popcorn let it soak in for about 5 min, then would spray sections as i scraped for the most part it would come off in sheets, then when I was done just pulled the plastic down off the walls and just rolled the plastic on the floor into its self and that was it, hardly any mess.
Also if you you have the problem of this stuff sticking to your shoes as you work plastic grocery bags from a store work great just take them off and roll them up with the rest of the stuff. oh ya also I had someone come in and do the texturing for me and it was well worth the money, he had me mop the ceilings ahead of him, there is a film that gets left behind and makes it hard for the new texture to go on.

I hope this helps you out.
Rob


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