…on the ceilings! It took 1.5 days but I got 1500 square feet of popcorns off of the ceillings at mom's new house. And I got all but one wallpaper boarder off at the same time. Luckily the wallpaper mostly came off easily. Steve was busy doing all sorts of things in the same time-frame:
- taking the fan blades off of all the way-too-many ceiling fans
- taking off all the outlet covers and switch plates
- removing all curtains and curtain hardware
- taking out carpet, pads, and tack strip (there's more of that to do)
- beginning to strip cabinet doors
- and more that I can't remember
We have both been pretty tired at the end of the day but floating in the pool helps a lot. Mom wants to help but can't so I asked her to bake us a cake and she did! We are having cake at every meal and that helps my attitude a lot. Christy is on for soup. My initial estimate was 6 weeks to get the house in shape. That time frame is getting shorter by the day.
Here's my tip for taking popcorn off ceilings: buy a canister sprayer. I got a $15 Hudson sprayer in the garden section at Lowe's and I wish I had had it yesterday. Yesterday I used a squirt bottle and my hands are not happy. The cheap canister sprayer worked like a charm. Soak the area in front of you, wait just few minutes and scrape. My other tip is that it works best if you are in shape. The pilates and weight-lifting are paying off big time!
I've taken a lot of before photos that I'll share as we work on the house. This is the living room, looking out the front window, which is the only window in this room. It is orange and gray with a questionable floral wallpaper border.
The previous owner smoked in the house so every surface has to be dealt with. The ceilings are scraped (yeah!). Tomorrow I'll be washing the walls and then I begin painting. Everything – trim, doors, ceilings, walls – gets painted. The curtains are gone. The blinds are goings to be replaced by slightly better ones. The carpets and flooring are going out the door and then we'll lay Pergo.
The living room was almost the last room for popcorn removal and I thought to stop and take a photo. I hope it shows the popcorn/no-popcorn areas.
What popcorns do is cast shadows. The contrast between light and dark catch your eye. The bigger the popcorns, the worse it is. A smooth ceiling is quiter which is good because mostly you don't want the ceiling to be what you see when you look at a room. When you look at the photo above, do your eyes go to the swath of popcorn in the middle? That's why the popcorns are gone now.The rooms feel higher, lighter, calmer. I just wish I had the time and energy to take the remaining popcorn off the ceilings at MY house!
I always say it's good to be busy but I admit that I'll be very happy when this project is over and I'm back to regular busy. That said, it was kind of fun today. I enjoy occasional days of hard work where you can really see what you have accomplished. And mom and Christy are going to love this place once it's done.
Piece O Cake Blog 
Wow – what a job – kudos! I would love to remove the popcorn from the ceilings at my house, too, but they were painted with a sprayer before we moved in. I bet the water method wouldn’t work. I would love to be able to cover them all up with plank ceilings.
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Thanks for the tip about removing the popcorn: We are going to take down a wall between two bedrooms to make a big sewing space and for some reason one room has popcorn and the other has none. Already have a sprayer now I just have to get in shape!
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What a job! Funnily enough, we’ve been having the ‘popcorn” conversation on a forum board I’m on..I’m not sure that I understand the US aversion to these ceilings, they are everywhere here in Canada. I can’t imagine my ceilings without it. Those orange walls, though, have got to go LOL.
Looking forward to an “after” pic. What on earth do you do to the ceiling after the stipple is removed? It couldn’t possibly be smooth enough to just leave it that way, surely?
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Great work Becky. You are a powerhouse. I must ask though-what is popcorn? And why is or was it used?
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Do you have to redo at the ceilings after the popcorn canoes off?
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No, not drunk..iPad corrective text…sigh. Do you have to refloat the ceilings after the popcorn is off?
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Ahhh, popcorn ceilings! We have one left in our home – we did the water sprayer method, too, using a small sprayer the first time (learned the hard way, hands hurt!), and then rented an industrial one the next time. That worked well, but the whole process is way messy.
Nice job – your mom and sister will love their new home!
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Becky, Becky, Becky….Didnt I advise you to get a sprayer, and NOT use a spray bottle when you first mentioned taking popcorn off a few days ago??? Could have saved your hands and time! I think going up and down the ladder was almost as bad as the arms over your head workout. And the sore neck. Take my advise THIS time, and schedule a massage when the project is over!
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All of my popcorn ceiling are gone. I replaced with “stomp and drag” ceilings and I love them. And fun to do. Works much better without a carpet on the floor. Am anxiously awaiting the after pictures. I learned in a design class I took that one should put as much money as they can possibly afford into the floor/carpet. Skimp on light fixtures. Flooring is the hardest to replace once furniture is in.
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Never heard of “stomp and drag”. I would have left my ceilings “plain” after taking down the popcorn, but it wasnt an option because we also took some walls out and needed to patch the ceiling. We opted for something called “knock down”, which I didnt realize had to be painted. sore neck. shortly after it was finished, my son accidentally stepped through the ceiling while in the attic moving tv cables. Had to patch the ceiling anyway, and of course it doesnt match. Arrrrgghh!
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Paint doesnt seem to be a problem. However, whatever they used to make the popcorn changed substantially from the bedrooms to the kitchen and bath. I think they altered the mix where water or heat were present. Wish they hadnt because those areas were a lot harder to remove.
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Surprisingly enough, the texture left after the popcorn is not bad. Im not going to have to change it. Its sort of like that orange peel texture that it also sort of popular now.
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Ceiling popcorn is mostly gobs of wall mud or spackle that has been thrown onto the ceiling. It was a popular finish in the 70s and into the 80s but has waned in popularity. It catches dust and dirt and it has way too much texture on 8 ceilings. In my humble opinion.
Read more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popcorn_ceiling
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How do you finish the ceilings after removing the popcorn? Are the sheetrock seams finished underneath? Do you have to do anything before you paint?
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Hi Mary:
In this case, once I scraped off the popcorns the texture that remained was good. Its sort of like an orange peel texture. It hasnt even needed to be primed! Im just painting it with the ceiling paint. That may not be true of every ceiling sans popcorn, but it is for this one.
Becky
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I remember being told that the popcorn texture on the ceilings in our previous house shouldn’t be messed with because they had asbestos in them! Certainly hope yours didn’t!
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