[Pat_The_Painter]

I just received an email from one of my old customers asking me if i remove popcorn ceiling texture. I have never removed this before but have looked up the procedure up and it is very messy, labor intensive and time consuming. A friend (contractor) told me to just install 3/8in drywall over the texture. What do you guys think? Should i remove the popcorn texture or just cover it with drywall? The place is also currently occupied.
Thanks in advance,
Pat

 

[chrisn]

Just remove it. It does not take that long.

 

[Slopmeyer]

A hack would just d-wall over it. A pro would remove texture and fix whats there. Choose your path wisely

 

[Toolnut]

Remove it. Easy to do (unless painted) but yes messy.

 

[Gough]

The only real concern is asbestos in the acoustic. If that's not a problem, it's generally pretty fast, unless, as Toolnut mentioned, it's painted.

Our routine is to put down 4-mil visqueen, hang painters ' plastic on the wall, spray water on the ceiling, and scrap the texture into a mud tray. Sometimes, thatleaves a ceiling ready to paint, but usually there's at least some repairs to make. Once in a whole, the ceiling is only Level 1 (fire taped), so there's even more work. We normally do the repair work on a time and materials basis.

 

[Rbriggs82]

Make the room look like this. .


I spray it with water 3 times and cross hatch it. Then get a good 8inch blade and scrape it I use a 4 inch around the edges scraping parallel to the wall never towards it.

Usually the ceilings are left with a level 2/3 finish. Most of the time you have to touch up the seams, put a full coat on the screw heads, and a full coat on the tape around the perimeter. After sanding I run a bead of caulk around the perimeter to tidy up the corner. Prime, paint, and you're done.

If done correctly you should be able to roll it all up without a piece of popcorn ever touching the floor.

Protip:
Wear shoe covers while in the work area and remove them before leaving.

 

[SemiproJohn]

I just received an email from one of my old customers asking me if i remove popcorn ceiling texture. I have never removed this before but have looked up the procedure up and it is very messy, labor intensive and time consuming. A friend (contractor) told me to just install 3/8in drywall over the texture. What do you guys think? Should i remove the popcorn texture or just cover it with drywall? The place is also currently occupied.
Thanks in advance,
Pat

RBriggs82 gave you the process below. I was wondering if your customer told you what kind of finish he/she desired. If you can do knockdown well, the scraping of the popcorn doesn't have to be 100%. You might have some minor areas to mud over, but if the customer doesn't require a smooth finish I would suggest a knockdown texture. Scrape the popcorn but don't feel you have to completely expose the drywall. Wetting it first with water is definitely the way to go.

 

[Pat_The_Painter]

The only real concern is asbestos in the acoustic. If that's not a problem, it's generally pretty fast, unless, as Toolnut mentioned, it's painted.

Our routine is to put down 4-mil visqueen, hang painters ' plastic on the wall, spray water on the ceiling, and scrap the texture into a mud tray. Sometimes, thatleaves a ceiling ready to paint, but usually there's at least some repairs to make. Once in a whole, the ceiling is only Level 1 (fire taped), so there's even more work. We normally do the repair work on a time and materials basis.

Thanks this helps. How do i know if asbestos is present?

 

[Pat_The_Painter]

A hack would just d-wall over it. A pro would remove texture and fix whats there. Choose your path wisely

LOL the friend who told me to put the drywall over it is not the best contractor and has a tendency to cut corners. Thats why im checkin in with the real pros!:thumbsup:

 

[Toolnut]

Just a couple tips; add some fabric softener to your water it will keep it wet longer. Don't get too big a scrapper, if you look down the blade on the bigger drywall knifes you will see they have a small curve. This will cause the corners to dig in and give you more repair work. If you turn it over you are only using a small portion of the blade. Smaller knifes don't have this.

 

[daArch]

Side tip:

As with wallpaper removal, don't invite that enemy soldier Corporal Tunnel on the job by spraying with a hand sprayer, get a garden sprayer, or get driftweed to describe his airless for water misting.

 

[Sir Mixalot]

Yep wetting the popcorn with an airless is the way to go for sure. :thumbup:

 

[Zoomer]

Remove it with festools new machine. Awesome tool.

 

[SuperiorPainter]

Remove it with festools new machine. Awesome tool.

Have you used festool? If so, how did it leave the surface and was the surface painted and how much space did you cover per sq/ft it what amount of time?

 

[Zoomer]

Have watched the video on popcorn removal and seen a live demo from a festool rep. Very impressive tool. It will pay for itself on one large job.

 

[CJ-Newfield]

A hack would just d-wall over it. A pro would remove texture and fix whats there. Choose your path wisely

If you are a pro drywall installer, rocking over it would be a hack move? I don't agree with that.

If it comes off easy, remove it / if the popcorn has been painted over with oil primer - rock it.

 

[Wyopainter]

Yep wetting the popcorn with an airless is the way to go for sure. :thumbup: Video Link: www.youtube.com/watch?v=bH04m1sglgs

we do on average three of these a week and weed sprayers are a lot les messy and simpler seem like a lot of time wasted setting up an airless and atomizing that much water to just put a little water on the ceiling.

 

[Sir Mixalot]

we do on average three of these a week and weed sprayers are a lot les messy and simpler seem like a lot of time wasted setting up an airless and atomizing that much water to just put a little water on the ceiling.

:laughing:
How much time do you think it takes to set up an airless to spray water?

We also use the airless to prime and paint the ceilings after the popcorn is removed and the new texture has been applied. :thumbsup:

 

[Jmayspaint]

:laughing:
How much time do you think it takes to set up an airless to spray water?

We also use the airless to prime and paint the ceilings after the popcorn is removed and the new texture has been applied. :thumbsup:

If you wanted to you could turn the tip backwards and shoot a stream of water instead of atomizing it.
I've done that applying wood brighter to log homes.

There are a Whole lot of things I would rather do than pump up a weed sprayer all day

 

[Sir Mixalot]

If you wanted to you could turn the tip backwards and shoot a stream of water instead of atomizing it.
I've done that applying wood brighter to log homes.

There are a Whole lot of things I would rather do than pump up a weed sprayer all day

I've got it pretty dialed in. Thanks though. :thumbsup: