How to Remove Popcorn Ceilings
A very common job that we are contracted to do to is to smooth popcorn ceilings. This is extremely common in condos and production homes. Smoothing popcorn ceilings is not difficult, however, it is very labor intensive and messy. If you are brave enough to do it, here’s how:
Here is what you are going to need:
- Lot’s of plastic sheeting
- tape
- scrapers
- spray bottles
- drywall compound
- sanding poles, sand paper, sanding sponges
- large drywall knife for spreading compounds
- acrylic primer
- very flat acrylic paint
- step ladders
- eye protection
- dust masks
- rags
Now that you have everything that you need, let’s get started.
- Move all furniture away from the walls and cover EVERYTHING with plastic. Tape the plastic to the baseboards and make sure that you don’t have any places where dust can get through. Anything that you don’t cover with plastic is going to get dirty.
- Get your scrapers and spray bottles filled with warm water. Don’t use the water unless you have to. Sometimes the popcorn will come of by simply scraping it. Make sure you are wearing dust mask and eye protection or else you are going to have a bad day. If the popcorn texture comes off with the scraper you are in luck. If it needs some coaxing, lightly spray it with warm water. Atlanta Painting Pro Tip: Don’t saturate the drywall with water because you may gouge out pieces of wall and paper, which will make the next step more difficult. Once you have the big stuff off, you can use a pole sander if necessary to remove the rest of the popcorn.
- Now you need to repair any damage and rough areas in the ceiling. Use the drywall compound and a long knife to apply drywall compound on the ceiling. After the drywall compound is dry, use you pole sander to sand the ceiling again. Atlanta Painting Pro Tip: You can use a hair dryer to speed up the drywall compound’s drying process. Don’t get the heat too close or the compound may crack. After you have sanded the ceilings, wipe the dust off with a damp rag. Repeat this step to rough areas of drywall until you ceilings are smooth. Make sure you wipe the dust off before proceeding to the next step.
- The hard part is finished, you’re almost done! Now, it’s time to prime. Prime the repaired ceiling using an acrylic primer/sealer. Most paint manufacturers make a “drywall primer.” You don’t have to use an expensive primer for this type of priming.
- After the primer has dried, you can paint your nice smooth ceiling. Atlanta Painting Pro Tip: Use cheap, flat, paint. the less expensive, “new construction”, grade paints are perfect for this because they are sooo flat. Duron’s Builder’s Masterpiece has virtually no angular sheen. This will help to hide any imperfections in the ceiling.
- Slowly and carefully, pick up all of you plastic. I know that you are excited that you are finished, but if you do this step too fast, you may make a big dusty mess. Use common sense.
Well, this is how the pros smooth popcorn textured ceilings. If you are bold, give it a try. If not, GreenWave Solutions is here to do these kinds of jobs with no hassles or headaches. Call us for an estimate at 678-491-2963.
GreenWave Solutions does Alpharetta painting, Alpharetta roofing, Roswell Painting, Roswell roofing, Windows in Atlanta, Windows in Alpharetta, Atlanta solar and more.