Popcorn ceilings, aka textured or acoustic ceilings, were popular in 1970’s and 80’s. Now, with the era of modernization and advent of technology, the choices have changed and so have the tastes. (Today, the consensus is that popcorn ceilings are not so pleasant to look at). If you’re ready to get rid of your old-fashioned popcorn ceilings, follow these guidelines below.

After removing all furniture from the room and covering the walls and floor with plastic sheeting, use fill the spray bottle with a mixture of water and dish soap and spray on every 5 by 5 square foot of the ceiling. Wait for 5-10 minutes to allow the popcorn ceilings to soak in the water. When the popcorn paint is ready, you can scrape it off and repeat the process on the new area.

Once all of the paint is scraped off, you should wash the ceiling or sand it with sandpaper. Plaster all damaged areas from scraping, sand it again until you get a smooth finish, then apply 1 coat of water based paint primer and then apply 1 or 2 two coats of paint.

Asbestos in Popcorn Ceilings

The very first thing that everyone must take into consideration when removing popcorn ceiling is to test for asbestos. Homes built prior to 1983-84 may contain asbestos in the paint texture. The use of asbestos was banned after the government discovered that it was causing cancer and lung disease. Even though the production of asbestos-based products was banned in late 70’s, the manufacturers were allowed to sell off all of their asbestos products until their supplies ran out in the mid-80s.

In order to determine if your ceiling contains asbestos, collect the sample by scraping it off from the corner of your ceiling and send it to a lab for testing. If the result of the test comes positive, contact an asbestos remediation company immediately.

These are the most common methods of removal.

Scraping popcorn ceilings starts with using a spray bottle, a wide scraper and plastic. It is the most cost effective way to get rid of the textured ceiling, but it requires a lot of time and hard work, and creates a mess at your place. Results can be also substandard depending on the ceiling substrate and your skill level.

If you don’t want to get into the messy and time consuming work of scraping a popcorn ceiling, you can hang a new ceiling over the old fashioned popcorn ceilings. You will need to use find an expert who can help you find out exactly where the joints are. You can try using an extra-long drywall to ensure coverage of the original ceiling to the joints.

This is a good solution if your home has a ceiling that is almost impossible to remove or if it contains asbestos. The new drywall will completely cover the old popcorn ceiling and it protects your family from getting in touch with a dangerous poison.

Of course, if you live in a high-rise apartment building, this option is NOT for you because you have concrete ceilings and can’t mount the drywall to the concrete ceiling like you would in a framed-construction home.

The alternative to all of the above is to install Stretch Ceiling to encapsulate that old popcorn ceiling.

Stretch Ceiling is the CLEANEST and the safest available alternative to popcorn ceiling removal. It levels the ceilings instantly and provides a smooth, monolithic finish with a lifetime warranty.

It is fast!

There is just a 2 part installation: 1) mount perimeter profile and 2) install ceiling membrane, which can be either Polyester Textile or a PVC film. Fabric and PVC ceilings are using completely different installation techniques and materials, but follow the same basic principle.

Stretch Ceiling goes far beyond covering popcorn ceilings – it opens up new design opportunities: you can get creative with custom shapes and colors, shiny, glossy finishes or digitally printed designs. While it is possible to learn how to install stretch ceilings yourself, it is best to hire a trained installer with experience.

If you’re looking for a way to get rid of old popcorn ceilings – consider using Stretch Ceiling Technology with a lifetime warranty.

For more information on stretch fabric ceilings, or take request a sample, Click here.