POPCORN CEILINGS: THE ETERNAL ENEMY OF THE MODERN DAY HOMEOWNER.
For homeowners in the United States with homes dating from the 1970s-1990s, it is likely that the ceilings were adorned at some point with a now unpopular surface. This material was originally intended to conceal imperfections and reduce noise in the home, but over time it can become unsightly and difficult to maintain. Not only does this texture accumulate dust and lint, but it can also become discolored, leaving visitors with the impression that the home is dated.
Fortunately, there are options for homeowners looking to update their homes. In our opinion, the best course of action is to remove the textured surface altogether. While this may seem like a daunting task, the end result will be a fresh, modern look that enhances the overall aesthetic of your home.
Considerations
When it comes to popcorn ceilings, there are several considerations to keep in mind. If you are moving into a new space with popcorn ceilings or planning to renovate a room in your home, such as the kitchen, it may be the perfect time to remove them.
However, it is important to note that removing popcorn ceilings can be a messy process. In fact, it is one of the messiest renovation items aside from cutting tile inside your home. The wet and gooey popcorn texture can easily get on your floors and furniture, which may cause some concern. While the mess can be mitigated with plastic sheeting, there is still a risk that texture will find its way through.
For this reason, it is best to remove popcorn ceilings from a vacant space or home, if possible. Although the process is not particularly time-consuming, it is best to allow for 2-4 days for a professional to scrape and retexture a moderately sized home, allowing time for everything to dry properly.
DIY or Hire a Professional?
For those considering removing popcorn ceilings, it's important to weigh the cost and effort involved. While some may opt to tackle the project themselves to save money, it's worth considering hiring a professional, especially for those without handyman experience or on a tight budget.
Even for those who do attempt to remove the popcorn texture themselves, it's recommended to hire a professional for the retexturing process. Poorly executed texture jobs can result in visible drywall seams or uneven texture, even after painting.
In Frisco, Texas, the cost of hiring a professional typically ranges between $1.75-2.50 per square foot for a turnkey operation of prep, scrape, retexture, paint, and cleanup. Some contractors may bill separately for materials, so it's important to discuss all options and ask for references before hiring.
How to Remove Popcorn Ceilings
Here is a great link to a step by step article on Architectural Digest on how to get rid of Popcorn Ceilings should you decide you want to tackle this on your own.
Basically it comes down to a few steps:
Prepare the ceiling: Remove any light fixtures, trim kits for can lights, ceiling fans, smoke detectors, speakers, air vents or anything else that might be damaged by water or the scraper.
Cover your air vents and turn off the HVAC: this is a messy job, you don't want any debris to get into your Air Conditioning or Heating system.
Turn off the electricity: You will be spraying water around the room and it's not worth taking a chance of hitting that exposed wiring from the ceiling fan you removed.
Prepare the room: Remove any furniture that you can from the area, you will need to be able to move a ladder around freely and get to every inch of the room. Like we said earlier, cover everything in the room including the floors, baseboards, doors, even the walls with plastic sheeting or drop cloths.
Work in sections: Wet the ceiling in a small area with water and use a wide putty knife to begin to scrape and remove the wet texture.
Repeat, repeat, repeat until all texture is removed from the walls.
Let the ceiling dry for 24 hours: You have sprayed a lot of water on the drywall, give the ceiling a chance to air out before you add anything that might seal in that moisture.
Sand and retexture. If you did it right, you probably will see the drywall joints and any imperfections and or warping in the drywall on your ceiling. To mitigate this and create a more smooth and forgiving look, I would recommend a light "orange peel" texture, not so heavy that it will give you flashbacks to the popcorn ceiling you just removed, but heavy enough to give it a nice even appearance across the entire ceiling in that room.
Paint: After the retexture has fully dried, you will want to paint the ceiling to coordinate with your home. Many people paint the ceiling a shade of white or a lighter version of their wall color to add to the open feel of the home.
Popcorn Ceiling Removal at Project Modern Mid-Century
Conclusion
So, is it worth it? Absolutely! Removing the popcorn ceilings brings your home into the 21st Century and allows for better light reflection off the ceiling and adds to a cleaner, more open feel. If you have any questions or would like to learn more, please contact us here at Jackie James or leave a comment below.