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Started By
Message
Wife wants to scrape off and refinish textured ceilings
Posted on 11/21/19 at 5:35 am
Posted on 11/21/19 at 5:35 am
Our house was built in 1955 and is in my opinion a MCM ranch masterpiece.
Wife loathes the textured (not really "popcorn", my limited research shows it's what is called a "knockout" patterned finish) ceilings featured in entry foyer, main hallway, office, and all bedrooms and wants her father to scrape them off with some weed whacker looking orbital scraper contraption that arrived unexpectedly last night from Amazon. Then to refinish them.
I put my foot down and it caused a huge row - absolutely nightmare project in my opinion. Couldn't sleep and my internet research shows that the vast majority of MCM houses built in the 50's through 80's have textured ceilings.
The dust (we are finally wrapping up a guest bathroom remodel and the dust was UNBEARABLE) and time and effort it would cause to undergo this project makes me sad.
Just wanted opinions - I can post pictures later in the am. Thanks
Wife loathes the textured (not really "popcorn", my limited research shows it's what is called a "knockout" patterned finish) ceilings featured in entry foyer, main hallway, office, and all bedrooms and wants her father to scrape them off with some weed whacker looking orbital scraper contraption that arrived unexpectedly last night from Amazon. Then to refinish them.
I put my foot down and it caused a huge row - absolutely nightmare project in my opinion. Couldn't sleep and my internet research shows that the vast majority of MCM houses built in the 50's through 80's have textured ceilings.
The dust (we are finally wrapping up a guest bathroom remodel and the dust was UNBEARABLE) and time and effort it would cause to undergo this project makes me sad.
Just wanted opinions - I can post pictures later in the am. Thanks
This post was edited on 11/21/19 at 6:28 am
Posted on 11/21/19 at 5:40 am to SirWinston
Here's a picture of the textured ceiling in one of the guest bedrooms
Posted on 11/21/19 at 5:46 am to SirWinston
If they bought a power tool off of amazon to do it they are probably about to frick shite up. Proper way is to wet and scrape it down. A lot of times the Sheetrock is finished shitty because the finisher knew it was gonna be sprayed... so you may have to get someone to refinish again if you are going for the smooth look.
Posted on 11/21/19 at 5:57 am to SirWinston
I assume that is painted? If so it would probably be easier to leave that and float and finish drywall mud over the texture.
Posted on 11/21/19 at 6:04 am to wickowick
Yes all painted and I agree with you and Diat - they're not coming at this the right way in the first place. If we ever did this we should finish OVER the texture, not remove it and refinish.
This post was edited on 11/21/19 at 6:05 am
Posted on 11/21/19 at 6:10 am to SirWinston
it’s gonna look like shite underneath and will take A LOT of mudding and sanding then u will have to paint. And even then it won’t be perfect and she may notice those imperfections if she’s picky.
I’d rip the ceilings out in those areas and hang new.
I’d rip the ceilings out in those areas and hang new.
Posted on 11/21/19 at 6:14 am to wickowick
quote:
assume that is painted? If so it would probably be easier to leave that and float and finish drywall mud over the texture.
Ours were painted and it came off easy. May have even helped as it cane off mostly in sheets. I may be an outlier though. Best to test it in an inconspicuous area.
That being said, don’t use power tools. The spray and hand scrape method isn’t all that bad but as was said, you’ll probably need to refinish it to a light orange peel at minimum anyway (what we did). Perfectly smooth could be challenging and expensive on a scrape job due to going back over the imperfections. In the end it may not look much more smooth than what you have currently based on that photo.
Posted on 11/21/19 at 6:20 am to SirWinston
Is it plaster or sheetrock. If sheetrock and the spray texture you might want to get it tested for asbestos. We did a powder room then paid someone to do the rest. They set up each room like a Dexter kill room.
Posted on 11/21/19 at 6:23 am to SirWinston
We hired a guy to do it. He does an amazing job, super professional. Been costing about $500-$600 per room for this.
Great room is next. Problem is the ceiling is 20ft high. I have the feeling the cost is gonna jump a lot on that room.
Great room is next. Problem is the ceiling is 20ft high. I have the feeling the cost is gonna jump a lot on that room.
Posted on 11/21/19 at 6:30 am to SirWinston
A lot of people like smooth finish now but I still like the stomped with knockdown. If done right it looks really good and takes a gloss paint real well
Posted on 11/21/19 at 7:24 am to SirWinston
I redid the popcorn ceilings in my current house.
Even if it were unpainted (as it has been painted, it gets a lot harder), the spray with water and scrape technique is fairly messy...I can only imagine the amount of dust the power tool method is going to create. All the nailhead dimples and lines will be visible, you may screw up the tape (especially in corners) and you will have to refloat pretty much everything...ask me how I know. It was not fun.
Pay someone...my best advice.
Even if it were unpainted (as it has been painted, it gets a lot harder), the spray with water and scrape technique is fairly messy...I can only imagine the amount of dust the power tool method is going to create. All the nailhead dimples and lines will be visible, you may screw up the tape (especially in corners) and you will have to refloat pretty much everything...ask me how I know. It was not fun.
Pay someone...my best advice.
Posted on 11/21/19 at 7:34 am to SirWinston
I had it removed from a house I lived in in Florida. It was pretty easy. Just spray with water, let sit, scrape. I was fortunate in that whoever hung and finished the ceilings under it did a great job. All I had to do was paint the ceilings after it was removed.
Posted on 11/21/19 at 7:36 am to SirWinston
Refinish to what, smooth ceilings? Those are much more difficult to do and every imperfection will show. You have to go back and properly mud all the joints and nail heads, sand them down to perfectly smooth and then paint. That only makes it look good at the start. Any stains, dings, dents, etc. will always pop on a smooth ceiling.
I could understand getting rid of popcorn ceilings but textured ceilings of some kind make a lot of sense.
I could understand getting rid of popcorn ceilings but textured ceilings of some kind make a lot of sense.
Posted on 11/21/19 at 7:38 am to Boss
quote:
get it tested for asbestos.
Oh yeah, we also did this. It was like $20 or $30 well spent, sent a sample to some lab that someone linked on this site years ago.
This post was edited on 11/21/19 at 7:39 am
Posted on 11/21/19 at 8:38 am to tilco
quote:I’ve always heard it’s easier, quicker, and not much more expensive to go this route. When the previous owners of our house “renovated” they chose to knock down the old texture and mud it. Some areas look horrid and are on my punch list to replace eventually.
I’d rip the ceilings out in those areas and hang new.
Posted on 11/21/19 at 9:31 am to tilco
quote:
I’d rip the ceilings out in those areas and hang new.
And drop all the insulation and 60+ years of attic shite into your home? No thanks. Adding a 2nd layer is infinitely easier and much cleaner.
Posted on 11/21/19 at 9:41 am to MoarKilometers
If you don't want to bother with scraping or if it contains abestos you can just buy 1/4 drywall and hang and finish that over the current textured ceiling.
Posted on 11/21/19 at 1:16 pm to SirWinston
It makes sense that I’d almost rather tear out the Sheetrock and put in new stuff
Posted on 11/21/19 at 2:06 pm to wickowick
quote:
If so it would probably be easier to leave that and float and finish drywall mud over the texture.
This is the proper way to handle this in my opinion. That is just a rough texture on the ceilings and the mess involved with trying to remove it is not worth it. Plus, once you remove it if that is the way you want to attack it, there will still need to be a lot of floating new mud on the ceilings to smooth it out.
Cut to the chase and just have a good sheetrock finisher come in and float the ceilings, then paint and be done with it. Much less mess, WAY less dust.
Posted on 11/21/19 at 2:14 pm to SirWinston
We built our house in 2014 with all smooth walls and ceilings except the garage is popcorn (I don't know why, but it is). The problem I see with smooth...you can see every paint change, roller pattern, and nail pop coming through the sheetrock if the installer sucked. Hint: Our Mexicans sucked. They didn't run the screws down until it dimpled the paper...and thus we have sheetrock slap and it pops the paint....got another crew in under warranty to fix it. Better but we are still finding pops. I don't know that I'd see that in a textured ceiling...maybe...maybe not.
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