Ask it: How to remove popcorn ceiling

Question: I need to know how to remove popcorn ceiling finish. I have them in my house and I want to NOT have them in my house. Can you help?

Answer: I can hear it in your voice. I’ve lived with them and know the daily feeling of wanting to know how to remove popcorn ceiling. Right now!

A smooth drywall finish is calming, clean and crisp. But—and this is a major ‘but’—to remove a popcorn ceiling yourself, you have to REALLY want it gone. It’s a DIY-able job, sort of. And it’s definitely a gigantic mess.

The first thing to know about how to remove a popcorn ceiling (it’s essentially paint) is to soak it with water you spray from a garden sprayer. Note: many garden are outdoors.

So, if your living room is as indoors as mine is, you have to remove all the furniture, knick-knacks, pictures, light fixtures and anything else not nailed down before laying 6-mil sheet plastic on the floor. Some painters cover the plastic with rosin paper in large part because wet plastic is what I call death-trap-slippery. They also might cover the walls and electrical devices with plastic as well to funnel the water down to the floor.

If you cover your walls (you should: water + energized electric = not good) expect damage. Blue painter’s tape sticks to walls well enough but only grabs the lightest plastic, and even then, not so much. Duct tape sticks to both, but when you remove it, it may take wall paint with it.

Hooray.

If—IF—the water soaks through what are surely several layers of latex paint, it’ll turn the popcorn to slop, enabling you to screed every square inch of it off with a drywall knife. If the water doesn’t get through the paint you may have to scuff the paint. Think sanders or scrapers or some other odious device that will be a dust factory in your house and that will light your shoulder muscles on fire inside of five minutes. But you can’t use too much water or your living room will be a swimming pool and you may damage the drywall you’re trying to expose.

Fun-town.

Some people try and catch the popcorn slop in a bucket, box or pail as they scrape, but see above mentioned conflagrated shoulder muscles and you can’t catch it all. Then, the minute you need to get a snack or go to the bathroom you’re walking in it. I’d lay runners (drop cloths) around the house.

Good times.

And that brings us to the drywall portion of our how to remove popcorn ceiling party. The reason builders use(d) popcorn paint is to avoid applying and sanding the third coat of joint compound that makes the drywall finish that you want in the first place. Expect the finish you reveal to be an unqualified 2-coat, un-sanded botch fest.

And there may be residue left over from the paint anyway that makes it hard to apply new compound or paint. And if your house is old, the popcorn may have asbestos. Test for it.

So in my opinion when it comes to how to remove popcorn ceiling you have to really, really want it gone to DIY this work. And, be warned: even if you read that applying a layer of joint compound that you’ll be happy with is easy, it aint.

You might just want to hang crown molding instead. Just sayin’.

Mark

A licensed contractor, tool expert, wood and outdoor enthusiast, and elite Spartan Race competitor, he writes about home improvement and tools for national magazines and websites, and teaches hands-on clinics for other remodeling professionals. Check out his book, The Carpenter's Notebook.

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