Honestly, I give you so much credit for not letting this huge project defeat you and also for showing us what worked and what failed. 85% of my house has popcorn ceilings so I need to hire a professional to do the work. HOWEVER, my laundry room is small and I am going to attempt to do that myself. A friend of mine used a big wet sponge to soak the popcorn on her ceilings and did small areas at a time. It must not have been painted because she said the stuff just scraped off easily. My “popcorn” is much thicker and bumpier than yours and it was applied in 1978 so I have no idea if it is full of asbestos. Since they mined asbestos in this state, I wouldn’t be surprised is that is what’s hanging above my head. 😷
Wow, memories of scraping all that off my ceilings before moving into my house a couple of years ago! Same deal, painted over, only it did have asbestos, so I had to plastic up all the walls and floors, get HEPA filters going, and don a bunny suit and full face respirator! The way that worked best for me was doing a first pass with the scraper to knock the tips off and expose the texture, then hit it with a warm water/vinegar solution and let it sit for 10-15 minutes. I managed to take it all down to drywall without a bunch of gouges that way. Kudos to you for doing the finish work yourself! I didn't even consider it, and just hired for the skim coat & texture job!
First, you shouldn’t have dust. If you do you’re doing it wrong. You should saturate it enough where it easily comes off. Dawn is unnecessary. Vinegar could help out when it’s painted but all you have to do is prescrape the area you’re going to spray with water. This creates the ability for the water to penetrate underneath the paint and you won’t have the issues you were having. You also don’t need to worry about over saturating it. It will not hurt the drywall as it’s very thick. Furthermore, your angle of scraping is also why you’re getting gouges. You need to hold the handle closer to the ceiling, maybe a 30 degree angle. Just put a piece of plastic on the floor to catch the popcorn and you’re good.
Omg…This was me a few years ago. I scraped my entire house ceiling, which was painted. I used a big floor scraper on the ceiling lol I left it scraped for a long time before I gave it a couple skim coats of mud for smooth white ceilings. Also gave it some recessed lights. You’re awesome for tackling this. I know how much hard work it is. Lol
When sampling, you should take several samples from the room. Many sections could come back negative, while one could come back positive. Best to take 5 small samples per room and mix these together into the sample you send to the lab. Good that you still were safe about it.
Thanks for the video Melissa. Here in the UK we cover over these ceilings with plasterboard (drywall) and then refinish. This serves three functions, in some places you need two layers to update to regulations, Old plasterboard is often nailed and these pull out, so a new layer using screws pulls it back, and lastly, it's less messy.
We contractor's in the US also perfer hanging new drywall over the existing ceiling. Doing so also increases R-value/and or sound proofing, Much less of a mess by far
@@tammybryant3480 Hi Tammy, possibly yes if your ceiling is pretty much flat already; but I'd always go for the 1/2 inch or 12mm. The stiffer board helps take out minor bumps and your only saving a 1/4 anyway. If you have major bumps you will almost certainly need to batten over, or strip back and use new drywall.
Thank you for this honest experience with painted ceilings. I get so annoyed with videos claiming it's easy to remove painted popcorn ceiling with soaking with water/vinegar/soap. I had the exact same experience, scraping with multiple layers of paint can get you down to the paper,but it scratches it. I ended up skim coating afterwards. It works better if you scrape the big chunks with a knife (I like the so-called multi-tool) before spraying, it alllows the water to penetrate the paint).
I have removed dozens of popcorn ceilings and The final cleanup is much easier if you don’t use the Dawn dish detergent. May seem like it helps but the popcorn will stick to everything with the added dish soap as to where without it most often it will come off unwanted surfaces when you are cleaning up afterwards. Just use warm water trust me.
I give you credit for all that patience! I had a very damaged kitchen ceiling in my home and we opted for a click together faux tin ceiling in white. 20 years in and still looks great:) Only problem is the surface is paper and I don’t believe it’s paintable.
I love watching you work on these projects as a non professional so that everyone can see problems that often crop up in do it yourself projects. Your calm nature in dealing with these problems puts you a step above me. I often blow my top and walk away from a project for a few days before I return to fix and finish them. I know that there is a lot of editing that goes on in the finished video but I have one question humorously poking fun and not for criticism. When you are thinning out your mixture for the skim coat, how do you get extremely warm water from the cold side of the tap? Like I said, good natured humor. Please keep up the good work and sharing.
Hahaha! I noticed that editing too. I was like, wait....why did I add cold water the one time I filmed? I promise every other time I was adding hot lol. The water I was explaining should be extremely warm was what you put in the sprayer ;)
Lol, my husband hates doing popcorn ceilings😣 That, and spray days are pretty rough. But like you said, it's definitely a must to prep your area BEFORE tackling the job👍 Also, sanding, sanding, sanding
Thank you for this tutorial. I’ve been struggling with the ceiling in my bathroom. I have everything but around the edges and corners removed. I think I’m going to use this product and do a skim coat like you’ve done. It looks great!
I prefer painted popcorn to take off, it's less messy and comes off in sheets. Use warm water, 3 parts water and 1 part vinegar. Just use the flat side of a rake to nock off bits and pieces then spray and let sit for 5 minutes. Scrape it off with a snow shovel. You can go from one end of a room to the other, comes off very easy none stop. For a less of a mess, have someone with a construction bag in front of you as the sheets fold into the bag. Wa La!
my daughter just had this done to her house (a renter had failed to report and repair a hole in the roof---another story). The crew that did this had the entire house, and everything (we joked even the dogs) wrapped in plastic. It looked like an asbestos removal operation (no asbestos, the house was built in the early 2000s). It was three days of dust, mess, and living elsewhere while it was being done. However, the result is stunning. I wonder why we ever thought popcorn ceilings were a good thing. (Used in the 1970s to cover for quick, less than professional ceiling board hanging.) This is a hard job. Cudos for having tackled it yourself. I do wonder if maybe some kind of paint remover that was citrus-based would not have helped on the painted areas.
I think popcorn ceilings have some acoustic benefits. They dampen sound and make your room less echoey. So I don't mind them if they're on high ceilings in a room full of hard surfaces. When they're high up it's harder to see the ugly texture lol
You're a beast. Satisfying yes, fun ehh ha. With that arm workout with the shop vac maybe you'll be doing fitness competitions. I seriously look forward to all your videos
Asbestos is homogenous, therefore one sample could be positive, and another negative. Therefore it’s important to take a sample from several areas (perhaps this is what you did but not specified?). A surveyor advised me the levels are low when it is present in such ceilings, and (generally speaking) takes long term exposure to cause harm. New to the channel and enjoying the content but thought this was worth mentioning.
Yes! I should've mentioned that but the kit you buy to test for asbestos specifies it so I didn't think it was necessary to go through the instructions on how to test for asbestos. I took a sample from four different areas of the ceiling and a chunk out of the entirety of the drywall, not just the texture on top.
If it's painted, you should go around and scrape the popcorn ceiling dry first. That will remove some paint from the high spots, then spray it down. and use an 8-10-inch scraper.
Great video. I bet when the popcorn started scrapping right off you were like phew... this will be easy... until you realized it was a patch. Anytime paint is applied (to wallpaper, popcorn ceiling) it is a royal pain to remove. Just think how much stronger you are now without paying $$ for a gym membership.
I've got one of those ceilings... nightmare!! Great job..! Only one suggestion though...get some proper step ladders...to hold onto. Its way too easy to fall if you're not holding onto something...I know, I've done it myself..!
There’s paint on it you need to scrape it first to expose the dry wall THEN spray with water..paint isn’t going to absorb water that’s why you need to expose the drywall first by lightly scraping it
Using a scraper bigger blade with an extension is easier, faster, and less stress on the shoulder since you use 2 hands, and can use your whole upper body to scrape. IMO.
I need to see how to remove texture paint. Have a kids bedroom that needs it gone! It came with the house! I do not understand why anyone would do that to the walls!
I don't think that would've been any easier, personally. But it would've been less expensive. I would still have had to skim coat the areas where I gouged the drywall trying to scrape.
Watched video about removing popcorn ceiling. While this helps update the look of a room, you should always test for the presence of asbestos. This was commonly added to popcorn ceilings and is a known health hazard. Contractors who specialize in asbestos abatement are called in and this isn't a simple DIY job. Melissa, we know you are both lovely and skilled in home improvement, but it is prudent to be safer and test for hazardous materials and use proper safeguards.
you put a ton of work in there, great job sticking with it. Next time you do that, if its been painted, go rent a sander for drywall. It will make your job so much easier. If it hasnt been painted its easy to scrape. Another hint, when you put on the resperator you can use the pull strings on top too... was funny watching you crank the bottome strap all the way though.... Great video....
Honestly, I give you so much credit for not letting this huge project defeat you and also for showing us what worked and what failed. 85% of my house has popcorn ceilings so I need to hire a professional to do the work. HOWEVER, my laundry room is small and I am going to attempt to do that myself. A friend of mine used a big wet sponge to soak the popcorn on her ceilings and did small areas at a time. It must not have been painted because she said the stuff just scraped off easily. My “popcorn” is much thicker and bumpier than yours and it was applied in 1978 so I have no idea if it is full of asbestos. Since they mined asbestos in this state, I wouldn’t be surprised is that is what’s hanging above my head. 😷
Wow, memories of scraping all that off my ceilings before moving into my house a couple of years ago! Same deal, painted over, only it did have asbestos, so I had to plastic up all the walls and floors, get HEPA filters going, and don a bunny suit and full face respirator! The way that worked best for me was doing a first pass with the scraper to knock the tips off and expose the texture, then hit it with a warm water/vinegar solution and let it sit for 10-15 minutes. I managed to take it all down to drywall without a bunch of gouges that way. Kudos to you for doing the finish work yourself! I didn't even consider it, and just hired for the skim coat & texture job!
Awesome to see the respirator! Scraping popcorn ceilings is sooo much work, good for you.
First, you shouldn’t have dust. If you do you’re doing it wrong. You should saturate it enough where it easily comes off. Dawn is unnecessary. Vinegar could help out when it’s painted but all you have to do is prescrape the area you’re going to spray with water. This creates the ability for the water to penetrate underneath the paint and you won’t have the issues you were having.
You also don’t need to worry about over saturating it. It will not hurt the drywall as it’s very thick.
Furthermore, your angle of scraping is also why you’re getting gouges. You need to hold the handle closer to the ceiling, maybe a 30 degree angle. Just put a piece of plastic on the floor to catch the popcorn and you’re good.
Omg…This was me a few years ago. I scraped my entire house ceiling, which was painted. I used a big floor scraper on the ceiling lol I left it scraped for a long time before I gave it a couple skim coats of mud for smooth white ceilings. Also gave it some recessed lights. You’re awesome for tackling this. I know how much hard work it is. Lol
Wow good for you!! That sounds like quite the project!
When sampling, you should take several samples from the room. Many sections could come back negative, while one could come back positive. Best to take 5 small samples per room and mix these together into the sample you send to the lab. Good that you still were safe about it.
Thanks for the video Melissa. Here in the UK we cover over these ceilings with plasterboard (drywall) and then refinish. This serves three functions, in some places you need two layers to update to regulations, Old plasterboard is often nailed and these pull out, so a new layer using screws pulls it back, and lastly, it's less messy.
We contractor's in the US also perfer hanging new drywall over the existing ceiling. Doing so also increases R-value/and or sound proofing, Much less of a mess by far
Can you get by with 1/4” so you won’t lose much ceiling height or is this not thick enough?
@@tammybryant3480 Hi Tammy, possibly yes if your ceiling is pretty much flat already; but I'd always go for the 1/2 inch or 12mm. The stiffer board helps take out minor bumps and your only saving a 1/4 anyway. If you have major bumps you will almost certainly need to batten over, or strip back and use new drywall.
I love the way you share everything, successful and not so successful. It makes me feel so much better about my DIY attempts. Thank you :-)
Thank you for this honest experience with painted ceilings. I get so annoyed with videos claiming it's easy to remove painted popcorn ceiling with soaking with water/vinegar/soap. I had the exact same experience, scraping with multiple layers of paint can get you down to the paper,but it scratches it. I ended up skim coating afterwards. It works better if you scrape the big chunks with a knife (I like the so-called multi-tool) before spraying, it alllows the water to penetrate the paint).
I have removed dozens of popcorn ceilings and The final cleanup is much easier if you don’t use the Dawn dish detergent. May seem like it helps but the popcorn will stick to everything with the added dish soap as to where without it most often it will come off unwanted surfaces when you are cleaning up afterwards. Just use warm water trust me.
Lol did that once lots of work and a big mess stay safe and healthy and warm 👍
I give you credit for all that patience! I had a very damaged kitchen ceiling in my home and we opted for a click together faux tin ceiling in white. 20 years in and still looks great:) Only problem is the surface is paper and I don’t believe it’s paintable.
This was the most encouraging video! Thanks for making it!🎉
Round the corners of the putty knife to lessen the possibility of cutting into the drywall.
Thanks for your tips
I love watching you work on these projects as a non professional so that everyone can see problems that often crop up in do it yourself projects. Your calm nature in dealing with these problems puts you a step above me. I often blow my top and walk away from a project for a few days before I return to fix and finish them.
I know that there is a lot of editing that goes on in the finished video but I have one question humorously poking fun and not for criticism. When you are thinning out your mixture for the skim coat, how do you get extremely warm water from the cold side of the tap? Like I said, good natured humor. Please keep up the good work and sharing.
Hahaha! I noticed that editing too. I was like, wait....why did I add cold water the one time I filmed? I promise every other time I was adding hot lol. The water I was explaining should be extremely warm was what you put in the sprayer ;)
I love your work and you could put me to sleep in a good way with your voiceover. Very soothing lol.
Lol, my husband hates doing popcorn ceilings😣 That, and spray days are pretty rough. But like you said, it's definitely a must to prep your area BEFORE tackling the job👍
Also, sanding, sanding, sanding
Thank you for this tutorial. I’ve been struggling with the ceiling in my bathroom. I have everything but around the edges and corners removed. I think I’m going to use this product and do a skim coat like you’ve done. It looks great!
I prefer painted popcorn to take off, it's less messy and comes off in sheets. Use warm water, 3 parts water and 1 part vinegar. Just use the flat side of a rake to nock off bits and pieces then spray and let sit for 5 minutes. Scrape it off with a snow shovel. You can go from one end of a room to the other, comes off very easy none stop. For a less of a mess, have someone with a construction bag in front of you as the sheets fold into the bag. Wa La!
my daughter just had this done to her house (a renter had failed to report and repair a hole in the roof---another story). The crew that did this had the entire house, and everything (we joked even the dogs) wrapped in plastic. It looked like an asbestos removal operation (no asbestos, the house was built in the early 2000s). It was three days of dust, mess, and living elsewhere while it was being done. However, the result is stunning. I wonder why we ever thought popcorn ceilings were a good thing. (Used in the 1970s to cover for quick, less than professional ceiling board hanging.) This is a hard job. Cudos for having tackled it yourself. I do wonder if maybe some kind of paint remover that was citrus-based would not have helped on the painted areas.
I think popcorn ceilings have some acoustic benefits. They dampen sound and make your room less echoey. So I don't mind them if they're on high ceilings in a room full of hard surfaces. When they're high up it's harder to see the ugly texture lol
You're a beast. Satisfying yes, fun ehh ha. With that arm workout with the shop vac maybe you'll be doing fitness competitions. I seriously look forward to all your videos
Asbestos is homogenous, therefore one sample could be positive, and another negative. Therefore it’s important to take a sample from several areas (perhaps this is what you did but not specified?). A surveyor advised me the levels are low when it is present in such ceilings, and (generally speaking) takes long term exposure to cause harm. New to the channel and enjoying the content but thought this was worth mentioning.
Yes! I should've mentioned that but the kit you buy to test for asbestos specifies it so I didn't think it was necessary to go through the instructions on how to test for asbestos. I took a sample from four different areas of the ceiling and a chunk out of the entirety of the drywall, not just the texture on top.
@@WelcometotheWoodsBlog you’re right. It was the first thing you said as well! And the testing kits explain the specific of what to do as you say.
@@WelcometotheWoodsBlogthey stop using asbestos in 1980
Use Spray Nine HD, or TSP for the painted areas. Soak. Try each and see what works.
Not going to lie .. I would have probably call someone to take care of that.. I don't know how people like the popcorn look lol.. great job
This is the way manufacturers should sell products. Have someone show how they are used in real life.
Great video as allways enjoyed watching and learning something new from your videos thank you for sharing
If it's painted, you should go around and scrape the popcorn ceiling dry
first. That will remove some paint from the high spots, then spray it down.
and use an 8-10-inch scraper.
This video convinced me to rent a drywall sander from Home Depot
how many buckets of the texturing material did you use for the room? how big was the room?
I used 1.5 gallons, the room is 10’ x 12’
Great video. I bet when the popcorn started scrapping right off you were like phew... this will be easy... until you realized it was a patch. Anytime paint is applied (to wallpaper, popcorn ceiling) it is a royal pain to remove. Just think how much stronger you are now without paying $$ for a gym membership.
Great job Melissa 👍😎
Tenacity at it’s best. Nice job :-)
I've got one of those ceilings... nightmare!! Great job..! Only one suggestion though...get some proper step ladders...to hold onto. Its way too easy to fall if you're not holding onto something...I know, I've done it myself..!
I wasn't on a ladder, I was on mini scaffolding 😊
But the oil base paint just reflects the water right off from the popcorn ceiling? It's not really soaking in.
Nice review, thanks for the great content😉
There’s paint on it you need to scrape it first to expose the dry wall THEN spray with water..paint isn’t going to absorb water that’s why you need to expose the drywall first by lightly scraping it
Using a scraper bigger blade with an extension is easier, faster, and less stress on the shoulder since you use 2 hands, and can use your whole upper body to scrape. IMO.
very instrutive thank you
You go Gurrrrl.
I need to see how to remove texture paint. Have a kids bedroom that needs it gone! It came with the house! I do not understand why anyone would do that to the walls!
Doing that job who needs a gym membership lol
Did you buy a kit to test for asbestos?
Yes, it costs about $30 off Amazon if you do the 7 day results so you just have to plan ahead of time.
Too much work really I know already I had do it and you make really awesome 👏 job
Why not lightly sand the rest of the stubborn popcorn off. Sounds easier. Messy but way easier.
I don't think that would've been any easier, personally. But it would've been less expensive. I would still have had to skim coat the areas where I gouged the drywall trying to scrape.
I would charge 30 grand to do this job
🤣
Have it tested for asbestos first.
Start this video at 3 minutes
In the uk that could have asbestos in it
Same in the US. You must've missed the beginning 30 seconds of my video 🤦♀️
@@WelcometotheWoodsBlog I was putting my earphones in lol 😆
I've done this. It's a bit of a nasty job.
What a nightmare
You are woman hear you roar!
It's called ceiling board not drywall. Ceilings are above and horizontal. Walls are beside you and vertical.
Watched video about removing popcorn ceiling. While this helps update the look of a room, you should always test for the presence of asbestos. This was commonly added to popcorn ceilings and is a known health hazard. Contractors who specialize in asbestos abatement are called in and this isn't a simple DIY job. Melissa, we know you are both lovely and skilled in home improvement, but it is prudent to be safer and test for hazardous materials and use proper safeguards.
Hmmm did you watch the first 30 seconds of this video?
Did you watch the video?
you put a ton of work in there, great job sticking with it. Next time you do that, if its been painted, go rent a sander for drywall. It will make your job so much easier. If it hasnt been painted its easy to scrape. Another hint, when you put on the resperator you can use the pull strings on top too... was funny watching you crank the bottome strap all the way though.... Great video....