Popcorn Ceilings

[Ben Carpenter]

What is the process for removing "popcorn" drywall from a ceiling and will this be worth the cost of doing so? I plan on painting the entire house as well as new floors on most of it. I will be living here for a few years. Anything else I'm not considering? Thanks!

[Randy F.]

Originally posted by Joel Owens:

One thing you need to consider is that usually the popcorn ceilings or even troweled ceilings create a lot of dust plus it's an easy way for builders to hide imperfections and slam things through on cheap houses.

If you scrape you might find a bunch of leveling problems and other things exposed that looks like crap unless it is coated and hidden in some way.

The higher end homes here have the smooth ceilings just like the walls with heavy trim packages. You can't hide hardly anything doing the ceiling this way and there is little to no dust. I personally prefer the smooth ceilings after having popcorn for years.

Another pet peeve of mine is not screwing down the sub floor. Many builders are cheap and use power nail guns to put down the floor. The issue is with expansion and weather changes the nails pop out causing the floor to squeak horribly. Even if they get the nails down correctly some knock them in sideways which causes the sub floor to be loose and squeak.

If I ever was putting down new hardwood or carpet I would go back and screw in the sub floors. I do not know why but that drives me nuts.

Every popcorn ceiling I have removed I needed to float the joints. Also, when most popcorn was done the rock was hung with nails. Its a good idea to run screws to ensure lid is tight against joists. If i isnt, nails will pop as you screw it off. They either need to be pulled or set all the way to joists or they will keep showing up. If there are more than a few nail pops, best to screw off entire ceiling. Using flat paint on ceilings helps hide flaws but i dont use on rentals.

Same with squeeky floors. When I build, I glue subfloors. Many contractors dont and thats crazy considering how little time and money it takes. A good flooring guy will do "the dance", lookin for squeeks. Again, if there are more than a few, just screw off the entire floor.