Popcorn Ceiling Removal

If you live in a home with a popcorn texture on your ceiling, you’ve probably found us to help you with your popcorn ceiling removal project. Triangle homeowners have been trusting us to remove popcorn ceilings and other drywall projects for them since 1990.

If you like to do your own home improvement projects, and consider yourself a DIY expert this may seem like just another long, time-consuming weekend. You might be right unless you have asbestos in your ceiling, which isn’t rare in the houses of the popcorn ceiling era.

It takes more than drop cloths, joint compound, a scraper, and some plastic sheeting to professionally remove popcorn ceilings. One typical mistake we’re called in to repair (from a DIY project) is ceiling gouge from an overly aggressive homeowner who was tired and getting impatient. Before you start it’s hard to imagine how exhausting it is to scrape 500 square feet of crud over your head using your old putty knife.

Asbestos Testing

We don’t get too far without using an asbestos test kit to get started. The number of homes that still have asbestos in their ceilings would surprise you, but thankfully it’s less and less each year. If we do find it, we have an asbestos abatement team that helps us remove the problem safely according to EPA guidelines.

Our Popcorn Ceiling Removal Process

Step one is to look very closely at the job along with the homeowner. Although people tend to throw any ceiling that isn’t a smooth ceiling into the “popcorn ceiling” bucket, acoustic ceilings offer different challenges, and some ceilings are called cottage cheese because of their appearance and some ceilings are actually stucco.

Most of the post-1990 houses that have a textured ceiling use a normal sheetrock base and then a sprayer came in and applied the popcorn ceiling texture. In these cases the popcorn removal process is straightforward but incredibly dirty, dusty, and time-consuming.

Our projects begin by setting up a plastic “bubble” to work in. Then we set up special HEPA air filters to scrub the air so that the very fine dust doesn’t sneak into the rest of your home. Obviously, ceiling fans and light fixtures are removed and we cover those holes with painter’s tape.

The actual popcorn ceiling removal process involves what looks like a garden sprayer or a small spray bottle for smaller repairs, and some warm water along with 30 years of experience, strong shoulders, and a good respirator.

Drywall Repair

If you’re in Raleigh, Cary, Apex, or any of the local towns, and see a house with that old popcorn look and want to update its interior design we can help. Honestly, sometimes even an old ceiling can look much better with a fresh coat of paint, but even the best ceiling paint can’t cover up water damage. Renovations like that should be professionally repaired. Drywall gets weak when it gets wet, the joint compound will likely start to crumble, and finally, the extra weight will start to pull the nails out causing unsightly nail pops.

Repairing even small sections with a clean skim coat can make all the difference. After refinishing the ceiling or other drywall problems, a trip to Home Depot will be a treat rather than a repair run.