Removing Ceiling Texture

[Beerrific]

SWMBO and I are about to begin a large project in our bedroom. We are planning on taking out the old carpet, painting the walls, and putting in new flooring. Our entire house has textured ceilings and I absolutely hate it (plus it has accumulates a lot of dirt in the last 20 years), so I thought this would be a good opportunity to do away with it. I have read a lot about it and it seems relatively straight forward: wet and scrape.

I am pretty sure the texture we have is known as slapbrush texture. Here is a picture:

Has anyone had any experience with this kind of job? Any tips?

 

[Bobby_M]

The question should probably be, "any tip on ripping down and replacing drywall on the ceiling?". I wish I was kidding. How many coats of paint would you say are on that? It's likely joint compound applied with that specialties knap roller. If it was applied over a primer or topcoat, you might be able to scrape it off. If it was done right on the drywall, forget it. You'll just destroy the paper.

If it were the type that uses styrofoam balls, it would be easier. Test out scraping before you commit to the whole project.

 

[Dude]

I'd also be leary of textured celings anyway. What are they trying to hide?

 

[Beerrific]

I'd also be leary of textured celings anyway. What are they trying to hide?

Apparently in the 80s they were trying to hide the ceilings. :cross:
This is partially why I want to get rid of them.

The question should probably be, "any tip on ripping down and replacing drywall on the ceiling?". I wish I was kidding. How many coats of paint would you say are on that? It's likely joint compound applied with that specialties knap roller. If it was applied over a primer or topcoat, you might be able to scrape it off. If it was done right on the drywall, forget it. You'll just destroy the paper.

I am not at home, but I am pretty sure there is no paint over it, just the rolled on joint compound.

I guess my biggest concern is what the ceiling would look like after scraping and how much work it will be from there.

I will probably do a small section in a closet tonight and see what happens. I might just end up painting it instead.

 

[bradsul]

If you want it to end up looking good (ie. flat with no defects) your only real option is to pull it down and drywall the ceiling again. Frankly that would be less work than trying to scrape that stuff off and refinish the ceiling.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

If the texture has not been painted then take a spray bottle an moisten a small area, let it set wet for aminute or two, and then try to scrape it off witha 4 to 6 inch drywall knife.

If that does the trick then continue as suggested but maybe have SWMBO come behind you with the knife as you spray, or vice versa.

When I did my ceilings, I opted to use a garden sprayer with an adjustable mist pattern. Thta saved me from having to pump a sprtzer and covered a large area in less time.

Caveat emptor as chances are the compound that is covering the joint tape and nail/screw heads is going to come off too. So, you may have to plan on re-taping and smoothing out the joints.

Sometimes, the texture jobs are there to hide a horribly un-even ceiling and looks fine until you try to make it smooth.

 

[Onescalerguy]

Go to the home improvement forum at the bottom of all HBT pages"House repair & improvement forum".I got squared away through them(replaced a formica kitchen countertop and got some invaluable advice and tips).Fairly fast responses too.
There's a fair # of HBTers over there also.Good luck.

 

[the_bird]

I tried scraping with a drywall knife, it just wasn't sharp enough to get underneath it. I ended up using a razor. Total PITA, but it did a good job, and I was lucky in that it basically came off in long strips. As long as the razor was sharp, it did a good job. Wetting it help a bit (use a tiny amount of dish detergent to increase its "wetting" ability).

If I were doing it again, I'd probably get a metal drywall knife and try and file down the sharpest edge I could make on it.

 

[MrShake]

I know you can also rent a ceiling sander... Its on a pole, has a vacuum attached and allows you to sand down the ceiling texture. YMMV

 

[skinfiddler]

If what you want is a nice ceiling finish,you might save yourselves a lot of work by "laminating" another layer of 1/4 or 3/8 drywall over the old surface and finish it like new. You won't be losing appreciable ceiling ht and you can be assured that you won't have to fix old f***-ups. I have done it several times.

JW

 

[the_bird]

I should say, the only reason that I didn't just put up fresh sheets of 3/8" drywall was that the ceiling is curved, so it would have been a bigger PITA to lay the drywall than to scrape it clean.

 

[skinfiddler]

What degree of curvature are you talking? Curved surfaces get drywalled frequently

 

[buckrogers71]

If what you want is a nice ceiling finish,you might save yourselves a lot of work by "laminating" another layer of 1/4 or 3/8 drywall over the old surface and finish it like new. You won't be losing appreciable ceiling ht and you can be assured that you won't have to fix old f***-ups. I have done it several times.

JW

Thats what we did. We have/ had the same stuff and just went over it w/ 3/8" and used used construction adhesive.

When we moved into our place, the "in" thing in the 50's was to wall paper everything. I tried to do 1 room by stripping it and it took twice as long.

When I redo my hallway I will just gut it. It will make it much easier and LESS stressful

 

[adx]

You don't want to soak the ceiling. If you use one of those landscape sprayers then you can get a nice dampness to the texture. That and a wide scraper should get it off.

 

[Joker]

I use to do drywall as a side job, so I will pass on all that I learn. First that doesn't look like the old "popcorn" ceiling, the kind where you can rub it and pieces fall off. The looks like a "skip trowl" type finish. If that is a fact wetting and scraping won't do you any good. Quickest and easiest fix is to use a red Scotchbite pad to rough it up and then just apply a new thin coat of drywall mud over the top of it. It will probably take a few then coats to do it and be sure to give plenty of dry time between coats. Then once you have it to smooth you can apply whatever new texture you want to have.

 

[homebrewer_99]

http://www.naturalhandyman.com/iip/infpai/popcornoff.html

http://www.myhomeimprovement.com/?m=77&page=prev_list&cid=82&qpage=6

 

[Beerrific]

Yeah, it is not the blown on 'popcorn' type. It is the kind that looks like some one has taken roller, brush, or stamp and spread joint compound all over place. After reading some more and talking to some people, I think this is going to be a lot more work than I am looking to tackle right now. SWMBO doesn't hate the texture like I do, and if I start something that ends up costing a small fortune and takes weeks to finish, she will be pissed.

So, I am just going to paint it.

Thanks for all the help.

 

[Joker]

What type of insulation do you have? If its not 'blow-in' then removing the sheetrock and replacing would not be a lot of cost. There will be a lot more time with having to do all the mud work for nails and seams. If it is blow in just walk away its not worth it.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Yeah, it is not the blown on 'popcorn' type. It is the kind that looks like some one has taken roller, brush, or stamp and spread joint compound all over place. After reading some more and talking to some people, I think this is going to be a lot more work than I am looking to tackle right now. SWMBO doesn't hate the texture like I do, and if I start something that ends up costing a small fortune and takes weeks to finish, she will be pissed.

So, I am just going to paint it.

Thanks for all the help.

A new, fresh coat of paint does make a huge difference in the finished look. Plus if you consider a low sheen finish it wont highlight the shadows in the texture as much and may provide a more cohesive look to your ceiling. A darker color would also help hide the texture some too.

 

[kimmey]

I am looking at a home to purchase that has couple of cracks it the ceiling in the living room. Nothing major really, but since it is a stomped ceiling, after repairing the 4-5 ft crack, will I have to have the entire ceiling re-stomped or can a professional contractor blend in. Otherwise will I have to have all of the original stomping removed and redone? Have you had any experience in this area?

 

[PeteOz77]

SWMBO and I are about to begin a large project in our bedroom.

Dang! I though maybe we might have a new "RED" Thread

 

[cheezydemon]

*just answering the OP*

My wife suggested that we needed to remove the texture from our ceilings, and I suggested she find a good divorce attorney. Take my advice, and MOVE. You will have the dust from your removal project in your ductwork for ever.

 

[PeteOz77]

I find the best way to remove the texture from a bedroom ceiling is to turn off the lights. Second best is to squint... then you can't see the texture.