Anyone ever try to scrape Popcorn coat off the ceiling?

[austin.ray22]

This is the next job in the house remodel. Pretty much the only method I have found is soak it in water and scrape it off with a putty knife.

Anyone have any ideas?

 

[chickaddict]

I asked my carpenter hubby - he said scrape and sand - not fun. He also said that this is why we do not have popcorn ceilings.

good luck and may the force be with you - I will wish for you extra arm strength today

 

[hoppy]

squirt bottle works great, comes down quickly

 

[Frosty]

Not off the ceiling, but the folks we bought this place off of had it all over the walls. It's like little rocks embedded and if you bump into the wall you get scraped up. And try to wash the walls? Ha! There are so many coats of paint that water won't do anything. LOTS of scraping! I feel for you...

 

[austin.ray22]

Well, I thought this would be a good project to update this house but I'm afraid its going to be a real pain. Cant turn back now that half of the kitchen is done.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

I did it and it's no fun--but it is easy. I used a 2 gallon pump sprayer--the kind you might use in the garden--filled with hot water and about 2 tbs. of dish soap. The soap supposedly helps bind the particles. Spray a smallish area and wait (5-20 min). The trick is to spray enough water to wet the "popcorn", but not saturate the drywall underneath. With just a little trial and error, you'll figure out right away how much to spray and how long to wait. I used a 6" wide drywall knife (putty knife) to scrape it off. Good luck!

 

[australorpchick]

Quote:
This.

The garden bug sprayer thingy is a life-saver. I used a large 10 - 12" putty knife-like tool and a 6ft ladder. They have ceiling scrapers with a long handle meant to be used while standing on the floor, but they were not meant to be used by someone 5'5" (or at least not this 5'5" person). I kept gouging the ceiling and the only way I could get the angle correct, was by having my arms over my head and my arms kept getting tired. I scraped the better portion of a 1550 sqft house. The taping/mud stuff was too much for me, so I cheated and just patched the nail hole areas and put some texture in my paint.

 

[austin.ray22]

I also found that the ladder and the putty knife worked much better than the scraper with the handle. I am now finding the worst part of the job may be the cleanup after the popcorn comes off the ceiling.

 

[SallyF]

That is absolutely the worst job I can think of. I did bathroom ceilings when we put our house on the market, and it was a messy job. Gave up and hired pros to do the hallways and stairwell. Anyone who has ever dealt with removing popcorn ceilings will never put them in again! And you're right, spraying and scraping with a putty knife is the only way to do it. Plastic all over the floor and you wear a do-rag on your head so you don't have popcorn hair when you finish.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

Oh, the mess!!!

It was the second thing I did after buying our house, the first was pulling up all the carpet. I put plastic down and collected it up between spraying so that it didn't get too heavy. Also, it's better to collect it up before it dries. I'd really hate to do that job while living inside. I also agree with the ladder and short handled scraper. Definitely try to limit the gouging, since it can be tough to repair and hide. Wear a mask too! I paid to have a pro come in and do the mudding and taping. Now I need to find a good texture guy to match ceilings to the walls.