Anyone ever try to scrape Popcorn coat off the ceiling?

[austin.ray22]

I would like to tear it down and start again, but we are on a budget here guys. i can do the scraping and taping and all myself and just be out the cost of the materials

 

[ChickenCanoe]

austin.ray22 :

I would like to tear it down and start again, but we are on a budget here guys. i can do the scraping and taping and all myself and just be out the cost of the materials

I understand, I'm on a tight budget too. All of my coops and pens are recycled materials.
gypsum board is pretty cheap though, I would be tearing my hair out. your labor is worth something even if you work as cheaply as I do.​

 

[Royd]

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?

Here's the quick way. If you are on tile or a slab, just go for it, If the floor is wood, lay down plastic....Get a spray nozzle, with a mister function and spray down the ceiling, a swath at a time.

You can buy a scraper, with a handle, but I just use a 12" sheetrock knife. It will scrape clean...Cleanup is the most work.

ETA: Popcorn is the cheap, lazy way of covering up a crappy mud job...More than likely, you will have to resand and mud the joints and screw or nail dimples, unless you are going to stipple it, with sheetrock mud.​

 

[Royd]

Quote:
Ok, more advice....If you can knock the bumps down, with a paint scraper, you may be able to just sand the walls, to smooth them out. You can always prime over the old paint.

The other option, after removing the bumps, is to float the walls, with a thinned sheetrock mud...This does take some practice, but if you've ever watched an old plasterer, or a concrete finisher, that's the technique.

 

[EweSheep]

Or slap on more drywall boards on the ceiling....worked for us but you have to make sure the joists can support the extra weight of the boards. It did save us time and money and sore elbows from redoing our bathroom and kitchen.

 

[Catstar68]

Quote:
I did it this way, it worked well.
I did it as soon as the house was through closing, even before I moved in. The carpets were going to be replaced anyhow and the walls repainted so I just went to town. A total mess but the ceilings look so much better.
Popcorn IS the lazy way of covering up a poor tape/mud job. I re-spackled the nail heads and tape myself and sanded. A coat of primer and 2 coats of paint.

 

[rnoyster]

Let me tell you what I am doing! It works great!! LOL!! I took a 12" wide taping blade and using black electrical tape, I taped it to the top side of the shop vac hose with the wide suction head (like you use on vinyl floors) turned on the vac and started scraping the popcorn ceiling off! You may have to adjust a little until you get it just right, but it really works! Where there are mudded seams in the drywall, you will have to spray with water a little bit to loosen it up, but mine was sprayed on the unprimed drywall and was getting loose every place else. I did all the ceiling in a 2800 sq. ft. house in 2 days. Of course, I still had to sand some of it to make it smooth all over, but the popcorn was all off and most of it was sucked right up by the vacuum as the scraper blade got it off the ceilings! Try it!

 

[austin.ray22]

Quote:
Wow that is an awesome idea. I may have to give it a try tonight. Thank you for the idea