Photos at end of post.
I feel more popular than a blog article about Zach Efron sexting. Ever since I put up a post about popcorn ceiling removal I’ve gotten hundreds of hits from Google about popcorn ceiling removal.
Everybody wants to know my simple 5 item secret popcorn removal method.
I don’t know if Kurt Hamilton’s dad invented the popcorn ceiling, (I imagine his entire house with ceilings, floors, and walls that have the mock moon texture, and a Stepford wife in a flower print apron making cookies), but this method of removal is slow and messy, and will get the job done.
You will need to buy 5 things if you don’t have them already:
- A ladder – 6 foot or high enough so you can easily reach your ceiling
- A garden sprayer.
- A 3″ or 5″ flat blade putty knife or scraper
- a bottle of Dawn Dish soap
- A gallon of white wine vinegar.
Fill the garden sprayer with HOT Water
For every gallon of HOT water add 1 cup vinegar, and 7 tablespoons of Dawn Dishsoap.
Pump the sprayer. Pump, pump pump, and make sure you have it good and pressurized. You want a good stream coming out that sucker, not a little trickle. Also the pumping action mixes all the popcorn ceiling removal chemicals.
Spray the acoustic ceiling so it is exactly this wet – just wet enough so it doesn’t drip down in your eyes. If the water mixture starts dripping onto the floor, you have sprayed too much, and are wasting water, and overwetting the popcorn ceiling. Get some towels and dry the area that is too wet. Be sure to clean the floor so you don’t slip, too.
After wetting a 3 foot by 3 foot area, 9 square feet, wait exactly 2 min 37 seconds to let the stuff do it’s job. Your time may be longer depending on age, amount and type of paint and total styrofoam content of the popcorn. With a smooth motion, scrape the ceiling with the scraper. You should get a wide strip of the stuff just falling off the ceiling. If you don’t, try again, there is lots of surface area to cover.
Soon, you will be able to do a decent sized bedroom in about an hour – in fact, you will probably spend more time cleaning the floor than the ceiling.
I’m not an Asbestos Lawyer, but my brother is, and you should absolutely get your ceilings tested for the cancer causing agent before you begin any work. It’s easy, takes about 3 days, costs less than a month’s worths of Starbucks, and may prevent lung cancer.
Who ever thought that you should have a texture like the surface of the moon on your ceiling should be shot.
using simple green to remove popcorn ceilings does NOT work well
This is what happens if you don
The ceiling scrapes off, and makes a big mess
Here is the ceiling - depopcornified
{ 2 comments }
depopcornified…I like it. Are you sure it’s 2 minutes 37 seconds? Anyway, I am glad I don’t have popcorn ceilings to deal with.
Thanks for stopping by.
Can’t wait to see the new plastered ceilings.
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