11 tips on how to remove a popcorn ceiling faster and easier

Popcorn ceilings were all the rage back in the ’60s and ’70s. Applying the texture to drywall and plaster ceilings was a quick and easy way to hide imperfections and didn’t require any painting afterward. But the rough texture catches lots of dust and cobwebs and it can be difficult to know how to remove popcorn ceiling. It can be a real pain to match if you have cracks or holes in need of patching. Figuring out how to remove a popcorn ceiling texture from a ceiling is a messy chore but worth the effort if the substrate underneath is in good shape. Here are some tips to take some of the pain out of popcorn ceiling removal.

Before you go to all the trouble of prepping the room, try scraping a small area of your popcorn ceiling. Try it dry first, then dampen the texture with water and try again. Some texture comes off easily without water, but in most cases wetting is best. If the water doesn’t soak in and soften the texture, the ceiling has probably been painted or paint was added to the texture mix. In that case, wetting the ceiling may not help, and you’ll have to decide whether you want to tackle a really tough scraping job or choose another way to hide your popcorn ceiling.

Any popcorn ceiling installed before 1980 might contain asbestos – a known cause of lung cancer. Before getting started, contact your local health department and ask about getting a sample tested. So you’re wondering how to remove a popcorn ceiling with asbestos? If the test comes back positive, cover the popcorn with new drywall or tongue-and-groove planks, or hire an asbestos abatement contractor for help.

Asbestos is one of the three killer hazards for the unwary renovator.

Cover floors and walls with plastic drop cloths as you begin your task of removing your popcorn ceiling. Don’t use canvas drop cloths because water can soak through. Cleanup is easier with plastic too, because you can just ball it all up when you’re done working and throw it in the bin. Leave the plastic in place after popcorn ceiling removal to catch the mess you’ll make repairing and sanding the ceiling later.

If possible, remove all furniture from the room you’ll be working in. When learning how to remove popcorn ceiling, it is messy work, and you won’t want furniture in your way every time you move the ladder around. If moving everything out of the room isn’t possible, cluster it and cover it with drop cloths.

You might think it’s easier to leave light fixtures and ceiling fans in place as you figure out how to remove popcorn ceiling, but they’ll just be in your way and get covered with wet popcorn. Plus, you don’t want to accidentally spray water into an electrical fixture.

This is how to service a ceiling fan.

If you have recessed ‘can’ lights, stuff newspaper or rosin paper inside them to keep them dry when completing a how to remove popcorn ceilings project. Also, make sure the power to those fixtures is turned off at the circuit breaker panel or fuse box.

For easier scraping and practically no dust during popcorn ceiling removal, use a garden pump sprayer to mist the ceiling and let it soak in for about 15 minutes before scraping. Only give it a light misting – too much water could damage the drywall or loosen the joint tape. If the texture hasn’t softened after 15 minutes or so, spray it again and wait another 10 to 15 minutes. If the texture still hasn’t softened, it might be painted, or paint might have been mixed into the texture before application. In either case, water won’t easily penetrate. If the texture is painted, you might be able to dry-scrape it first to expose some of the unpainted texture and follow up with wet scraping. If the texture has paint mixed in, you might have to dry-scrape the whole ceiling or cover it up with drywall or T&G boards.

Shut off the power to any electrical junction boxes in the ceiling and cover them with painter’s tape to keep the wiring dry when spraying water on the popcorn. Overlap the sides of the junction box with the tape, and then trim around the perimeter with a utility knife, being careful not to nick the wires.

Here are 19 things your electrician wishes you knew.

Only spray and scrape a small area at a time – about one square metre. If you work too large of an area at once, the popcorn might dry before you have time to scrape it off. If that happens, respray the area and wait another 10 to 15 minutes before scraping.