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How to remove a popcorn ceiling

Author: Gord Graff
Photos: Gord Graff
Published: October 2024
popcorn ceiling
popcorn ceiling

An outdated popcorn ceiling can be easily removed. Learn about two approaches to this project so you can select the right one for your situation.

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If you’re tired of looking at your dated popcorn ceiling and your tastes are turning towards a smooth, flat look, I’ve got good news for you. Going from popcorn to smooth and flat may be easier than you think and the results can be stunning.

A word of caution here: Asbestos was used in popcorn ceil­ings until the early 1980s, so if you have any concerns, contact your local building department and they’ll tell you how to proceed.

Browse “removing popcorn ceilings” on YouTube and you’ll surely come across videos that show misting the ceiling with water using a pump sprayer, and the popcorn easily sliding off by scrap­ing it with a large drywall taping knife. That will happen, but only if your ceiling has never been painted. If there’s a coat or two of paint on the ceiling it now becomes a challenge.
The ceilings in my home are a challenge because there are at least eight coats of paint on them; four coats of oil-based paint and four coats of water-based paint. How do I know that? I put those eight coats of paint on the ceiling myself over the years we’ve lived here.

Popcorn ceilings range from fine-grit popcorn to large, coarse-grit popcorn which is what I have. Some of the blobs of stucco on my ceilings are the size of a new pencil eraser and a few are even bigger.

Large Popcorn
Coarse-grain popcorn, some as large as a pencil eraser, is what Graff had to deal with in his home. It’s much harder to cover up this size of popcorn with skim coats, so the best option is often to remove it before proceeding.

Large Popcorn

Use Protection
Protect the work area with construction paper, plastic sheeting, painter’s tape, etc. so you won’t have extra work to do.

Use Protection

A Small Experiment
Graff sprays a small test area with warm water using a pump sprayer.

A Small Experiment

Start Scraping
Here, Graff scrapes the test area after its first wetting. This starts to give him an idea of what the scope of the work will be.

Start Scraping

Sanding
Once the ceiling is dry, sand off any high spots to further smooth the ceiling and prep it for a skim coat of mud.

Sanding

The Difference
On the left is the popcorn ceiling before spraying and scraping. On the right is what the ceiling looks like after it’s been sprayed and scraped. The ceiling is still far from perfectly flat, but it’s a lot smoother than it was.

The Difference

Choices
There are many drywall compound choices on the market today. The two options are premixed, which comes in a bucket or box, and setting-type compound, which comes as a dry powder in a bag that you mix with water. Graff uses the premixed compound on ceilings.

Choices

Paddle Design
This is Graff’s preferred mixing paddle design.

Paddle Design

Start Rolling
With a 19mm roller insert and the right consistency of mud, Graff is ready to roll it onto the ceiling.

Start Rolling

Second Application
After the first coat has been sanded, Graff applies a second coat of mud using all-purpose lightweight drywall compound.

Second Application

A Helping Hand
Graff got some help from his son, Matthew, while applying the drywall compound to the ceiling. Graff applied mud near the perimeter of the ceiling and his son rolled mud on the rest of the ceiling.

A Helping Hand

Sand It Smooth
Once the first coat of mud is dry, Graff sands the surface with 120 grit paper.

Sand It Smooth

Mark the Spots
Graff uses a raking light to help him mark the small areas that need a bit more drywall compound.

Mark the Spots

Add Some Colour
Graff mixes blue chalk dust into the drywall compound before applying it to the small areas that need to be touched up, otherwise the spots would be hard to find once the mud dried.

Add Some Colour

Blue Highlights
The blue areas are what need to be sanded in order to prepare the ceiling for primer and paint.

Blue Highlights

Another Approach
If the popcorn is on the smaller side, it’s possible to apply a few layers of mud directly over it. This is the first of three coats of mud Graff applied to his hallway ceiling to make the popcorn disappear.

Another Approach

Two approaches

The two common methods for achieving a smooth, flat ceiling are determined by the ceiling you’re working with and the tools you’re comfortable working with. Method 1 involves sanding a coarse stucco ceiling with a power drywall sander to a relatively smooth and flat surface, coating with two or more applications of drywall mud and sanding smooth. Method 2 doesn’t involve sand­ing. For this method, coat the stucco with two or more coats of drywall mud and sand smooth.

Method 1 is labour intensive and requires using a power drywall sander to achieve a relatively flat surface. This method is used to knock down coarse stucco that would normally take three or more coats of drywall mud to achieve a flat surface, but this method can be easily done if you only have a small area to do. This method just takes more time and considerably more drywall mud. Method 2 works well on ceilings with fine grit stucco easily covered by two coats of drywall mud.

PRO TIP: If you’re covering a large, coarse stucco ceiling with three or more coats of drywall mud without sanding, consider locating the ceiling joists and installing additional 1-5/8″ coarse drywall screws every 8″ or so to ensure the drywall is fully sup­ported with the additional weight of the drywall mud.

First method: spray, scrape, sand and skim coat

You’ve heard the term used when people talk about covering up their popcorn ceilings, but what, exactly, is skim coating? Skim coating is simply applying single or multiple thin coats of diluted drywall joint compound over an existing ceiling or wall in order to flatten, level or improve the look of the surface and that’s exactly what I’ll be doing here. First, a few other steps need to be taken to remove some of the popcorn material on the ceiling.

Protect the floor, and seal off the entranceways to other areas of the house, return air vents and so on with plastic sheeting or con­struction paper. I’ll be painting the walls after I’ve completed the ceilings so I’m not bothering to cover them with plastic.

I sectioned off a test area of the ceiling with painter’s tape and, using a pump sprayer filled with warm water, sprayed the ceiling until it started to drip on the tarp I had placed below this area.

After waiting approximately 30 minutes, I used a 12″ dry­wall taping knife and a garbage can lid to catch the debris, and started scraping the wet area. Did the popcorn slide off like in the YouTube videos? No, not at all, but some did which is what I expected.

I scraped off what I could, then sprayed the ceiling again, waited another 30 minutes, and scraped a second time. Now the pop­corn came off a lot easier. The second application of water did the trick and I now know what it will take to remove this popcorn. You might have to repeat this process in your test area a few more times to see how hard your popcorn ceiling will be to remove. At that point you can decide if this is, indeed, worth it and how long it might take.

Using an old 12″ drywall taping knife screw-clamped to an extendable painter’s pole, I easily managed to scrape 150 sq.ft. of popcorn ceiling in a few short hours. I did this by scraping the ceil­ing from the floor and a folding work platform.

I placed an inexpensive blue tarp on the floor to catch all the wet popcorn I scraped off the ceiling, then brought the tarp outside to dry in the sun and disposed of the popcorn when it was dry. I let the ceiling dry overnight.

There is another way of getting to this stage of popcorn removal and that is to either rent or purchase an electric drywall sander attached to a HEPA vacuum. This method doesn’t require spray­ing and scraping, but it can be tough on your shoulders and arms, depending on the size of the ceiling.

Dry ceiling

With the ceiling dry, it’s ready for the next step and that is a quick sanding with 80 grit paper to knock off any high spots and loose paint, and to make sure the corners and edges of the ceiling are smooth. You’ll need to sand the ceiling several times during this project so efficient and dust-free sanding is a must. Follow up with a thorough vacuuming to remove any unwanted dust and small particles. Now the ceiling is ready for drywall mud.

Drywall compound

Choosing from the myriad of drywall compounds, or mud as it’s commonly called, is confusing for the novice but it doesn’t need to be.

There are two basic types of drywall compound: premixed, avail­able in a bucket or box, and setting-type compound, which comes as a dry powder in a bag that you mix with water. The setting-type is not recommended by the manufacturer for skim coating. If this type of compound is used and it dries before it can chemically set, bond failure may result.

I’ve always gravitated to two types of premixed drywall com­pound or mud: all-purpose, packed in a box or bucket, and all-purpose light, sold by the box. The all-purpose compound has more adhesive in it than other muds and is perfect for a first coat. It’s recommended by the manufacturer for skim coating.

The all-purpose mud is much too thick to apply to the ceiling right out of the box or bucket and must be thinned down with water. I placed some mud in a plastic pail and slowly added water while I mixed it with a drill and a mixing paddle. I prefer these types of mixing paddles because they don’t cut into the sides of the bucket, leaving you with shards of plastic in the mud.

With the mud the consistency of thick yogurt, it’s now ready to be applied to the ceiling. Using a 19mm roller insert on a painter’s pole I can roll the mud onto the ceiling. If the mud is too thin, I can always add more mud to the mix to thicken it.

While there are several ways of applying the mud to the ceil­ing I’ve found that using a 12″ taping knife and a 12″ drywall mud pan to apply the mud to the periphery of the ceiling, usually in a 4’×4′ section, and then rolling the mud onto the ceiling to fill that area works well. Working in smaller areas like this is manageable especially if this is your first time at this. Once the area is filled in with mud using the roller, I simply take the 12″ drywall knife and smooth out the surface, always looking to leave a flat, uniform thickness of mud without any grooves, voids or raised edges. It takes a bit of time to get the hang of doing this and that’s why it’s a good idea to work in small areas when you start. I’m not looking to leave a 1/4″ thick layer of mud on the ceiling; I’m working towards covering up all the voids and bumps that were left after sanding. Proceeding slowly and methodically to achieve a smooth flat sur­face is what I’m aiming for.

Once you get the hang of it, you can move at a faster pace. I was lucky enough to have my son, Matthew, help me and we moved right along. I mudded the periphery and he rolled the mud onto the main body of the ceiling. This is the same procedure I’ve used on countless jobs.

Once you develop a skill for applying mud to the ceiling there’s no reason you shouldn’t step up your game by using a larger skim­ming knife. My knife collection is numerous and one of my favorite knives is a 24″ skimming knife that makes short work of ceilings like this, but for this project, I decided to go old school and skim the entire ceiling with a 12″ drywall taping knife.

The following day the mud was dry so I sanded the ceiling with 120 grit paper to knock down any high spots, ridges or bumps that occurred during the mudding process. As careful as I was during the first coat, there’s always something that needs a little sanding, and using a sander with efficient dust collection, dare I say, makes this task pleasurable.

Applying the second coat of mud is the exact same procedure as applying the first coat, with one exception. I’ve now mixed up a batch of all-purpose light instead of the all-purpose mud I used for the first coat. The reason is all-purpose light sands a lot easier than all-purpose mud while still having good adhesion properties. I’ll be sanding this coat with a much finer grit paper, so an easier-to-sand mud works best.

I take my time applying the second coat, making sure I’m not leaving any ridges or voids. If I’m careful and methodical with my knife work here, sanding this coat will be easy.

After the second coat dries, I sand the entire ceiling with 220 grit paper. Sanding with a coarser grit paper leaves nasty sanding scratches that can be seen after painting. Once the ceiling is sanded, I give it a thorough vacuuming to remove any dust.

Ceiling inspection

Inspecting the ceiling before priming is critical. If I’ve made any mistakes, like leaving a void, bump or and pinholes, they need to be addressed before priming. One of the easiest ways to identify mistakes in the ceiling is by using a strong, raking light source. Holding the light close to the ceil­ing so it rakes across the ceiling’s surface, use a soft pencil to lightly mark the offend­ing mistakes.

With the mistakes identified, I’m ready to fill the voids and pinholes with all-purpose light mud. No need to thin down the mud this time; I just give it a good mix with my mixing paddle. There is, however, one little problem. Patching my mistakes with white drywall compound onto a pure white ceil­ing will make identifying the patches almost impossible to see when the compound is dry and it’s time to sand them. The solu­tion is to colour the drywall compound so when the compound is dry I can see where the patches are that I need to sand. I use blue chalk line powder to colour the compound to make these patches easier to see. Simply mix a small amount of chalk line powder into the mud and patch the voids and pinholes. When the mud dries, I know exactly where to sand and a good drywall primer easily cov­ers the remaining blue tint.

The second method: no spray, no scrape

There is another method of replacing a popcorn ceiling with a flat ceiling, and a small hallway off from our main hallway is a per­fect place to demonstrate it. Although this method is commonly used on fine-grain popcorn ceilings, it’s not impossible to use this method to flatten a coarse-grain popcorn ceiling, it just takes a little more work and more mud.

This second method doesn’t require the use of a power drywall sander or a HEPA vacuum to collect dust generated by a sander. It may require adding additional drywall screws to secure the ceil­ing, especially when covering a coarse stucco ceiling, but this is a user-friendly method to achieve a flat, smooth ceiling and it’s the method I prefer when covering a fine stucco ceiling or a small coarse stucco ceiling. It takes more time and more mud but the results are the same as Method 1.

I add a little bit of water to a batch of all-purpose mud and mix it well. This isn’t to thin the mud per se, I just want a well-mixed mud that applies smoothly with a 12″ drywall knife. A thicker mud – not yogurt consistency – is what I want to apply. The less water in this coat of mud the better because this mud has a tendency to shrink when it dries, and the more it shrinks the more coats of mud it’ll take to cover this coarse popcorn.

After the first coat of mud is dry, I apply the second coat of all-purpose mud without sanding between coats. When the second coat is dry, I’ll lightly sand with 120 grit paper, vacuum the ceiling and apply the next coat, in this case all-purpose lightweight mud. When that coat dries, I’ll sand with 220 grit paper and inspect for any voids or pinholes and proceed by filling any irregularities with blue mud. A final sanding of my repairs and it’s time to prime and paint.

The finished ceilings

With the ceilings, walls and trim painted, and the pictures and mirrors back on the walls, this project is now complete. The thought of the work involved and any inconvenience this project may have caused soon vanish when you gaze upon a new, smooth, flat ceiling.

I hope this project has inspired you to update your popcorn ceil­ings. Perhaps a good place to start is the bedroom closet. It’s small, manageable and out of the way. Before you know it, the living room, family room and hallways in your home may be getting a ceil­ing update.

Sanding Options

There are several ways to sand drywall. Some can be difficult and dusty while others are clean and almost dust-free. The drywall sander in the left of the photo is the one I started out with years ago but the sanding head has a nasty habit of flipping over against the wall leaving an ugly scar that usually needs to be repaired. Known as the Radius 360, the sander in the middle uses a round, foam-backed pad with a 9″ hook-and-loop paper, has a swivel head and doesn’t flip. I’ve used it for years. But the ultimate hand sander is the one on the right, the Radius 360 Air that comes with the rect­angular Flex Air corner and detail sander. With all the same great features as the Radius 360, the lightweight Radius 360 Air adds efficient dust col­lection to an already proven terrific sander. Coupled with the rectangular Flex Air detail sander, sanding this ceiling was easy and virtually dust-free. (fullcircleinternational.com)

Another sanding option is the King Canada dry­wall sander. I’ve used it and it makes quick work of knocking down this coarse stucco to achieve a relatively flat surface as described in Method 1, above. If your arms and shoulders are up to the task, this is an ideal method for dealing with a coarse stucco ceiling.

sanding options
Some Sanding Options – Graff has used many sanding options over the years but prefers to stay away from the option on the left, as the sanding head sometimes flips over during use and causes damage to the surface.
King Drywall Sander
King Drywall Sander – Graff recently tested out the King drywall sander, which he found worked well. With suction, a light and variable speed, the sander can make easy work of a challenging job.


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