Removed a popcorn ceiling recently, luckily no asbestos. Once I had the old texture down, I wanted to skim coat the whole ceiling with finishing joint compound and spray on new texture after the mud had a chance to dry. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get the joint compound to stay up on the ceiling. It kept wanting to fall down. The plaster under the popcorn texture seemed to have a lot of sand or something in it, and the mud would stick to it. I’ve not worked with plaster much, so I don’t know if this is normal.
When I tried brushing the sand off the ceiling, there didn’t seem to be an end to the sand. Should I seal it with something, then skim coat, then texture?
I should note, the walls are drywall, but the ceiling is plaster because there used to be ceiling heat in the house.
Thanks for any help you can give.
Replies
Primer may work to hold sand up and allow adhesion, but then again maybe not. If your ceiling heat is defunct and will never be use again you may just want to sheet rock over it and have a clean slate. Sheet rock is cheap and it may even be faster and easier than the skim coat.