Have a popcorn ceiling that’s next on the list to get updated (it’s like a snow storm went through the house when it gets humid, the cats love it though), gonna take it down and put up some paint or make a random texture pattern with mud. Ceiling is flat and 8′ tall, fyi.
Who’s got the slickest technique, tool or home made gizmo?
All I can come up with is a shopvac with a wide scraper attached to the end of the hose.
Replies
A spray bottle of plain water in one hand and a drywall knife in the other. Squirt, squirt, keeping just ahead of the knife. Sweep up the mess, then vacuum. Or, plastic on the floor. Roll it up and throw it out when you are done.
Oh, yeah. Something to stand on.
One minute of practice and my wife was an expert.<G>
I agree with Ralph. I just spritzed a section, let sit for a few min then scraped. Tiresome, boring, but effective.1 - measure the board twice, 2 - cut it once, 3 - measure the space where it is supposed to go 4 - get a new board and go back to step 1
Echo Ralph's technique- the most important part being getting your wife to do it. Mine did our whole house- about 2500 s.f. of ceiling. She now gazes skyward all the time.
Doug
Thanks for all the responses, never thought of the spray bottle....makes great sense.
DW.......32 weeks pregnant.........gonna be scraping solo.
Im thinking about staying off the ladder and a great way to spend some quality time with the wife.
1) get a 2 gallon garden sprayer.. fill it up with warm water
2) get a wide blade scraper on a long handle.
You can spray the area from standing on the floor while the wife works the scraper, from the floor.
Dont forget the plastic
Even better. I'd drag in the garden hose, put that scraper on a broom handle, throw on some rain gear and do it from a lawn chair.View Image
hey.. its about the right tools for the job. I forgot the lawn chair was un officially a tool that we should have have in the trailer.
ps. thanks for the advice on the shower back aways
I gave you advice on a shower? And you're thanking me for it? Hmmm, musta guessed right for once. :)View Image
iy MIL was complaining about a smell.. convinced the grout failed and she had more mold growing than blue cheese... or whatever.
I was going to bust the walls out.. gut that shower and re do it. Heck thats what the MIL told me she wanted me to do.
You said... whooo dont just do something, stand there. tape the shower up with plastice and eleminate the drain first.
Well it was just the drain.
Yeah. you got something right. I think I read that you quit drinking, so I wont send you a 6 pack of Hamms .
Oh yeah.... glad I could help.
Yeah.... hang onto that six pack of Hamms unless you really want to hear some bad advice!View Image
what's the rush akb25,
those ceilings will still be there AFTER the baby is born !
the exercise will help her get her girlish figure back---and make a nice change of pace from diaper duty etc.
these young women today can all multi task---don't sell her short---- I am confident she can do it !
LOL,
Stephen
Dont forget to have it tested for asbestos before you do any scraping.
Bing
Damping the popcorn works well if it wasn't painted over. In that case your in trouble because it won't scrape.
I've found that the only salution is to overlay the ceiling with new drywall. You may have to use longer screws in the lite fictures.
When the ceiling is painted...
That's the reason to teach the wife how to spray and scrape. When they see you do it so easily on the unpainted ceiling in the other room there is NO WAY they are going to be outdone and give up.
I had expected a little patching here and there and was not expecting to have to skim coat the whole ceiling when she was finally done.<G>
I (We) scraped our dining room and living room ceilings last year after they had been spray painted a couple of times. The popcorn came off just fine if I sprayed it and waited a minute or so before scraping.
File the sharp corners off of your drywall knife before you start scraping - sharp corners will gouge the drywall if you aren't careful.
Thank you all for the great responses, never fails asking you guys for advice. Thanks again.
Aaron
Removing a popcorn texture is easy, but extremely messy. One thing no one has mentioned ... you're gonna be walking on the dropped texture, and it will stick to your shoes in clumps, so have a plan on how to get outside without walking across the new carpet.
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
Easy,
Cover the floor with visqueen. Get a garden sprayer, fill with water and spray the lid- you want it to get pretty soft- then get a big drywall knife and it slides right off. Wear a mask. Some of the popcorn had asbestos - I don't know how common - and out here in CA it is a legal issue.
Rich
BTW, From what little I have read, the danger of wet asbestos is very low.
If you are not going to test it for asbestos, at least get an asbestos grade breathing mask with the correct filter media. North makes a great one with a fully enclosed and sealed face shield - perfect for using when you are looking up and scraping the ceiling. Saves your eyes and lungs. It's so comfortable I reach for it rather than the paper nose masks when sanding.
Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CA
Also a CRX fanatic!
How do you test for asbestos, I'm in CT.
Do I contact a private company or is that a service offered by the health department?