There's two types of popcorn in this house: the kind that comes in a Kernels bag and the kind that is stuck on the ceiling.
That first one is the good kind.
A guy just came to "fix" a small area of our ceiling above the dining table. It got damaged one night when some rainwater leaked through the roof. That was a month ago, and since then the roof vent has been changed and the "damaged" ceiling fixed. Good points back to the builder.
I say "damaged" and "fixed" in quotes because, honestly, it wasn't very necessary. I didn't even notice it myself. Just a slight discoloration where water touched during that one night. No biggie.
As the guy is fixing the ceiling, I figured I would ask him what is the best way to remove that popcorn, the bad kind.
I don't like the popcorn ceiling, but now I understand why builders do it. I'd like to get rid of it, but I'm not sure when we'll have the time, the energy and the money to do it...
Here's how it goes:
- Cover everything. And I mean everything. This is going to be nasty...
- Get some form of spraying gizmo and moisturize the ceiling. Not dripping wet, of course, but definitely moist. The stuff comes off much easier that way, apparently.
- Scrape the popcorn. No trick there, just elbow grease.
- Tape and plaster the joints, everywhere.
- Prime.
- Paint.
Step 4 is the tough one. Builders like the popcorn because it saves them that step: the texture hides all imperfections so well that they don't even bother with the plaster. Saves them a lot of effort and drying time for a good enough look. Problem is that when you want to fix it you'll have to take on that work yourself. No simple task.
So the plans to remove the popcorn have been shelved for a little while...
