Replies

1. 
   DougU | Mar 27, 2008 02:07pm | #1

   You can sheet rock over your old ceilings but if my ceilings were only 8' I don't think I'd cover them, I'd take the popcorn off.

   If you have asbestos in the ceiling take precautions to prevent inhaling the stuff. To take popcorn off, provided it hasn't been painted, you can soak the popcorn with a simple garden sprayer(you can buy these for under $20 at the big box store) and scrape the ceiling with a taping knife. If you have the popcorn wet you wont be creating to much dust  but you should still wear some sort of respirator, not one of those cheesy dust masks either.

   I'm sure there are ways to get the stuff off if its been painted - like one of those porta-cable sanders, I have no experience with one but I wouldn't be afraid to use it if that was my only alternative.

   Doug

1. 
   Jim_Allen | Mar 29, 2008 05:48am | #16

   Maybe a little D Mix? Bob's next test date: 12/10/07

1. 
   DougU | Mar 29, 2008 04:47pm | #17

   I didn't want to go there! But it seams like the appropriate place for it.

   Doug

1. 
   Mooney | Mar 29, 2008 05:44pm | #18

   Im actually the resident pro in this subject . It also shows how old I am. A lost trade. I wrote about repairing it several times here in the past , lol. I still learn when I read threads about it . I didnt know there were companies springing up removing it. Im gonna ramble ;

   I sprayed it for 35 years . Ya reckon thats whats wrong with me ? <G>

   The stuff falls out like hair on peoples head a little at a time so most of you have been living under it at some time or another . Unless its been painted.

   The water trick works if its either never been painted or has been painted with latex flat paint. Latex enamel is a b^tch but possible . Oil paint , fergit about it . Its glued and youre screwed.

   The real expense to taking it off is in a fully furnished home . Nobody mentioned that one . In those you gotta leave it like you found it . Thats expensive . Working around a family living there ,[include pets with the kids tracking] .

   Strapping with 1x4s is necesary and actually easiar if thats done . Last resort. Hanging and finishing is worse .

   Scraping dry evenly is an option if its splattered afterward. The splatter will hide it . I have floated it but its not worth it in most cases unless it was removed wet. I often refinish after removing it wet because of several different reasons . It was common practice to not finish up to a level 3 finish if we were spaying texture . Lost application as the texture was fine over a level 2. So the reality is , its not ready for a smooth finish. There will be some jabs and nails showing if not a lot . The top angle wasnt necesarily finished either if it was wet glazed taping it . Thats means it has a wet coat over the tape after it was wiped down at the same time to smooth any edges. The gap will always be on the wall since the ceiling went up first . So the wall part of the top angle can be ran alone . Some guys did nothing to the top half and you will see raw tape there when its stripped. The heavy textures covered it fine . The fine textures needed some help but some didnt get it . It will need two coats to to fix that .

   Drywall thats been up for 20 years or better was probably nailed and not glued. Loose drywall and popped nails everywhere . Tightening old loose drywall is a pain in the butt . It has to be raised with lifts then screwed off after the drywall is dry again. Otherwise the screws will fall right through the surface feild. If were gonna spend that much time doing this anyway, then its good insurance to just do it .

   To the poster who asked why not remove the whole ceiling ;

   Its all    the dust , dirt, and insulation. If a house was vented there will be lots of fine dust in the attic and add fiberglass which was choice during that time. 6 inch batts at first . Then they found out it wasnt enough and they blew another 6 inch of loose fiber on top. A  mess . A huge mess.

   Tim  

2. 
   BryanSayer | Mar 27, 2008 04:12pm | #2

   If you are going to go to the trouble of hanging drywall on the ceiling, why not pull the old drywall down?

1. 
   geuley | Mar 27, 2008 09:45pm | #6

   Thanks for the response! (One and all!)

   My main concern was avoiding the asbestos contamination.  Our local regulations prohibit placing hazardous waste in regular garbage and the cost to dispose of as hazardous waste is cost prohibitive (for me, anyway!).

   I was thinking that adding a layer of sheetrock would only lose about 5/8"-3/4" of ceiling height and avoid the hazardous disposal issue.  The lost height wouldn't be much more than if I added hardwood flooring.  I was hoping someone had experience using this approach.  I've installed and textured sheetrock ceilings in the past and I think the cost in materials would be roughly $2-sq ft plus my labor compared to $20-sq ft quoted by the contractor at the home and garden show.

   Thanks again,

   Gerry  

1. 
   wallyo | Mar 27, 2008 10:00pm | #7

   Gerry depending on amount of asbestos you may be able to throw it in the trash or bring it to the landfill your self above a certain point it needs to go a hazardous waste disposal site check with your landfill on the level.Wallyo

2. 
   Hiker | Mar 28, 2008 03:53am | #10

   Most asbestos is not managed like "hazardous waste".  More often than not -double bagged and thrown in the same place as your municipal trash. 

   Bruce

3. 
   Ted W. | Mar 28, 2008 04:57am | #12

   Even if you drywall over it, you still have to scrape the bulk of it or you'll end up with popped nails/screws and a wavy ceiling.

   Lay down a plastic drop cloth, get a 3" scraper screwed onto a painters extension pole, the aformentioned garden sprayer, and take down the bulk of the popcorn. Then you can prime it with kilz and skim coat it smooth, or hang and tape 3/8" drywall. --------------------------------------------------------

   Cheap Tools at MyToolbox.netSee some of my work at AWorkOfWood.com

3. 
   joeh | Mar 27, 2008 05:54pm | #3

   Adding to what DougU said, the cheapest garden sprayer and get one of those big black plastic dustpans at HD. About 18" wide.

   Scrape the popcorn with the dustpan in your other hand and you can catch about 99% of it. Keep a trashcan with a liner in it moving with you as you work and you will have almost nothing on the floor.

    Joe H

1. 
   sledgie | Mar 27, 2008 08:01pm | #4

   I drug an 8" taping knife across the popcorn (coming from several different directions to avoid a pattern).  It wasn't too messy, and after painting the ceiling looked like a modern knock down finish.  I tried the PC drywall sander and vac but it was too hard to get a random effect.

2. 
   wallyo | Mar 27, 2008 08:54pm | #5

   Ditto what they said. Bag it in heavy garbage bags if you throw it in a trash can it will dry out and become hazardous.WallyoEdited 3/27/2008 1:55 pm ET by wallyo

   Edited 3/27/2008 2:56 pm ET by wallyo

4. 
   gary329 | Mar 27, 2008 10:12pm | #8

   A small room or a large room broken in to smaller areas really is not that hard.  Keep it wet with a sprayer, srape it on to plastic and roll it up.  Wet popcorn, if not painted,  is just mush, no dust.  A little bedroom is less than 1 hour of scraping plus set up and clean up.

   For re texturing I have good luck with a rolled on paint-joint compound mix (search D-mix), you can put a little color in if prefered.  Hand knife this applied mixture as you go to desired finish ( I call a fairly smooth, but with knife marks look a Venetian Plaster finish). Either leave it or can be painted over.  I can re-texture a little bedroom in 1 hour plus set-up and clean up.

   Hang, tape, texture and paint new drywall takes 5x as long...

   Gary

5. 
   ruffmike | Mar 27, 2008 10:15pm | #9

   Lots of guys specializing in removing and repairing these ceilings lately, and advertising for it. Pacific Drywall?

   I have never seen one hung over, I would think you would end up with a pretty wavey ceiling.

    Like others said, if it has not been painted it coes off easy and the board underneath is usually in decent shape.

                               Mike

       Trust in God, but row away from the rocks.

6. 
   Dave45 | Mar 28, 2008 04:50am | #11

   Were those "trace amounts of asbestos" high enough to even qualify a hazardous waste?  Older popcorn texture did contain asbestos, but most ceilings probably were sprayed after asbestos was made illegal - in the late 70's IIRC.

   Removing popcorn has become a real cottage industry around here and some removal outfits are pretty good at escalating a relatively inexpensive job into a really scary (and seriously expensive) decontamination operation.  I saw one job where the control point procedures rivaled the process I lived with in my nuclear engineering days - lol.

   Popcorn should definitely be tested, but trace amounts probably aren't cause for much concern.  Asbestos is a lot like Radon - it's pretty much everywhere.  Most places have a minimum level before it's classified as hazardous waste.

   A couple of other things to keep in mind about removing popcorn are:

   • It's actually pretty good at sound deadening.  Scraping it off will give you slightly more echo in a room - particularly if you have hardwood floors.
   • When the house was built, the drywall tapers knew that the ceilings would be sprayed with popcorn, so the didn't do a world class taping job.  Most ceilings will need to be skimmed off (or re-textured) before they're painted.
   • Scraping popcorn is an incredibly messy job.  When I've done it, I lay plastic sheeting over the entire floor, then gather the sheeting and popcorn up, tape or tie it off, and haul the whole mess away.  Trying to vacuum popcorn out of a carpet is NOT a fun thing. - lol
1. 
   geuley | Mar 28, 2008 08:31am | #13

   Thanks Dave! (et al)

   I just pulled the lab report for asbestos I had done a few years back and I believe it shows more than a trace. It shows 3% Chrysotile. My house was built in the mid-70's and probably a transitional period where inventory was still in the pipeline. Looks like I'll have to check with the local disposal site to see what the requirements are.  It looks like scraping it off is the best approach!

   Thanks again,

   Gerry

7. 
   Biff_Loman | Mar 29, 2008 04:20am | #14

   I saw a substantial ceiling like that skim-coated. Don't do that. ;-)

   I'd be torn between strapping the ceiling and losing 1.25" or dealing with the mess of scraping it. I drywalled right over one, and I guess it was OK, but why I didn't it strap it is beyond me.

   Next time, scrape, I think.

8. 
   Hackinatit | Mar 29, 2008 04:38am | #15

   scrape it.

   be prepared for some repair to the original, crappy tape job.

    

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