Walls and Ceilings - Popcorn into flat ceilings for bathroom (long one)

Howdy-

I have taken the time to read some of the popcorn/ceiling refinishing threads but surprise I always seem to have a slightly dfferent scenario or one that I haven't read about yet.

I've been told that smooth ceilings are a preferred look to popcorn. My 5" * 5" shower room and adjoining 5" * 5" toilet/sink room ceilings in my 1978 house have been re-sprayed in small spots with popcorn several times and I'd like to remove it all during my remodel. My first thought was, if it came off easily, to just scrape, prime and paint. Then it would be smooth and modernized.

1) For the shower room, how does a flat ceiling deal with condensation from showering? I will be installing a fan/light combo in place of the light, but it still seems inevitable that the water vapor will find favorite spots to linger and will draw mildew. Thoughts? (I'm not concerned about this in the toilet room.)

2) What's this about having to skim coat the ceiling after the popcorn is removed? If the popcorn comes off easily in sheets with a little warm water, the surface 'should' be good to go, right? I've skimmed *walls* before when wallpaper removal went bad but boy I hated the mess that came with sanding it.

3) If I'm worried about asbestos (1978 - should I bet?) and just put up new ceiling drywall to isolate the popcorn (instead of remove popcorn) then I might run the risk of creating a slot for shower-room moisture to run down the walls. Is this a legit concern?

4) Related to Skim-coating: I skimmed my kitchen walls and then primed/painted with a brush because the areas were too awkward for a roller (the wall was almost 50% done after cutting in so I just kept on brushing). The brush left a texture in the walls - thank goodness I painted attention to my brushstrokes. I actually like it as a subtle faux effect; it reminds me of denim. BUT - it's not what I intended and not what I would ideally want on a ceiling if I had to skim my ceiling. Anyone have this issue before? Hints/tips? DAP joint compound was the product I used previously.

5) Another bathroom will definitely need all-new ceilings; it's a downstairs bathroom that dealt with a leak from above and the people did a horrible repair of half of the ceiling (complete with sags and mismatched textures). Would the new 'ceiling drywall' will be 'between' the tops of the 'wall drywall' or will the ceiling be resting on the tops of the 'wall drywall'?

Fun fun fun.

-Chris

1. You will have to do a very good paint job with good moisture resistant paint.
2. When spraying texture you don't have to finish the joints as well as with slick finish. So after you take the texture down you will have to finish any joints, spot screws and repair any loose tape.
3. I'm not sure I understand. If you hang new drywall you will tape all the corners.
4.best way is use a 3/4" nap roller.
5. get it as tight as you can. Usually can't slide it ontop of walls.

Thanks for the info. That helps a lot!

For #3, I typed 'slot' but I meant to type 'slope'. If you reread and insert that correct word then hopefully it will make sense.

A well painted slick ceiling is more moisture resitant than any painted popcorn ceiling. Unpainted popcorn where moisture is present [showers, open windows] always fails sooner or later. Even painted it is still apt to fail in baths/shower. Asbestos was being phased out in the late 70's so there is a chance it may be in your texture. The dust is what is harmful so if kept wet it should pose no problem [use a repirator or dust mask] but you can have it tested for a small fee.

I'm not sure what you mean by slope. It's a flat ceiling right? Either way I wouldn't worry about it. The paint job is the main thing.

My wife and I just bought a house, built 2001, and it has popcorn on *every* ceiling. We hate it, and want to change it. It is falling off the ceiling in the bathroom (after only 4 years!), so that room is a priority.

Could you guys give me the best technique for getting rid of this crap? It'll have to be done room-by-room, as it'd take a long time to do the house all at once.

Thanks!

Get the popcorn damp and scrape. It usually turns loose fairly well when wet [why it failed in bath] You will then need to skim coat the ceiling to prepare it for paint.

1) For the shower room, how does a flat ceiling deal with condensation from showering? I will be installing a fan/light combo in place of the light, but it still seems inevitable that the water vapor will find favorite spots to linger and will draw mildew. Thoughts? (I'm not concerned about this in the toilet room.)
check out Zinsser Perma-White - it's designed for damp areas.

2) What's this about having to skim coat the ceiling after the popcorn is removed? If the popcorn comes off easily in sheets with a little warm water, the surface 'should' be good to go, right? I've skimmed *walls* before when wallpaper removal went bad but boy I hated the mess that came with sanding it.
depends. If it's like mine they will have done a "quick and dirty" mud job - just enough to seal the seams before spraying on the popcorn. You will have a lot of work if you want a quality surface for a smooth finish. Or you could get lucky and find that the texture was an afterthough on perfectly good ceilings. Good luck!

Lucky me (not being sarcastic).

I just learned that popcorn comes down easily even if it has been painted over. In fact, the layer of semi-gloss helped it come down in sheets rather than the gooky glop that normally comes with wetting bare popcorn. AND - thanks to a handy drywall sponge I procuired from home depot, it was easy to remove what didn't come down in sheets. One side of the sponge has some foamy abrasiveness to it, which compliments the smooth 'normal' sponge surface on the other side.

As a side note, I'm gonna give a big middle finger to the skim-coat spirits b/c my careful scrape job has allowed me to only have to patch a few select spots rather than skim the entire ceiling.

I wish I had actually started scraping first instead of obsessing about it like I did a month ago.

-Chris

The worst part of most jobs is 'dreading getting started' :)

The worst part of most jobs is 'dreading getting started' :)
AMEN! :wall:

glad to here the task is actually LESS work than anticipated. Assuming you are going to paint the ceiling at some point, I'd suggest using a stain-kill primer to avoid potential bleed-thru from residual glues or water stains. I used Kilz Premium (water-based) and have seen no problems after 2 years. :coffee:

Well one thing to remember! When it comes to a good paint job anywhere you have got to do what it takes to prepare the surface or the paint will not look good. Repairing any holes and uneven surfaces is the moxt time consuming part the painting is easy!! :)