Are bubble ceilings in now? I want to change my bedroom ceilings. Suggestions
by
Elizabeth W
+15
One bedroom is somewhat large (don't know the size) house built in '79. The other bedroom is sizable with 2 dormer windows in the front of the room and a large window on the side. Both rooms are upstairs.
18 answers
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Elizabeth, describe the "bubble" ceiling please. Do you mean popcorn?
Culpepper Carpets and Interiors, Inc.
on Jun 18, 2012
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Also, are you trying to create a "bubble" ceiling or replace a bubble ceiling?
3po3
on Jun 18, 2012
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Your speaking of popcorn ceilings like Lee Anne Said. No popcorn went away with the drive in movies. Depending upon how old it is and how it was applied you need to be aware of a few things. one it can be quite a challenge if it was painted over. Scraping can be quite difficult to do, not to mention dirty. They make all sorts of sanding tools, scrapers and gadgets to do this work. And being over your head it can become quite tiring to hold heavy tools up for the several hours its going to take to remove the stuff. However there is one more thing that is very important to understand. Many years ago popcorn ceilings were done with asbestos. Making this already difficult task even more daunting. The very first thing you need to do is to take a small scraping of this material and place in in a bag to have it checked by a lab. Check your yellow pages for local labs in your area. The cost of the lab test for a single sample will run you around $35. You need to do this before you even think of removing this stuff. Its funny I am in the very process of removing all my popcorn ceilings in my house. I put this stuff up over 28 years ago. When I was still learning all the fancy tricks on how to spackle. I used it to hide all sorts of defects, like holes where my dog fell through the attic, don't ask. Dog was fine, ended up in laundry basket on first floor. But my patching was not so good. It was then I discovered the popcorn sprayer. It was so much fun to use, my whole neighborhood started using it. Most moved away but I keep hearing every now and then the new neighbors cussing while taking the stuff off of their ceilings wondering what were these people thinking.
Woodbridge Environmental Tiptophouse.com
on Jun 18, 2012
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I agree with Woodbridge...taking down popcorn ceilings can sometimes be a snap and then again it can become your worse nightmare! You could wind up with an environmental situation that could lead to all of you having to move out of the house until it is considered safe. Know what you are doing before you start. Unless you are prepared financially for a possible big problem, just leave it up! This just goes to prove you do not always get what you want...and to be careful what you ask for!
Jeanette S
on Jun 19, 2012
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Thank you ver, very much. Super good information.
Elizabeth W
on Jun 19, 2012
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I meant popcorn ceiling.
Elizabeth W
on Jun 19, 2012
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I am trying to replace two "popcorn" ceilings. I understand that that might be a difficult task.
Elizabeth W
on Jun 19, 2012
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It can be done, but I agree with Woodbridge, safety first. as popcorn asbestos was used through the mid 80's. The other thing is that you don't know what the condition of the ceiling is under the popcorn. You may expose a horrible drywall job and open a whole other can of worms.
Leslie D
on Jun 19, 2012
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Thank all of you. I guess I will have to replace the popcorn ceiling with another popcorn ceiling. Can't afford any surprises. Are there other possibilities?
Elizabeth W
on Jun 19, 2012
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I am tearing out my ceilings to do mine. You can put fir strips over the ceiling and new light weight wall board up. To me that is faster in some cases. But simply try to remove what you have. Once you check to see that its not asbestos. You need lots of drop cloths put down, a spray bottle or better yet a garden sprayer to wet the ceiling, much like you were doing wall paper removal, and a good scraper on a long pole.
Woodbridge Environmental Tiptophouse.com
on Jun 19, 2012
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Thanks for the info. I do not think I could undertake such a job on my own. My insurance company is covering removal of acoustic (popcorn texture), seal/prime acoustic (popcorn) texture, mask wall-plastic, paper, tape (per LF) since some parts of my ceilings were water stained from the leakage (rain and high winds). I thought that I would not have the popcorn texture replaced in the two rooms affected by the stains since removal of the popcorn ceiling was in the work detail. Instead I thought I would just have a smooth ceiling. I actually had thought about a design of some kind on the ceiling. But I now understand it will not be that simple or will it?
Elizabeth W
on Jun 19, 2012
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You could spray texture on the ceiling (either rent a machine and do it yourself or hire someone). That way, your mudding work doesn't have to be absolutely perfect. Textured ceilings don't have to look like popcorn, and they are pretty typical these days. Hope that makes sense.
3po3
on Jun 19, 2012
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Sure does, and a good idea.
Elizabeth W
on Jun 20, 2012
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Thanks again for all the good info. I sincerely appreciate you alerting me about the possibility of popcorn asbestos. Problem resolved.
Elizabeth W
on Jun 26, 2012
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What did you end up doing?
3po3
on Jun 26, 2012
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I will remove the popcorn texture.
Elizabeth W
on Jun 27, 2012
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Be sure to post pictures. I'm curious how this progresses and what you end up doing.
3po3
on Jun 27, 2012
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I sure will.
Elizabeth W
on Jun 28, 2012
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