Q: We hate our popcorn ceiling. Is this something we can remove ourselves?
A: Some handy homeowners take this on. What you see on most ceilings is simply a popcorn texture product. After clearing the room of furniture and covering everything with plastic, you wet the ceiling with a garden sprayer, wait briefly for things to soften, and start scraping. It’s messy work. A wide blade run along the ceiling will get 90% down. If the ceiling was ever painted, this approach doesn’t work and it’s much tougher work.
The next step is then ‘finishing’ the ceiling. You either need to mud, tape and sand until the ceiling is smooth, and then paint, or apply a different texture. Generally knockdown texture is used here. A texture machine can be rented, or you can hire a pro for this part of the job, having saved money on the prep work.
