Can You Knock Down Existing Popcorn Texture?

Asbestos Warning

• Popcorn textured ceilings from the mid-1980s and earlier may contain asbestos. For your safety and the safety of others in the house, it's crucial that you get it tested before scraping off your popcorn texture. The Washington Department of Ecology suggests finding a testing facility under "Asbestos" using your local phone book. A professional may come out to take a sample back to the lab for testing. Alternately, the lab may have you scrape a small piece off into a bag or other container before sending it in for testing. If the popcorn texture tests positive for asbestos, you cannot take the popcorn texture down yourself. In this case, you hire certified asbestos abatement professionals for removal.

Preparing the Room

• Before beginning, turn off electricity to the room with your house's breaker box. Remove all furniture and hanging lights or fans. Lay plastic sheeting on the floor and use painter's tape to hold it down. Cover any electrical sockets with plastic and run your plastic lining about a foot up the wall to prevent any popcorn from getting into the corners and floorboards. Cover all walls in the room with plastic sheeting to keep your walls free of debris. Laying paper out on the floor makes cleanup easier, since you'll just dispose of the plastic and paper when finished.

Protecting Your Face

• Even without asbestos, it remains important to ensure your face is covered when scraping off the popcorn texture, since it knocks up loose dust and particles. Cover your mouth with a dust mask and wear goggles to protect your eyes.

Removing the Popcorn

• Using a pump sprayer, wet the ceiling thoroughly to loosen the popcorn. Do one small portion of the ceiling at a time to ensure you get the whole area. Using a ladder, climb up and begin gently scraping away the popcorn with a joint knife. Rounding off the edges of the joint knife before beginning prevent gouges to the drywall underneath. If you hit any difficult spots, spray down again and start the process over.

Finishing Up

• Tear down the plastic covering your walls and roll it and the floor paper up. Inspect the ceiling for any damage made to the ceiling underneath the popcorn. Look for scratches, scrapes and loose joint tape where your joint knife scraped too deep into the ceiling. Using the joint knife, cover any damage with joint compound and even it out flush with the ceiling, repairing any damaged joint taping by applying another layer of joint tape after applying the joint compound. After the compound dries, use sanding mesh or a really light sand paper to scrape away the excess.