How smooth does my ceiling have to be before adding an orange peel finish?

Question

Help! I've decided to scrape the "popcorn" off my family room ceiling and have encountered a potential problem. After removing the popcorn, many areas have rough patches that are difficult to scrape off. I plan on adding an orange peel texture prior to paining. Can I just sand the rough areas down, or do I need to remove everything down to the drywall.

Answer 1

If you want it to look perfect and professional go all the way to the drywall, or sand till its all uniform and smooth. I commend you for you're ambitious task, its a messy one! But smooth or orange-peel ceilings look so much better than popcorn.

Answer 2

The ceiling should be as smooth as possible because  even though a sprayed on texture like orange peel hides most of the imperfections, irregularities can still show through making the final result appear blotchy and shady in appearance. The best way to remove the rough patches on your ceiling is to get them wet. Get a spray bottle filled with water and a mud knife and focus on the problem areas. You can use a sponge mop or a painters roller to get areas wet also. Before you spray the textured compound. Tape off were the ceiling meets the wall and tuck precut plastic sheeting into it so that it hangs down to protect the walls from over-spray.