Previous owner painted over popcorn ceiling! How to remove???

Question

I live in a 1928 bungalow in a historic district. Some dumba** owner before us pop-corned the entire ceiling and painted it with a semi-gloss latex paint - ugh! As far as removing it I do know the first thing is to have a sample tested for asbestos. If there isn't any I still think the best option would be to install ceiling panels or planks over it. Because it's painted over it would make wetting it for removal almost impossible as the paint would prevent the water from penetrating the popcorn. My husband however, thinks it will be easier to remove because the paint will let it come off in sheets. I think he's wrong and it will be much less time consuming (or cheaper if we hire it out) to install panels over it than to remove the popcorn. I'm very handy and can install panels myself, however, I don't know how to find the joists over the ceiling in order to attach the panels. A stud finding probably won't work because of the popcorn texture. Any suggestions????

Answer 1

Get a 6'' drywall taping knife. Work it under an edge up to the ceiling and scrape away Good luck

Answer 2

If a good quality paint was used by the previous owner... leave it.  You don't have to remove asbestos just because it is there.  Studies have shown that asbestos products that are well sealed and left intact pose little if any health risk.

However, if you start removing it your disturb the material... there will be dust... and this will definitely create an asbestos disease risk.

If you are in 2 minds... rather buy a good quality paint and seal the whole ceiling well.

Statistically, workers in home renovating have a very high mesothelioma lung cancer risk.

Answer 3

Typically, you would simply scrape the ceiling to remove the popcorn texture. Then you can prep it for what ever type of texture you want to use.