How to Properly Deal with a Popcorn Ceiling

Stucco ceiling, more commonly known as “popcorn” ceiling, used to be a popular ceiling surface back in the late 1950s. By now it’s dated and it is notoriously difficult to repair and clean – not to mention it tends to catch dust easily. If your home has a popcorn ceiling, you’ll most likely want to remove it; Handyman Connection of Alpharetta discusses how.

The Scraping Method

There are actually several ways you can get rid of your old stucco ceiling, and one of the simpler methods is to scrape off the abrasive surface. We suggest you use either a drywall knife or a 4-inch utility knife, and simply chip away the texture to create a smoother surface. To smooth out the imperfections, simply sand it or use a thin layer of joint compound to smooth the surface back.

Skimming a New Coating

The scrape method only works for the “newer” stucco coating, as older homes may have harmful lead paint or even asbestos that you may unknowingly scrape along with the stucco. If this is a real risk for your home, we suggest you simply skim coat a new design on the ceiling. This is actually easier to do since you’re simply affixing a new texture on the stucco coating.

Alternatively, you can cover the stucco surface with a drywall. We recommend ceiling-grade gypsum boards since they’re relatively lightweight, and you can simply screw them onto the framing without doing anything to the original ceiling surface.

When to Call a Professional

While you can definitely address your old stucco ceiling on your own, there are times when it’s smarter to simply call a professional to do so. For older homes with a high risk of lead paint and asbestos exposure, we recommend you have our team do the stucco replacement for you. Larger ceiling surfaces are also trickier to address, as there is simply a lot of ceiling to cover. When you work with our team, you can count on us to properly remove your old stucco ceiling making it look new and on trend with today’s standards.

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