Peeling Popcorn Ceiling > Handyman Club of America

Peeling Popcorn Ceiling

By: HANDY Staff

HANDY Staff 16 comments Expert Answers

Jun 07

Q: I started painting the textured ceiling in my living room, and as soon as
I made the first roller pass, the texture began peeling off. What’s going on, and
how do I fix the damage? Can I even finish my paint job?
Todd Riball, Victoria, Minnesota

A: Ceiling texture — commonly known as “popcorn” —is notorious for peeling off during painting projects. Reasons range from improper application or cold temperatures during the original drying process to simple aging of the texture itself. During painting, the suction created when the wet roller moves across the ceiling can pull the popcorn off ofthe drywall. If this happens, stop painting immediately. Although it is possible to make a small spot repair using one of the textured ceiling patch products available at hardware stores or home centers, large peeling areas will require more drastic measures.

If the texture has come off in a large sheet, you will have to scrape the entire ceiling for a fresh start. Because in the past some popcorn texture mixtures contained asbestos(even those applied as late as themid-1980s), removal is a job best left to professionals. The old ceiling texture will need to be tested for the presence of asbestos and, if it tests positive, abated and disposed of in an environmentally safe manner.

Once the old texture has been removed, you can choose whether to spray new popcorn texture, create a knock-down texture or skim-coat the ceiling for a clean, smooth surface. Prices vary greatly for this type of repair; new popcorn is the least expensive option. Provided it’s applied correctly, new popcorn texture will last for many years to come.

16 comments

# Jimmie W

Thursday, June 07, 2012 1:01 PM

So what is the best method for removing a popcorn ceiling?

# Jim

Thursday, June 07, 2012 3:01 PM

http://www.ronhazelton.com/projects/how_to_remove_an_popcorn_textured_or_acoustic_celiling

They show how it's done at that website

# Chris P

Thursday, June 07, 2012 3:17 PM

Popcorn is really easy to take off especially in the condition you describe. 1.) You will want to mask off the walls and use two layers of plastic on the floors. 2.) using a regular roller cover and water or a garden sprayer wet the whole area to be removed. This will do two things. It will loosen the texture and help keep the dust level to a minimum. 3.) Use a brad knife to scrape the ceiling. The texture will come down in sheets. If you come across an area that is resistant to scraping, wet it again. * This will not work if the popcorn texture has been primed or painted * 4.) Roll up the downed texture in the top layer of plastic and dispose of properly. Now you have the walls still masked off and the floor masked ready for re-texture and paint. Good Luck

# raydawg012177

Thursday, June 07, 2012 3:55 PM

I did it once and I used a wallpaper steamer and that seemed to work prety good.

# George Reindl

Thursday, June 07, 2012 9:07 PM

I used a 11/2 inch roller and made the paint a little thinner and made only strokes about 3 feet long and went around the outside in the time i made it to the spot where i started the paint was already dry and i made the next stroke to the top and did not had problems with popcorn to come down. I painted a 2 bedroom,kitchen and bathrooms

# Poppyo

Sunday, June 10, 2012 12:16 AM

It's not always "really easy", Chris. My son-in-law & I thot we could easily wet & scrape off 30-year-old textured ceiling. He'd done many before he said. We stopped shortly, went & bought a special scraper with a hose that went to a 5 gal. bucket with water that then went to one's wet vac for suction. really kept down the dust. It still stuck where the drywall panels had been mudded at the seams. We intended & did put up "knockdown". Now I've used that 4" x 6" or so rasp thing and dust catcher on stucco, plaster walls, etc. so it was a good investment.

# rsmith jr

Monday, June 11, 2012 1:03 PM

tried painting it once forget that collects every bits of dust blonw out by my A?C unit and ceiling fans have really nice rings around , ssso i bought the smallest nap roller i could find and after covering everything in the room including myself went to painting smashed the popcorn texture down as hard as i could had to clean the roller once a while but when I was down you could hardly tell it had ever been popcorned to begin with so if you can't take tihe time to remove it or can not afford to pay someone else to do it as it is not that cheap a deal escpecialy if you have to worry about asbestosput three coats of a good heavy laytex over and problem solved. And after thirty plus years in commercial construction the only thing you have to fear from asbestos is making dust from what ever contains it they used it in the mastic that held down VCT floor tiles in public schools and said it was a health issue the only way it was a health issue was if the tile was removed but alot of companies got rich over the scare, now i do not condone removing it yourself without proper measures but fiberglass insulted a/c ductwork is more dangerous right now

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# mmrfixit

Saturday, September 01, 2012 9:02 PM

You have to be real careful. If the ceining has asbestos co tent, you CANNOT just take out asbestos!!! You can be fined big time by the EPA!!
Find a class you can take. You will be shocked at the fines that can be levied if you do not dispose of asbestos correctly!!! Plus, you have to keep a log and that is where the EPA gets you if you do not have the log!!!

# egangl

Monday, September 03, 2012 9:47 AM

I am amazed that no one else posted this: The texture spray is a water based product. When you try to paint it with latex paint (a water based product) the paint soaks into the spray and softens it up. That is why it peels or falls off when the roller hits it.
A professional painter friend of mine told me to use oil base paint the first time I re-paint the ceiling texture. From then on it is sealed from the oil base paint and you can use latex.
It worked like a charm although the oil base paint is a bit stinky until it dries!

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# mgray13

Friday, September 14, 2012 8:55 PM

When ever I spray texture my ceilings, the first thing I do is prime the ceiling with a quality primer Why? because the primer attaches to the drywall then when I spray texture the ceiling, the texture grabs on to the primer, results! is a long lasting and beautiful ceiling, Now when it comes to painting your ceiling forget the rollers, it is best to spray paint your textured ceiling, use a good quality paint sprayer it will give you a new ceiling look, just don't forget to protect your walls unless you are painting your walls the same color as your ceiling, the only down side with this method is if you want to return to a smooth ceiling again, you may have to recoat with a plaster like product or apply new dry wall over your old ceiling, which may be best left to the pro's.

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