The dirty truth of a popcorn ceiling

After living with popcorn/stipple (for all you politically correct people) ceilings for almost four years we have decided to finally remove them. Not that we just made that decision. That decision was made before we even closed escrow but now that we are replacing our flooring, we thought it might be a good time to stop procrastinating and get it done. I watched a bunch of videos and read a bunch of tutorials on the subject. It looked easy enough, just on the messy side. So we gave it a go and started in our hallway. 

As we started, it was apparent that our popcorn had been painted over. That is BAD news in the "removing popcorn world" so I jumped back online to search "remove PAINTED popcorn ceiling" and there was not as much information available. The information I did find was telling me that I should hire a professional but I like a good challenge. So I'm writing a post about my experience, not because I am a pro or anything but the world could use a few more tips, tricks and instructions on this daunting task. 

Before you start you should consider the year your home was built. "If your home was built before 1979, the chances are very good that your popcorn ceiling contains asbestos. In fact, it’s not uncommon to find asbestos in acoustic ceilings installed in the 1980s because existing inventories were exempt from the 1978 ban. You can test for asbestos by submitting samples to a laboratory. The cost is minimal and labs are generally listed in the Yellow Pages under "Asbestos -- Consulting and Testing." 
I found that info in this article. 

Items needed: Respirator, eye protection, metal scrapper, sprayer, plastic sheeting, masking tape and towels for clean up.

1.) Remove everything! This gets messy X1000 of whatever your definition of messy is. It is messier than doing one without paint because you have to use more water. 

2.) Cover your floors in plastic sheeting because you WILL have a small pond (minus the animal life) in your house. Some people recommended covering your walls with plastic as well. When we tried this, some areas came down due to the tape getting wet. We found that wiping the walls down with a towel after each spray was enough. If you have closets I would recommend taping plastic over them. I failed to do this and everything in our linen closet was covered with the waste. Learn from my mistake! 

3.) We purchased a small hand held sprayer from Walmart. This sprayer worked fine but you will have to refill it often and that makes the process even more time consuming. We are going to buy the larger 2 gallon sprayer for the rest of the house. If you are doing more than one room, I recommend buying the larger sprayer. 

4.) Spray generously with warm water. We would spray 2x3 areas at a time and hold the water stream in place for 4-5 seconds. It will be raining in your home! Everyone cautions you on the amount of water you use but with painted popcorn you have to drench it. The paint repels the water (which is why "painted" popcorn is bad in the first place) so it takes twice the amount of water. After you spray, let it sit for 3-5 minutes to soak in. Try to avoid spraying the exposed sheetrock.

5.) It is recommended to use plastic scrapers when your popcorn is not painted to cut down on the damage to the sheetrock. Plastic scrapers did not work with our painted popcorn. We used a 4" & 6" metal scraper/putty knife. The wider the better to cover more area. Most home/hardware stores carry these along with specific stipple scrapers that are even longer than 6". 

6.) You have three scraping options. A.) Buy a scraper with a built in waste containment feature. We found this one for $189.95! (Maybe if we were going to become professional popcorn removers). This one will hold a bag for easier clean up for $21.99. B.) Hold something below the area you are scraping to catch all the waste. We used a metal paint tray for this in the hallway, but it did get heavy. The nice thing about this is you can dump the waste directly into the trash can. C.) Scrape everything onto the floor. It is easier but makes for a bigger mess and more cleanup. This was how we did it in the guest room.

When you start scraping, the stipple will come off in chunk-like sections because the paint is holding it together. Its nothing like the falling unpainted pebble pieces you see in the videos. If it is soaked, it will come off like butter. If your knife/scraper gets stuck, stop and apply more water. It is not ready to be removed and you could cause damage by forcing it. 

You will have to go back over the corners of the walls. It was more difficult to remove in this area. It was hanging on for dear life and wanting to peal my wall paint off with it. I used a razor to cut the paint and then a rag to wipe it away. 

Scrape, scrape and scrape some more. When you are finished you can pull up all the plastic and discard of it. You will still have a mess to clean up, walls to wipe down and flooring to vacuum. Your ceiling will need to be completely dry before you can putty imperfections and start sanding but I will save that for another post. 

It is a TON of work but the ceiling already looks higher and brighter and we haven't even finished it! Two rooms down, only the office, master bedroom, living room and dining room to go.

Stay humble
Amber

Recipe box & thrift store scores

Hi guys! Are you sick of me changing my blog header and background design yet? I'm SICK of it but I cant make up my mind. 

I was able to brave the 500 degree weather and swing by my favorite thrift store yesterday. As organized as I am, I am ashamed to admit that my recipe storage consisted of a wooden box with folded papers crammed inside. No alphabetizing or order to it what-so-ever! Its probably because I don't like to cook, so its not my first priority but the disorder was making the task even more unbearable for me. Then I found this address card box.

I thought it might help me keep my sanity in the kitchen but it was hard on the eyes.

So in flew DUCK Fabric to save the day. This stuff is pretty cool! I picked mine up at Walmart by the decorative duct tape. It was an easy project I could do INSIDE my air conditioned home. If it cant be done inside, its not getting done until summer is over. 

Its easy to use. Peel away the back liner and apply evenly. I used an exacto knife to cut around the label plate. That was more difficult as it doesn't cut clean and leaves strings, but I managed. 

I would like to eventually get everything sorted by lunch, dinner, breakfast, Drinks and written on new recipe cards so the names are easier to see but its a huge improvement.

I found a few other items at the thrift store. Like this copper foil art of a mountain lion. I will probably refinish or paint the wooden background. 

Then there is this milk glass bowel I had to leave with. 

I also dug this painting. I think it will look awesome in a new frame. 

And last, I picked up two new bottles for my bottle collection. I love the yellow leaning one!

That's it for me. Have a wonderful day!!

Amber

Have a seat

Hi guys! Its July 1st and I realized that I haven't posted anything since April. Time flies when you are busy. I was also down and out with a head cold. No fun! But I will tell you what is fun...a bench up-cycle! This guy came home with me after I paid a whopping $5.00 to the thrift store.

Someone had stapled a towel over the seat cushion to cover this rip in the vinyl.

I removed the towel, vinyl and what felt like 10,000 staples. See all the staple holes? (Ignore the white chair cushion below it. That's another chair reupholster project I'm working on)

I recovered the seat cushion with this scallop fabric from Joann's I had laying around. You might recognize it from my logo photo. 

I gave the wood a nice sanding.

After I primed, painted and recovered the seat cushion with my fabric, I had this new addition to my office.

I built a large L shaped desk for my office. (Ill get a post written about that some day) On one side sits our desktop computer, where we use an office chair. The other side of the desk gets used for art/craft/projects. This bench is working out perfect for that spot! Its small enough to tuck under the desk and isn't fighting the chair for floor room. It makes me happy. Who knows, maybe I will become more productive because I will want to sit on it all the time...maybe not. 

Has anyone scored a $5.00 treasure lately? I want to hear about it. Have a wonderful day!

Amber