The Weekend Warrior’s Guide to Popcorn Removal

As a follower of New Ceilings, we understand that you’re a weekend warrior. You like to keep your house in top shape, making wall art, crafting new furniture out of recycled materials, and getting your hands a little dirty in the process. Your get-it-done attitude leaves you with a house that’s the envy of all your friends and neighbors, and allows you to be proud of all you’ve accomplished in the meantime.

For those experienced DIY-ers among you, an Orlando popcorn removal project may not be that big of a deal. However, there are a few things you need to keep in mind before you have a team of professionals come in and apply a brand new texture to your drywall. Here are the top three items we want our weekend warriors to know about popcorn removal:

1. Popcorn can be tricky to remove completely. On the surface, it may seem like all the popcorn is gone once you’ve collected all those loose bits as they fall from the ceiling; however, the popcorn texture often leaves behind a thin film of dust. How can we tell? This dust prevents texture mud from properly adhering to drywall, causing it to glop off and fall to the floor and leaving us–and you–with a mess to clean up. Make sure you thoroughly scrape off your ceiling and wipe down that pesky dust film before you give us a call.
2. Don’t forget to mind your edges! Those edges and creases where the ceiling connects to the wall are often the most difficult areas from which to remove popcorn, even with the proper scrapers and brushes. One thing we often see after a botched DIY job is that the homeowner has damaged the seam tape connecting the joint, meaning that they’ll need some drywall repair work done before we can even proceed. If you’re unsure about your seam tape, just let us handle it for you.
3. A little dent can cause a big problem. Once you’re done scraping off the popcorn texture, you may be left with a few dents and dings in your drywall, especially if you were a bit too heavy handed. However, the texturing mud won’t just cover it up; it will make those imperfections even more pronounced. In fact, that was one of the reasons why popcorn became so popular in the first place–it easily hid imperfections! Be sure to mud over any dents and scratches you find once you’re done, or at least mark them so we know what to repair before we start the texturing process.

Of course, as we’ve mentioned in previous blogs, it’s crucial that you have your ceilings tested for asbestos before you get started on any such project. Neglecting to do so can put you and your family’s health at serious risk. Otherwise, if you’re confident with a scraper, DIY to your heart’s content, and let New Ceilings’ Orlando popcorn removal pros leave you with the texture of your dreams! For your free estimate, give us a call at (407) 378-6040 today.