What is the best way to paint an existing popcorn ceiling? The room is
20x14. I can move everything out and I am 99% sure that it is NOT made
with asbestos.
It is yellowing and crappy looking but I really dont want to remove it.
Im kind of hoping that you guys have some kind of new method for this
nightmare other than priming then rolling. My fingers are crossed!!!
Thank you.

Tony C.

On Sun, 8 Oct 2006 20:30:28 -0400, (Tony Deb) wrote:

What is the best way to paint an existing popcorn ceiling? The room is
20x14. I can move everything out and I am 99% sure that it is NOT made
with asbestos.
It is yellowing and crappy looking but I really dont want to remove it.
Im kind of hoping that you guys have some kind of new method for this
nightmare other than priming then rolling. My fingers are crossed!!!
Thank you.

Tony C.

I've rolled them. Not the most fun thing but not all that bad. I
used a long handled roller so I could stand on the floor. You could
also spray it if you can protect the other stuff from the mist.

On Sun, 8 Oct 2006 20:30:28 -0400, (Tony Deb) wrote:

What is the best way to paint an existing popcorn ceiling? The room is
20x14. I can move everything out and I am 99% sure that it is NOT made
with asbestos.
It is yellowing and crappy looking but I really dont want to remove it.
Im kind of hoping that you guys have some kind of new method for this
nightmare other than priming then rolling. My fingers are crossed!!!
Thank you.

Tony C.

Er...why don't you want to remove it? Yes, it costs, but...

After years of hating mine, I finally got it removed, and gained
several inches of height by doing away with the suspended frame that
had held it. Room must have originally had a "normal" ceiling and
previous owners had the popcorn installed.

Now much more attractive with "Spanish" style plastered ceiling.

Just a thought...

Aspasia

"Tony Deb" wrote in message
...
What is the best way to paint an existing popcorn ceiling?

Butter and a basting brush?

: )

(Tony Deb) wrote in news:26818-45299824-1415@storefull-
3315.bay.webtv.net:

What is the best way to paint an existing popcorn ceiling? The room is
20x14. I can move everything out and I am 99% sure that it is NOT made
with asbestos.
It is yellowing and crappy looking but I really dont want to remove it.
Im kind of hoping that you guys have some kind of new method for this
nightmare other than priming then rolling. My fingers are crossed!!!
Thank you.

Tony C.


I may get my ass reamed from others here for lack of "proper" prep but...

I've done quite a few. I just vacuum/sweep it off. Any stains or
discoloration, providing the drywall is in good shape, I just go over
with some white primer however many times it needs it. Get decent quality
CEILING paint. I've used the Glidden with good results. Ceiling paint is
thicker. The Borg puts Behr 2 gal buckets on sale for what Glidden costs
at regular price. Get Purdy or equivalent covers. Cheapies are not gonna
hold paint. The knap depends on how heavy the texture is. Use at LEAST
the next step up from what you use on regular walls.

Before you do your first roller dip into the paint, dampen (not soak!)
the roller with water to prime it to absorb paint. Sprinkle a bit on the
roller and rub in with your hand. If you stop in the middle of painting
for some time, cover the roller with plastic wrap. Paint won't dry. Not
even overnight, not even for days.

So what am I gonna get chewed out for on this post? Said nothing about
priming. Said nothing about using special roller covers other than
heavier knap.

If that yellowing is some type of significant film like smoke or grease,
that's not good. No paint/primer is gonna bond well to it.

Use common sense as always. Cover furniture, carpets, etc with plastic.
Actually, for floors, a cloth dropcloth is far better than plastic. It
doesn't get in your way, stays where you put it and doesn't tear. You
don't have to buy a pro one from the Borg. I picked up one at Big Lots.
Yea it has seams, unfinished edges, etc. It was 10 bucks for a 9x12.
That's like half of pro Borg stuff. Only drawback I can think of is
spilled paint will go through. Always keep the paint supply on the floor.
Harder to fall on the floor if it's on the floor. But don't keep it
behind you where you will step in or kick it over.

Tony Deb wrote:
What is the best way to paint an existing popcorn ceiling? The room is
20x14. I can move everything out and I am 99% sure that it is NOT made
with asbestos.

Not sure it's the best, but I had good results spraying. Bought from a
family of heavy smokers and can't even start telling how badly ceiling
and walls were stained. Was years ago, can't remember brand or grade,
but I remember taking my time to prime twice and paint 3 times. The
prep work was a killer...

Tony Deb wrote:
What is the best way to paint an existing popcorn ceiling? The room is
20x14. I can move everything out and I am 99% sure that it is NOT made
with asbestos.
It is yellowing and crappy looking but I really dont want to remove it.
Im kind of hoping that you guys have some kind of new method for this
nightmare other than priming then rolling. My fingers are crossed!!!
Thank you.

Tony C.

If you don't remove it and paint over it by whatever method, you will
make it at least four times harder to remove later. If you can indeed
get everything out, then removing the existing popcorn will only take
about an hour or two. A day to prepare the ceiling for whatever new
texture you want and you're done with a much better ceiling than what
you would have had with a crappy painted over popcorn ceiling.

Besides, the next guy may decide that you were an idiot who couldn't
make a good shade tree mechanic and hunt you down and remove you from
the gene pool. I know I feel that way about idiots who put wallpaper on
unprimed wallboard.

--
Grandpa

"Carpenter" wrote in news:1160360217.177490.81100
@k70g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:


Tony Deb wrote:
What is the best way to paint an existing popcorn ceiling? The room is
20x14. I can move everything out and I am 99% sure that it is NOT made
with asbestos.

Not sure it's the best, but I had good results spraying. Bought from a
family of heavy smokers and can't even start telling how badly ceiling
and walls were stained. Was years ago, can't remember brand or grade,
but I remember taking my time to prime twice and paint 3 times. The
prep work was a killer...




And if you had used a flat oil on the ceiling you could have done it in one
coat. :-)

"grandpa" wrote in message
newsjiWg.3497$W35.2915@trnddc06...
Tony Deb wrote:
What is the best way to paint an existing popcorn ceiling? The room is
20x14. I can move everything out and I am 99% sure that it is NOT made
with asbestos.
It is yellowing and crappy looking but I really dont want to remove it.
Im kind of hoping that you guys have some kind of new method for this
nightmare other than priming then rolling. My fingers are crossed!!!
Thank you.

Tony C.

If you don't remove it and paint over it by whatever method, you will
make it at least four times harder to remove later. If you can indeed
get everything out, then removing the existing popcorn will only take
about an hour or two. A day to prepare the ceiling for whatever new
texture you want and you're done with a much better ceiling than what
you would have had with a crappy painted over popcorn ceiling.

Besides, the next guy may decide that you were an idiot who couldn't
make a good shade tree mechanic and hunt you down and remove you from
the gene pool. I know I feel that way about idiots who put wallpaper on
unprimed wallboard.

--
Grandpa

I don't agree. I painted a couple of my popcorn ceilings a few years ago. A
pro came a couple years later to remove one in the dining room and winced
when he discovered it was painted. But it came down just as easily as if it
weren't painted. Later, I removed the other one myself and it too came down
easily.

That said, I too am glad to have got rid of my popcorn ceilings. That is,
except for the living room. There, I have a cathedral ceiling.

Does anyone have any idea how to get up there to remove the popcorn and
retexture? That's the last room I have to do.

Removed the "popcorn" from my ceiling in a few hours. Used a wide scraper
and a good mask. Was easy. Just be careful not to gouge the ceiling with the
scraper. If you have carpeting be sure to cover it well.

Al

Sixeye wrote:
"grandpa" wrote in message
newsjiWg.3497$W35.2915@trnddc06...

Tony Deb wrote:

What is the best way to paint an existing popcorn ceiling? The room is
20x14. I can move everything out and I am 99% sure that it is NOT made
with asbestos.
It is yellowing and crappy looking but I really dont want to remove it.
Im kind of hoping that you guys have some kind of new method for this
nightmare other than priming then rolling. My fingers are crossed!!!
Thank you.

Tony C.


If you don't remove it and paint over it by whatever method, you will
make it at least four times harder to remove later. If you can indeed
get everything out, then removing the existing popcorn will only take
about an hour or two. A day to prepare the ceiling for whatever new
texture you want and you're done with a much better ceiling than what
you would have had with a crappy painted over popcorn ceiling.

Besides, the next guy may decide that you were an idiot who couldn't
make a good shade tree mechanic and hunt you down and remove you from
the gene pool. I know I feel that way about idiots who put wallpaper on
unprimed wallboard.

--
Grandpa


I don't agree. I painted a couple of my popcorn ceilings a few years ago. A
pro came a couple years later to remove one in the dining room and winced
when he discovered it was painted. But it came down just as easily as if it
weren't painted. Later, I removed the other one myself and it too came down
easily.

That said, I too am glad to have got rid of my popcorn ceilings. That is,
except for the living room. There, I have a cathedral ceiling.

Does anyone have any idea how to get up there to remove the popcorn and
retexture? That's the last room I have to do.


Then you were very lucky or didn't use a very good paint. My experience
is vastly different than yours and I can understand why he winced.

The Borg has a tool for scraping popcorn ceilings that attaches to a
long pole. It has this contraption underneath which can hold a bag and
allegedly "catch" the scrapings. My advice is skip the bag, as it gets
real heavy and unwieldy; but the scraper part works like a charm.

After that its scaffolding. Good luck.

--
Grandpa

"grandpa" wrote in message
news:XzkWg.1426$i84.1063@trnddc01...
Sixeye wrote:
"grandpa" wrote in message
newsjiWg.3497$W35.2915@trnddc06...

Tony Deb wrote:

What is the best way to paint an existing popcorn ceiling? The room is
20x14. I can move everything out and I am 99% sure that it is NOT made
with asbestos.
It is yellowing and crappy looking but I really dont want to remove it.
Im kind of hoping that you guys have some kind of new method for this
nightmare other than priming then rolling. My fingers are crossed!!!
Thank you.

Tony C.


If you don't remove it and paint over it by whatever method, you will
make it at least four times harder to remove later. If you can indeed
get everything out, then removing the existing popcorn will only take
about an hour or two. A day to prepare the ceiling for whatever new
texture you want and you're done with a much better ceiling than what
you would have had with a crappy painted over popcorn ceiling.

Besides, the next guy may decide that you were an idiot who couldn't
make a good shade tree mechanic and hunt you down and remove you from
the gene pool. I know I feel that way about idiots who put wallpaper on
unprimed wallboard.

--
Grandpa


I don't agree. I painted a couple of my popcorn ceilings a few years ago.
A pro came a couple years later to remove one in the dining room and
winced when he discovered it was painted. But it came down just as easily
as if it weren't painted. Later, I removed the other one myself and it
too came down easily.

That said, I too am glad to have got rid of my popcorn ceilings. That
is, except for the living room. There, I have a cathedral ceiling.

Does anyone have any idea how to get up there to remove the popcorn and
retexture? That's the last room I have to do.
Then you were very lucky or didn't use a very good paint. My experience
is vastly different than yours and I can understand why he winced.

The Borg has a tool for scraping popcorn ceilings that attaches to a
long pole. It has this contraption underneath which can hold a bag and
allegedly "catch" the scrapings. My advice is skip the bag, as it gets
real heavy and unwieldy; but the scraper part works like a charm.

After that its scaffolding. Good luck.

--
Grandpa

Maybe I got lucky. "The Borg"? What is that? Can't find it on Google. I
can't imagine a long pole type contraption working well on a cathedral
ceiling. We're talking 18-20 feet up. Even if it works well for getting
popcorn down, it's not going to work well for putting texture up.

Not too hip on using scaffolding. I may have to rent a hydraulic lift of
some type I guess.

"Sixeye" wrote in news:_8lWg.32242$tO5.28944@fed1read10:


"grandpa" wrote in message
news:XzkWg.1426$i84.1063@trnddc01...
Sixeye wrote:
"grandpa" wrote in message
newsjiWg.3497$W35.2915@trnddc06...

Tony Deb wrote:

What is the best way to paint an existing popcorn ceiling? The room
is 20x14. I can move everything out and I am 99% sure that it is
NOT made with asbestos.
It is yellowing and crappy looking but I really dont want to remove
it. Im kind of hoping that you guys have some kind of new method
for this nightmare other than priming then rolling. My fingers are
crossed!!! Thank you.

Tony C.


If you don't remove it and paint over it by whatever method, you
will make it at least four times harder to remove later. If you can
indeed get everything out, then removing the existing popcorn will
only take about an hour or two. A day to prepare the ceiling for
whatever new texture you want and you're done with a much better
ceiling than what you would have had with a crappy painted over
popcorn ceiling.

Besides, the next guy may decide that you were an idiot who couldn't
make a good shade tree mechanic and hunt you down and remove you
from the gene pool. I know I feel that way about idiots who put
wallpaper on unprimed wallboard.

--
Grandpa


I don't agree. I painted a couple of my popcorn ceilings a few years
ago. A pro came a couple years later to remove one in the dining
room and winced when he discovered it was painted. But it came down
just as easily as if it weren't painted. Later, I removed the other
one myself and it too came down easily.

That said, I too am glad to have got rid of my popcorn ceilings.
That is, except for the living room. There, I have a cathedral
ceiling.

Does anyone have any idea how to get up there to remove the popcorn
and retexture? That's the last room I have to do.
Then you were very lucky or didn't use a very good paint. My
experience is vastly different than yours and I can understand why he
winced.

The Borg has a tool for scraping popcorn ceilings that attaches to a
long pole. It has this contraption underneath which can hold a bag
and allegedly "catch" the scrapings. My advice is skip the bag, as it
gets real heavy and unwieldy; but the scraper part works like a
charm.

After that its scaffolding. Good luck.

--
Grandpa

Maybe I got lucky. "The Borg"? What is that? Can't find it on
Google. I can't imagine a long pole type contraption working well on
a cathedral ceiling. We're talking 18-20 feet up. Even if it works
well for getting popcorn down, it's not going to work well for putting
texture up.

Not too hip on using scaffolding. I may have to rent a hydraulic lift
of some type I guess.




"The Borg"? What is that?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borg_(Star_Trek)

The Borg from the Star Trek (Generations?) series. Somewhere along the
lines in this group Home Depot & Lowe's have become known as The Borg.

One thread even got goofy about "We are Expeditor. You will be expedited.
Resistance is futile.".

Tony Deb wrote:
What is the best way to paint an existing popcorn ceiling? The room is
20x14. I can move everything out and I am 99% sure that it is NOT made
with asbestos.
It is yellowing and crappy looking but I really dont want to remove it.
Im kind of hoping that you guys have some kind of new method for this
nightmare other than priming then rolling. My fingers are crossed!!!
Thank you.

Tony C.

I rolled mine (1800 square feet)

It's asbestos but only a problem if you remove it.

Paint and leave well enough alone.

Tony Deb wrote:
What is the best way to paint an existing popcorn ceiling? The room is
20x14. I can move everything out and I am 99% sure that it is NOT made
with asbestos.
It is yellowing and crappy looking but I really dont want to remove it.
Im kind of hoping that you guys have some kind of new method for this
nightmare other than priming then rolling. My fingers are crossed!!!
Thank you.

Tony C.

I did mine the first time years ago. Bought one of those cheap hand
held electric paint sprayers. Took a lot of paint on the first
painting. Been rolling it (twice) since then.

kHarry K

Tony Deb wrote:
What is the best way to paint an existing popcorn ceiling? The room is
20x14. I can move everything out and I am 99% sure that it is NOT made
with asbestos.
It is yellowing and crappy looking but I really dont want to remove it.
Im kind of hoping that you guys have some kind of new method for this
nightmare other than priming then rolling. My fingers are crossed!!!
Thank you.

I use an airless spayer on a surface like that. they can be rented and
even spray upside down! If you decide to remove it here's how: You
use a pump style garden sprayer. fill it with warm water and spray the
ceiling in the area that can be reached from you ladder or scaffold.
It will then come off quite easily with a wide taping knife. Just
cover your head and eyes and use a drop cloth.

There is a reason popcorn is used: It can be rather difficult to tape
and mud the ceiling with your arms over head not to mention painting
it. When you spray popcorn you can finish the ceiling right now
without any time consuming and bothersom taping, mudding and painting.
dont be surprised when you find that the drywall joints on the ceiling
will be relatively unfinished and will require a lot of work to prepare
for paint. At that point you may decide that the popcorn wasn't so bad
after all. New popcorn is easy to install and requires very little
prep. It goes up real fast with a hopper gun and air compressor.

Tony Deb wrote:
What is the best way to paint an existing popcorn ceiling? The room is
20x14. I can move everything out and I am 99% sure that it is NOT made
with asbestos.
It is yellowing and crappy looking but I really dont want to remove it.
Im kind of hoping that you guys have some kind of new method for this
nightmare other than priming then rolling. My fingers are crossed!!!
Thank you.

Tony C.

I always use a "paint stick" roller and a high quality roller cover
designed for the type of ceiling I'm painting. I have a cheapo no-name
paint stick, and it holds just enough paint in the handle that you can
get a lot of coverage before reloading, but it doesn't weigh a ton
while you're holding it over your head. Plus, with the telescoping
handle, you can stand on the floor and slowly walk the room. It seems
to take about 25% of the time needed to paint with an ordinary roller
and pan, and it only takes about 10 minutes longer to flush it out and
clean up. As always, however, YYMV.

Hilary

You're really better off removing it. Most people are either wary about its
contents/don't like it. Better for resale.

It's not as hard to remove as you may think. (I think we're talking about
the same stuff) I removed mine with a shovel.

"Tony Deb" wrote in message
...
What is the best way to paint an existing popcorn ceiling? The room is
20x14. I can move everything out and I am 99% sure that it is NOT made
with asbestos.
It is yellowing and crappy looking but I really dont want to remove it.
Im kind of hoping that you guys have some kind of new method for this
nightmare other than priming then rolling. My fingers are crossed!!!
Thank you.

Tony C.

Tony Deb wrote:
What is the best way to paint an existing popcorn ceiling?

snip

Get rid of it. The easiest way is to duct tape a 8" drywall knife to
your shop vac hose/toolholder and scrape away. To mitigate concerns
about possible asbestos fibers getting loose, a little pre-misting with
a spray bottle will take care of it. Double bag the debris for safety.
Odds are your popcorn was mostly styrofoam based anyway as anything
else is a bear to apply. Good luck.

Joe

In article , postmaster@
127.0.0.1 says...
"Sixeye" wrote in news:_8lWg.32242$tO5.28944@fed1read10:


"grandpa" wrote in message
news:XzkWg.1426$i84.1063@trnddc01...
Sixeye wrote:
"grandpa" wrote in message
newsjiWg.3497$W35.2915@trnddc06...

Tony Deb wrote:

What is the best way to paint an existing popcorn ceiling? The room
is 20x14. I can move everything out and I am 99% sure that it is
NOT made with asbestos.
It is yellowing and crappy looking but I really dont want to remove
it. Im kind of hoping that you guys have some kind of new method
for this nightmare other than priming then rolling. My fingers are
crossed!!! Thank you.

Tony C.


If you don't remove it and paint over it by whatever method, you
will make it at least four times harder to remove later. If you can
indeed get everything out, then removing the existing popcorn will
only take about an hour or two. A day to prepare the ceiling for
whatever new texture you want and you're done with a much better
ceiling than what you would have had with a crappy painted over
popcorn ceiling.

Besides, the next guy may decide that you were an idiot who couldn't
make a good shade tree mechanic and hunt you down and remove you
from the gene pool. I know I feel that way about idiots who put
wallpaper on unprimed wallboard.

--
Grandpa


I don't agree. I painted a couple of my popcorn ceilings a few years
ago. A pro came a couple years later to remove one in the dining
room and winced when he discovered it was painted. But it came down
just as easily as if it weren't painted. Later, I removed the other
one myself and it too came down easily.

That said, I too am glad to have got rid of my popcorn ceilings.
That is, except for the living room. There, I have a cathedral
ceiling.

Does anyone have any idea how to get up there to remove the popcorn
and retexture? That's the last room I have to do.
Then you were very lucky or didn't use a very good paint. My
experience is vastly different than yours and I can understand why he
winced.

The Borg has a tool for scraping popcorn ceilings that attaches to a
long pole. It has this contraption underneath which can hold a bag
and allegedly "catch" the scrapings. My advice is skip the bag, as it
gets real heavy and unwieldy; but the scraper part works like a
charm.

After that its scaffolding. Good luck.

--
Grandpa

Maybe I got lucky. "The Borg"? What is that? Can't find it on
Google. I can't imagine a long pole type contraption working well on
a cathedral ceiling. We're talking 18-20 feet up. Even if it works
well for getting popcorn down, it's not going to work well for putting
texture up.

Not too hip on using scaffolding. I may have to rent a hydraulic lift
of some type I guess.




"The Borg"? What is that?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borg_(Star_Trek)

The Borg from the Star Trek (Generations?) series. Somewhere along the
lines in this group Home Depot & Lowe's have become known as The Borg.

BORG == Big Orange Retail Giant, originally HomeDespot.

One thread even got goofy about "We are Expeditor. You will be expedited.
Resistance is futile.".

--
Keith

krw wrote in
t:

In article , postmaster@
127.0.0.1 says...
"Sixeye" wrote in news:_8lWg.32242$tO5.28944@fed1read10:


"grandpa" wrote in message
news:XzkWg.1426$i84.1063@trnddc01...
Sixeye wrote:
"grandpa" wrote in message
newsjiWg.3497$W35.2915@trnddc06...

Tony Deb wrote:

What is the best way to paint an existing popcorn ceiling? The
room is 20x14. I can move everything out and I am 99% sure that
it is NOT made with asbestos.
It is yellowing and crappy looking but I really dont want to
remove it. Im kind of hoping that you guys have some kind of new
method for this nightmare other than priming then rolling. My
fingers are crossed!!! Thank you.

Tony C.


If you don't remove it and paint over it by whatever method, you
will make it at least four times harder to remove later. If you
can indeed get everything out, then removing the existing popcorn
will only take about an hour or two. A day to prepare the ceiling
for whatever new texture you want and you're done with a much
better ceiling than what you would have had with a crappy painted
over popcorn ceiling.

Besides, the next guy may decide that you were an idiot who
couldn't make a good shade tree mechanic and hunt you down and
remove you from the gene pool. I know I feel that way about
idiots who put wallpaper on unprimed wallboard.

--
Grandpa


I don't agree. I painted a couple of my popcorn ceilings a few
years ago. A pro came a couple years later to remove one in the
dining room and winced when he discovered it was painted. But it
came down just as easily as if it weren't painted. Later, I
removed the other one myself and it too came down easily.

That said, I too am glad to have got rid of my popcorn ceilings.
That is, except for the living room. There, I have a cathedral
ceiling.

Does anyone have any idea how to get up there to remove the
popcorn and retexture? That's the last room I have to do.
Then you were very lucky or didn't use a very good paint. My
experience is vastly different than yours and I can understand why
he winced.

The Borg has a tool for scraping popcorn ceilings that attaches to
a long pole. It has this contraption underneath which can hold a
bag and allegedly "catch" the scrapings. My advice is skip the
bag, as it gets real heavy and unwieldy; but the scraper part
works like a charm.

After that its scaffolding. Good luck.

--
Grandpa

Maybe I got lucky. "The Borg"? What is that? Can't find it on
Google. I can't imagine a long pole type contraption working well
on a cathedral ceiling. We're talking 18-20 feet up. Even if it
works well for getting popcorn down, it's not going to work well
for putting texture up.

Not too hip on using scaffolding. I may have to rent a hydraulic
lift of some type I guess.




"The Borg"? What is that?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borg_(Star_Trek)

The Borg from the Star Trek (Generations?) series. Somewhere along
the lines in this group Home Depot & Lowe's have become known as The
Borg.

BORG == Big Orange Retail Giant, originally HomeDespot.

One thread even got goofy about "We are Expeditor. You will be
expedited. Resistance is futile.".



I had just guessed it referred to HD & Lowe's. Acronym certainly fits!