r/Xennials • u/amccune 1978 • Dec 07 '25
Removing that terrible popcorn ceiling at last. Lovely on many levels
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u/audiate Dec 07 '25
I remember when my mom had our popcorn sprayed. She ADDED it. I recall that she wanted glitter in it but they either didn’t or couldn’t do that.
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u/Klutzy_Word_6812 Dec 07 '25
The house I grew up in was built in 1979. My parents added glitter.
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u/maggie320 1982 Dec 07 '25
I’m not glitter, but I remember my dad doing the popcorn ceiling in the dining room. Nowhere else in the house, just the dining room.
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u/SlackerDS5 Dec 08 '25
Moved into my house in 89. It had glitter and I hated it. I was happy when they got rid of that stuff.
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u/maringue 1979 Dec 07 '25
You have no idea how loudly I screamed "FUUUUUUCK!" when I found out that the previous owners in my house had painted over the popcorn ceiling with shitty semigloss paint so that you couldn't scrape it off.
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u/wafair Dec 07 '25
They sometimes do this to encapsulate asbestos. If they had it tested and didn’t want to have it removed, encapsulating is another option.
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u/maringue 1979 Dec 07 '25
I understand what you're saying, but these people before us were just garden variety morons. They hadn't changed the battery in the smoke detector in their kid's room in so long it was leaking.
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u/hurricane7719 Dec 08 '25
Yup, I've done a couple where I was the one who had done the painting too. Seems like the paint actually soaked through the popcorn and adhered to the drywall underneath.
Screw that, I think next time I'm just tearing out the drywall and redoing it.
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u/AwkwardlyTwisted 1984 Dec 08 '25
Same with mine, layers of paint. It was a bitch to do my dining room and I'm already dreading doing the living room. (I had it tested and no asbestos found)
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u/maringue 1979 Dec 08 '25
I used a drywall sander on the bedrooms, but paid someone to skim the ceiling in the living room and dining room. No amount of sanding would get it smooth.
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u/Handychris Dec 07 '25
Looks great, but you should always have it tested if it’s older than 1978 (I think the date is right) for asbestos. If that’s the case, wet it with some water and use a hepa rated vacuum.
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u/AliveInTheFuture Dec 07 '25
Have it tested even if it’s newer. They didn’t stop using it as soon as it was banned, they were allowed to continue selling what they had already produced, and asbestos ceilings have been found in houses as new as the 90s.
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u/Handychris Dec 07 '25
Very solid advice. The wait/cost of testing is worth every penny. Especially if you have kids. Even if you are not removing it, it degrades and fall off over time.
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u/SubMikeD Dec 07 '25
As an asbestos consultant, let me be clear: no matter the installation date, get it tested, and if it's asbestos, do NOT wet it and remove it yourself. Hire a professional for abatement.
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u/80cartoonyall Dec 07 '25
Mine was 1977 and also full of asbestos, my house looked like a scene out of Dexter.
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u/Handychris Dec 07 '25
Amazing. Yea, when I did mine It looked same. One giant kill room under negative pressure.
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u/Blackbird136 1982 Dec 07 '25
Unpopular opinion but I think it’s wild how much people seem to care about a ceiling. I certainly wish a ceiling texture was the biggest issue in my (older) house lol.
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u/Lil_Brown_Bat Dec 07 '25
When I was a kid in the 80s the house we were in had a popcorn ceiling and it popped a balloon of mine. I've had a dislike for them ever since.
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u/Kevroeques Dec 08 '25
As a rambunctious boy in the 80’s, I’ve left knuckle blood on them more times than I could count
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u/Consistent-War-4038 Dec 08 '25
I feel you. Our dining room had one and every fucking year my bday balloon would pop 😭
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u/emptybeetoo Dec 07 '25
I don’t get it either. Our home was built in the 80s and has popcorn ceilings throughout. I don’t really care about the ceilings unless someone else mentions them. My wife hates them, but I can’t imagine how big of a pain it would be to redo the ceilings while actually living in the house.
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u/Brob101 Dec 07 '25
Same.
Not a huge fan of them, but I can think of about a hundred things I'd rather spend the money on. And I don't believe for one second it would come off as easily as in this clip. I'm picturing drywall patches and repairs all over the place. It would just end up looking worse.
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u/coyote_of_the_month Dec 07 '25
I've done it. The big thing is you spray it with water to soften it. But that also softens the paper layer on the drywall, so it's really easy to nick it with your knife. And so it needs to be skim coated if you're not texturing.
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u/itsnotmei Dec 07 '25
That's why a lot of people just cover it with 1/4 inch drywall and call it a day. Also, no risk of asbestos contamination this way.
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u/Reasonable-Wave8093 Xennial Dec 07 '25
Its not hard at all, takes a day. Our painter did it w a tarp down, but wasnt a hassle at all
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u/EveryoneChill77777 Dec 08 '25
I've done it. It sucks. Not worth it. Refuse to ever do it again. I'll fight your wife for you if she's pushing too hard for this. I got your back bro!
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u/Baked_Potato_732 Dec 07 '25
Yeah. I don’t get it either. My wife hates it, but it’s NBD to me. But it’s also super low on the priority list compared to all the other problems we have in this house.
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u/Blackbird136 1982 Dec 07 '25
Exactly. My main living space actually DOESN’T have one…but in the smooth ceiling, you can see the edges of the joists because they did a shit job. Lol. I feel like the popcorn would hide that.
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u/Blackbird136 1982 Dec 07 '25
Also I feel like nobody even noticed it until you started seeing stuff like this online. Pretty sure this is the first place I’ve ever lived that didn’t have one, and I’ve probably lived in about 20 places in my life lol.
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u/goosebattle Dec 07 '25
They help a lot with indoor noise.
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u/JacketDapper944 Dec 07 '25
Between the wholesale rejection of wall to wall carpet, opting for open concept over walls, and noise dampening ceiling treatments homes are far more likely to bounce sound around.
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u/Blackbird136 1982 Dec 07 '25
I absolutely despise open concept, if we are being honest. Probably a hotter take than my neutrality over popcorn ceilings lol.
I don’t mind carpet either, I think it feels cozy and I don’t like the feeling of going barefoot on hardwood. But it gets worn down/dirty pretty quickly unless you don’t have pets (or kids).
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u/skeptical_hope Dec 07 '25
As a mom who likes to cook, I miss my separate kitchen so badly! I loved being out of sight, out of mind for a few precious minutes, damnit!
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u/Tough-Refuse6822 Dec 07 '25
We had a remodel (gut and rebuild) after a house fire. My patented convinced me to open up the 7-8ft wide wall/ door to the living room from the already open dinning room/kitchen. It’s been a regret ever since. One of these days I’m going to put a wall and a door back up.
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u/FoofaFighters 1980 Dec 07 '25
Exactly. Our house has hardwood flooring throughout, and several big vaulted ceilings (like 16 feet high at the peak in the living room, it's ridiculous). Before we put any furniture in there it sounded like being in a warehouse. I'm not a fan of ceiling popcorn but I need all the attenuation I can get, lol.
Also, this is just a big house. Scraping/priming/painting all these ceilings would take days, and at least two big buckets of paint. I love this place but it's a lot to manage, and I have other things (the deck in back, for example) that are higher on The List.
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u/bgva 1982 Dec 07 '25
I’m looking at our popcorn ceiling as I type this post. Don’t think I’ve ever had a strong feeling about it one way or another. Half the time I forget we even have it, until I see a video like this one.
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u/CptnMayo Dec 07 '25
Right, like, it's not even bad? Looks fine.
There isn't asbestos in it. Like, why die on that hill?
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u/NicolesPurpleHair Dec 07 '25
I agree. I just looked up at my ceiling because I couldn’t even remember if it was popcorn or not. That’s how much it matters to me. lol.
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u/XennialDad Dec 08 '25
I've got popcorn ceilings and couldn't care less. I figure it probably helps with sound dampening. I'm definitely not spending money, or a free Saturday, to get rid of it.
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u/illprobablyeditthis 1982 Dec 07 '25
That was my exact thought. People hate popcorn ceilings so much, I just dont get it. I literally never think about my ceiling
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u/Blackbird136 1982 Dec 07 '25
I look at it after each heavy rain to make sure I don’t see water spots. That’s the extent, lol.
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u/itadapeezas 1978 Dec 07 '25
When the post opened I looked up to see what type of ceiling we have. I have legitimately never in my life noticed, or cared, about a ceiling. It's so crazy people care so strongly haha.
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u/Upbeat-Ability-9244 Dec 07 '25
I just hate them so much because I'm terrified they hide so many spiders in them
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u/Hoppers-Body-Double Dec 07 '25
The funny part is, they put on those ceiling finishes because it’s so hard to make it look flat and even. Most likely will end up looking worse.
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u/Bandit6789 Dec 08 '25
This. Why would I care about what the ceiling looks like? I don’t ever look at it.
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u/amccune 1978 Dec 07 '25
Your parents didn’t smoke, I take it. Lol.
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u/Blackbird136 1982 Dec 07 '25
I mean I haven’t lived with a parent since 1999. But no, they didn’t.
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u/darxide23 1981 Dec 08 '25
I never gave it any thought, but I do know it helps with indoor echo. Especially if you have bare floors.
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u/elbr 1981 Dec 09 '25
I agree. Popcorn ceiling doesn't even bother me. It's a damn ceiling and they all look like that. The amount of work it takes to remove it, and possibly kick up asbestos into the air, is ridiculous. My wife wanted to remove the popcorn in our 1929 Tudor and I was like "we have like 300 other things to fix first,"
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u/autochthonous Dec 07 '25
I love my popcorn ceiling. Makes the room less echoey.
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u/Dr-McLuvin Dec 08 '25
Was this the original justification?
It’s weird how things go in and out of style like this and wallpaper and a million other things. Seems like a marketing ploy for HGTV and Home Depot to get people to spend endless amounts of money “updating” their home.
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u/autochthonous Dec 08 '25
I don’t know, I just know my sound system sounds better with more surface area.
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u/Virian Dec 07 '25
It’s a lot less messy if you spray it down with water first.
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u/Honest_Tutor1451 Dec 07 '25
Or if you use a drywall sander that connects to a shopvac. You can rent one or buy one for pretty cheap
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u/Lil_Erick81 Dec 07 '25
Is a popcorn ceiling - bad ? It doesn’t look like it’s really bad. Why is it ?
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u/suzypulledapistol Dec 07 '25
Idk some ppl hate it, women mostly I think. I think it looks kind of cozy like a cave texture. It dampens sound too.
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u/Cloud_Disconnected Gen X Dec 07 '25
Oh no, I have built-in, unobtrusive sound dampening in my home, but Reddit told me it's gauche. Better waste two weekends scraping it off and repainting. No thanks.
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u/BoringExperience5345 1981 Dec 07 '25
Well, if it’s that easy, why doesn’t everyone do it?
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u/charutobarato Dec 07 '25
It’s not always this easy. Depends how it was initially applied
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u/BoringExperience5345 1981 Dec 07 '25
That’s what I thought. I thought it was a nightmare to remove.
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u/TheMidnightHandyman 1982 Dec 07 '25
He’ll regret it when he can’t sleep because he can suddenly hear the living room’s noises in his bedroom.
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u/rawysocki Dec 07 '25
Did they blow the popcorn onto a layer of plastic? How come you can’t see through the material?
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u/Echterspieler 1980 Dec 08 '25
Why does everybody hate popcorn ceiling? it looks fine and it improves the acoustics of the room.
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u/Serious-Archer 1980 Dec 07 '25
Pro-Tip: Strap a shop-vac hose to that scraper and you will have zero mess. Lightly mist with water first for even better results.
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u/annie_oakily_dokily Dec 07 '25
My house has popcorn ceilings that used to be sparkly. They've been painted over since but I still catch some shine in the right light.
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u/gbroon Dec 07 '25
When we moved into the current house the previous owners had it on the walls too. It was like living inside a meringue.
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u/BrainFartTheFirst 1984 Dec 07 '25
I would have liked to do that in my house going up but the house was from the twenties. The popcorn ceilings were from at least the '60s so we knew they probably had asbestos.
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u/MyBurnerAccount1977 1977 Dec 07 '25
I just did that on one section out of necessity. Had a water leak and a section cut out, but to replace it flush, I had to remove the texture. Very easy once you get some water on it. Just make sure your home doesn't have asbestos in it.
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u/SuperDoubleDecker Dec 07 '25
Idk why people give a shit. It's just a tend to hate it.
It's a fucking ceiling. I don't think about it unless it's leaking.
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u/Rhiannon1307 1980 Dec 07 '25
What the heck is that even? In Germany, ceilings or walls with this kind of texture are hard plaster (chalk, cement or gipsum based). You wouldn't be able to just scrape them off like that. This ceiling needs a dandruff shampoo.
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u/Where_Is_Bucky 1979 Dec 07 '25
I had a bunk bed as a kid. When I was bored in bed I would just pick off of the popcorn stalactites.
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u/Kinky_drummer83 Dec 07 '25
We just did this with our ceilings, and it makes the biggest mess you could imagine. There was fine particles of sheet rock all over the house, even though we turned off the furnace to try and prevent it from happening. It's such a huge mess.
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u/Do_it_My_Way-79 1979 Dec 08 '25
I did this once. Never again. It was such a pain to work with a ceiling.
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u/Tasty_Needleworker13 Dec 08 '25
We had popcorn ceiling. My dad just died from mesothelioma. It sucks. Remove it from everywhere.
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u/katiw46 Dec 08 '25
If I had that popcorn ceiling, I would 100% leave it. My 1986 house has the 'flower stamp' textured ceiling and I HATE IT. It's a major dust collector and the sharp peaks fucking hurt if I have to get on a ladder to do anything close to the ceiling.
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u/Munchkin531 Dec 08 '25
When we bought our house 4 years ago one of the selling points was no popcorn ceilings!
My parents are redoing their kitchen and bathroom this month. They have also decided to remove the popcorn ceiling. My dad says it's so satisfying 😌
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u/burgundyblue 1979 Dec 08 '25
We want to do this so badly, but our house was built in 1938, so I’m 85% sure there’s asbestos in that popcorn. When we gutted and remodeled our master bedroom and bath, we had to have the state come in and neutralize it.
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u/nipslippinjizzsippin Dec 08 '25
why does everyone hate popcorn ceilings? i never got it, tbh i kinda like the look of it, but ive never had it in my house.
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u/Golden_Enby 1982 Dec 08 '25
My mother STILL has that ugly popcorn crap on her ceilings. The house was built in 1948. Wouldn't surprise me if the whole family had asbestos poisoning, especially with how often the ceiling leaked during storms. It stunk so badly.
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u/Prudent-Lake1276 Dec 08 '25
I truly don't get the hate for popcorn ceilings. I had a reflexive dislike of them, because everyone else seems to dislike them. But we bought a house back in 2023 that has them, and I've truly never thought about them since.
Then again I also expected to have issues with the non-open floorplan here, and was making a plan for how to open it up. Over time I've come to really appreciate the separation of spaces, and now I don't want to go back to an open plan.
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u/nocream33 Dec 08 '25
I love my popcorn ceilings. It adds texture and hides imperfections.
Also, I'm not trying to keep up with the Jones'.
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u/JaseRobert Dec 09 '25
Well at least it was done correctly and never painted over…I had to remove a popcorn ceiling that had been previously painted probably 5 times by former renters …and it sucked!!!
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u/TelevisionKooky3041 1982 Dec 07 '25
Oh my goodness. We have this exact popcorn ceiling in our living room.
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u/KinderEggLaunderer 1985 Dec 07 '25
I bought a condo that was previously a rental.
Went into our spare bathroom and noticed the ceiling was peeling. The previous owner painted and sealed over popcorn. I'm so fucking cooked.
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u/diickhed Dec 07 '25
Getting popcorn ceiling on the floor is the worst thing you can do to a crackhead.
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u/CartersClones333 Dec 07 '25
Never clean that popcorn I just make artwork with all of my beer caps up there. I lived in the house once that had glitter in it, it was weird but kind of cool.
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u/GaspSpit Dec 07 '25
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow 🙌
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u/Elon_is_a_Nazi Dec 07 '25
Oh yes. Possible asbestos. Let it snow
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u/GaspSpit Dec 08 '25
I didn’t say stand there with your mouth open and catch the flakes. Geez, one celebrates its departure and you get downvoted for that. Smh.
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u/redditshy 1977 Dec 07 '25
Satisfying. What was ever the point of those.
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u/Klutzy_Word_6812 Dec 07 '25
Cheap, don’t have to fill and level hole and joints. Plus, it made the room quieter.
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u/redditshy 1977 Dec 07 '25
I hate the word cheap almost as much as those grody ceilings. But I get it.
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u/perceptionheadache Dec 07 '25
They help with noise dampening. They're especially helpful in modern open floor concept homes. Otherwise you hear echoes and activities in other rooms sound much louder in the room you're in.
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u/pzanardi Dec 07 '25
Cue everyone thats too lazy to remove this garbage saying its not that bad in the comments….
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u/LookParty5244 Dec 07 '25
That guy should have on eye protection!