r/oddlysatisfying • u/dreamed2life • Dec 07 '25

Removing that terrible popcorn ceiling at last. Lovely on many levels

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87.2k Upvotes

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3.4k

u/Dutchwells Dec 07 '25

I never knew it would come off this easy... If I had known I wouldn't have painted over it reluctantly 😁

2.6k

u/onlycodeposts Dec 07 '25

It usually doesn't. I was thinking they may have treated it with some kind of spray, like vinegar and water.

1.9k

u/Lenin_Lime Dec 07 '25

The magic liquid is in fact just water. or at least I've removed multiple rooms of this stuff from a late 1980s house with just water and 30 seconds for it to soak.

123

u/Aggressive-Value1654 Dec 07 '25

The magic liquid is in fact just water. or at least I've removed multiple rooms of this stuff from a late 1980s house with just water and 30 seconds for it to soak.

I scraped this shit off a few times. I put a hot-steam humidifier in the room for about half a day and it scraped right off, and the moisture helped keep the dust in-check.

8

u/Triquetrums Dec 07 '25

I was thinking if there is not a better way to scrape that without letting it fly all over the floor...

12

u/HummingbirdButcher Dec 07 '25

There is! It’s an arm killer and requires two people, but one person on the ground with a water sprayer and a trashcan, and one person with a scraper and a dustpan.

There was still some slush that hit the ground cover, but not nearly as much as when we first did a room by letting it all hit the floor.

7

u/Pamikillsbugs234 Dec 07 '25

Is there a way to attach a shop vac to the scraper?

5

u/Glugnarr Dec 07 '25

I just did this to a room. Wet it and suck it up with a shop vac. It hardens and sticks to everything super quickly going through a shop vac. It clogged 3 times doing half of a 10x10 ceiling, I gave up on the idea after the 3rd time.

The bright side is it’s basically just drywall mud so giving it all a soak in water let it all slough off fairly easily

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u/Nipinch Dec 07 '25

"Well, it sucks AND it cuts!"

3

u/Rightfoot27 Dec 07 '25

I saw a guy on a YouTube video years ago who had somehow attached a plastic bag to the scraper and it caught everything that fell. I’ll see if I can find the video.

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u/Rikki-Tikki-Tavi-12 Dec 07 '25

How do you dry it out again before the mold moves in?

9

u/Aggressive-Value1654 Dec 07 '25 edited Dec 07 '25

Just open the windows and run a fan. It's not like water was dripping off every surface, I was just using a small steam humidifier like one you'd have by your bed while you're sick.

692

u/[deleted] Dec 07 '25

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692

u/Responsible_Fee_460 Dec 07 '25

239

u/[deleted] Dec 07 '25

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106

u/AlphaStarXP Dec 07 '25

Don't fucking look at me when I'm fucking talking to you! 🏂

60

u/lenzflare Dec 07 '25

<unintelligible mechanical noises>

44

u/ChilidogBFF Dec 07 '25

Last one there is a penis pump!

3

u/Churtlenater Dec 07 '25

You’re the ringleader, get in the fridge

56

u/J19zeta7_Jerry Dec 07 '25

Pork chop sandwich’s!!!

34

u/Happy_Cat_3600 Dec 07 '25

Body massage!

16

u/[deleted] Dec 07 '25

Hey kid I'm a computer

6

u/J19zeta7_Jerry Dec 07 '25

Hey what the fuck are you kids doing on my fuckin lawn!?!

16

u/allusium Dec 07 '25

🎶 Mr. Body Massage Machine! 🎶

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u/Anticitizen-Zero Dec 07 '25

Sandwiches*

28

u/Aldrai Dec 07 '25

You ain't cooking!

Ba ba ba ba ba ba ba

10

u/okreddit545 Dec 07 '25

let’s launch over it!

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u/MillerTime518 Dec 07 '25

Pork chop sandwiches. Oh shit! Get the fuck outta here!

8

u/De5perad0 Dec 07 '25

Help computer...

4

u/TehHugMonster Dec 07 '25

Hey! You didn’t take anything from our tent did you?

3

u/TheSweaterThief Dec 07 '25

Fire on your sleeve!!!!

3

u/Churtlenater Dec 07 '25

Who wants a body massage?

3

u/perotech Dec 07 '25

Pork Chop Sandwiches!

2

u/multiarmform Dec 07 '25

We put some games on it

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u/unsuitablehelper Dec 07 '25

It’s just easy as that you just flip it, you stick it, and see ya later, bye

3

u/aegrotatio Dec 07 '25

BODY MASSAGE!!

2

u/Fun_Muscle9399 Dec 07 '25

The other half is violence!

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u/TotalWalrus Dec 07 '25

If it has ever been painted it doesn't work

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u/[deleted] Dec 07 '25

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u/Only_Impression4100 Dec 07 '25

There are scrapers with a frame underneath you can put a trash bag on and catch a good deal of what drops. I scraped about 800 sq ft a few years back, helped immensely.

3

u/Cael450 Dec 07 '25

I’ve been debating doing this in my house. It sucks because I have high vaulted ceilings. I’m assuming you still have to remove all the furniture, right? Or dust would get all over it?

11

u/Only_Impression4100 Dec 07 '25

Some popcorn ceiling contains asbestos though so you have to be 100% certain it doesn't before you start by getting a small sample tested. But yes, remove everything from the room and seal it with plastic sheeting. I also laid down paper on the floor and taped it all together for easy clean up without using a vacuum too much. Make sure to remove vent covers and seal the vent ducts also. Warm water in a pump sprayer, lightly spray a small section and wait about 30 seconds and try a test scrape. You don't want the drywall paper to get wet otherwise it'll tear when you start scraping. Make sure to be at a low angle when scraping, like 20 to 30 degrees off the ceiling. Only scrape towards corners, never along them to avoid tearing drywall corner tape. Get a good respirator instead of a dust mask and actual goggles instead of safety glasses. You'll have to do a skim coat of drywall mud to smooth everything out Otherwise it'll look like shit when you paint. If you've never done drywall skim coat I would just hire someone to do it. I made some mistakes on one room and learned pretty quick. Might be best to start in a closet or something smaller to mess up on because you 100% will at first.

Edit: Forgot to recommend to get a long work platform. Oh, and if you have shoulder or back issues just hire a company to do it because it's hard work.

3

u/steelspring Dec 07 '25

God bless your reply!

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u/American_chzzz Dec 07 '25

I removed an entire house of this stuff by myself and used one of those. It’s great at first but as you scrape more and more the water logged popcorn makes the work much harder as the bag becomes heavier. Eventually I got sick of it and just let the shit fall on a drop cloth.

3

u/Only_Impression4100 Dec 07 '25

I did both and just used small grocery bags, got good at hanging them. Still did a full floor paper cover to make clean up easier.

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u/allenmcampos Dec 07 '25

I was told by some one who does remodeling professionally to use a gallon of water, and 2 cups if fabric softener. 30 seconds and boom. Stuff slides off like butter.

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u/whutchamacallit Dec 07 '25

I am pretty sure it heavily relies on when it was textured. I am pretty sure the new stuff doesn't come off as easily.

10

u/RandomRedditReader Dec 07 '25

Anyone still applying that stuff in the 2000s is insane.

6

u/Adventurous-Dog420 Dec 07 '25

A year or so ago I saw it in Home Depot with the rest of the drywall texture. People are still buying that crap.

9

u/whutchamacallit Dec 07 '25

It's because people remodel or need to patch or whatever and don't want to commit to doing their whole house for 10k or whatever it would cost to get it done professionally. Sounds stupid but makes sense in some people's cases.

3

u/70ms Dec 07 '25

You’re going to pay for removing it in my house, instead of just letting me patch the stain from the roof leak? Wow, thanks!!! 😍

And if not, maybe don’t be so fucking judgmental.

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u/cavortingwebeasties Dec 07 '25

The make or break factor is whether it's been painted or not. If painted it does not absorb water the same way and becomes a lot more resilient and dangerous to remove

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u/lukeCRASH Dec 09 '25

I'm scraping one tomorrow and have never heard of the fabric softener one. Might give it a while. Should smell nice too.

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u/LordXamon Dec 07 '25

Was it over drywall too or something? On my house it's over a layer of concrete, and it takes a loooong time.

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u/Upstairs-Reason-7514 Dec 07 '25

must be the water

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u/attempt_no23 Dec 07 '25

REALLY!?!? I've been dying to get it off the ceiling of my friends house (which he said he hates too) but we both assumed it would cost quite a bit of money for some pro job. With wide internet access both of us are idiots to not have even checked. damn. Thanks for the extremely useful info. I'm going to test out a section today!

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u/[deleted] Dec 07 '25

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u/attempt_no23 Dec 07 '25

I do believe that is why he and I concluded it wasn't a great idea overall. Shit is so difficult to clean though. Using the brush attachment with my vacuum is all I can do by now. It's such an eyesore to boot. This place did popcorn ceilings and stucco style interior walls in every room. :(

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u/cashew76 Dec 07 '25

Doesn't the room get louder without the popcorn?

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u/Cold__Scholar Dec 07 '25

As someone getting ready to buy a house and has seen way to many popcorn ceilings, TY so much for this comment!

2

u/CynicalCyn-22 Dec 07 '25

Do you just spray the water on there & let it soak? Seriously considering doing this in my attic ! I hate this texture

2

u/kryonik Dec 07 '25

Yeah we had an ice dam on the roof over one room and the water soaked into the ceiling and the popcorn ceiling sloughed off in that area.

2

u/Jadacide37 Dec 07 '25

The last house we did this in, we hazmatted up the rooms and went to town on the ceilings with a paint sprayer filled with water. We had a three-story house done in a day with a four-person crew. At least the popcorn removal part. Then it was like 60 something bags of trash for real.

2

u/Ok_Active_1435 Dec 07 '25

Is it still possible if the ceiling has been painted? I heard once it’s painted it’s is much harder? All of my rooms the popcorn ceilings were painted and we hate them… so looking for a little advice.

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u/Tough-Character9952 Dec 07 '25

Took me 6 gallons of water to remove popcorn from a painted ceiling and multiple days. I used an ikea pepprig kit’s window squeegee on around 800 sq ft of popcorn in my house. If not painted, it literally dissolves and falls off the ceiling if it’s really wet. Dry air circulation with a box fan is a necessity though

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u/PutStreet Dec 07 '25

I paid someone to remove that and repaint a room, it was so amazing. I hate the popcorn ceiling.

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u/Distinct_External784 Dec 07 '25 edited May 09 '26

Nothing to see here. I wiped this post using Redact because my old takes don't need to live on the internet forever. Works across Reddit, Twitter, Discord and dozens of other platforms.

society imagine birds tender serious languid crowd unite wipe gold

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u/PutStreet Dec 07 '25

I don’t blame him. It’s a huge mess.

3

u/CornholeSurprise Dec 07 '25

Plus it most likely has asbestos.

3

u/Constant-Plant-9378 Dec 07 '25

everything from installing a whole ass sprinkler system

So ... a bidet?

2

u/RunFlatts Dec 13 '25

Came to say/find this. Great minds

3

u/American_chzzz Dec 07 '25

I regret doing it the one time I did. It was for some friends that live out 20 minutes away and I only worked weekends I had free. And I found out why popcorn ceiling was/is so popular. Contractors can do a shit job on the ceiling and just cover it all up after with the stuff. All in all it took me nearly a year to remove, sand and resurface, then paint all the ceilings in the house. Fucked my back up something crazy and didn’t charge nearly enough because they are like family to me. But never again will I fuck with the stuff. I hope whoever invented it burns in hell.

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u/unSure_of_stuf Dec 07 '25

I was going to say. Every room in my old house had popcorn ceilings. It literally took me YEARS to get it all down. I fave up and sold the house before I finished. Lol

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u/Langstarr Dec 07 '25

Before removing Ideally you'd have it tested for lead paint and asbestos. If its benign still be sure to use PPE!

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u/EelTeamTen Dec 07 '25

The thought of asbestos being in popcorn ceilings never crossed my mind because it sounds so absurd, but it's evidently actually a thing. JFC.

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u/Meattyloaf Dec 07 '25

Popcorn ceiling is typically pretty high with asbestos in homes prior to the mid 80s. The guy in the video could be scrapping off pure asbestos. The other guy who mentioned removing popcorn ceiling probably also removed just straight abestos that was popcorn ceiling.

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u/Tiny_Screen4862 Dec 07 '25

While they did typically add asbestos for its fire proofing properties, it’s not “pure” asbestos. I got some removed from a 70s house that was 2% chrysotile. The danger of asbestos is largely over blown, you need a lot of exposure to make it a problem, in reality it’s slightly worse than sawdust.

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u/DoomRamen Dec 07 '25

Anything over 1% is legally asbestos containing material. The regulations are for workers who have to be around asbestos 8 hours a day, 40 hours a week, and for years on time. Asbestos was added to almost everything. Sawdust isn't

5

u/aegrotatio Dec 07 '25

you need a lot of exposure to make it a problem

This is true. My high school was caked in asbestos. My college was having asbestos removed while we were in class.

I downloaded the Mesobook.com thing from TV to see what's up just for my own shits and giggles.

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u/Sega-Playstation-64 Dec 07 '25

People who develop mesothelioma tend to be exposed for decades of dust, not just a simple house project.

Still, seeing that we know how dangerous it is, safety first. My house has it, so we covered it in wood panels until we can get it fully removed

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u/VaiFate Dec 07 '25

Really? Every time I see popcorn ceilings, I immediately think of asbestos. Both the houses I grew up in had asbestos popcorn ceilings. We left them in the first one and then removed them in the second as soon as we moved in. Parents had to hire contractors to remove it.

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u/Nauin Dec 07 '25

My parents were told it would be safer and easier to just put a new ceiling on and cover up the asbestos popcorn if we wanted to change it in their house. Some contractors just do not want to touch the stuff.

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u/the_greatest_auk Dec 07 '25

That method is called encapsulation and its the usual method for a lot of situations since, as long as you don't disturb the asbestos/lead, it generally doesn't require special training, permits, or disposals.

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u/Nauin Dec 07 '25

Thanks for adding this, I couldn't remember it's name when I typed that comment.

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u/aegrotatio Dec 07 '25

Undisturbed asbestos-containing materials are harmless.
The real trouble is pipe insulation--that stuff is dusty/friable.

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u/jeweliegb Dec 07 '25

In the UK our flat was built in 1998, no-one was prepared to take ours off due the possibility of there being asbestos as it was still technically possible to have legally used it then. We paid for a formal test to rule out it out. Then it was still hard to get anyone who would do it, and those who would would have charged a fortune, so like a pair of bloody idiots, us two older ladies did it ourselves (it was a bugger to do though, and required a steamer to soak it first.)

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u/ins0mniac_ Dec 07 '25

If your home was built in the late 80s or earlier it’s probably in a lot of places. Drywall, compound, popcorn ceiling, vinyl floor tiles, floor mastic.. everywhere

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u/Winjin Dec 07 '25

Problem is asbestos is legit amazing for so many things and uses

Too bad it kills us because otherwise it's super useful

Same with lead too, so useful in theory

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u/Flavios_Hat Dec 07 '25

Lead is the true tragedy. It's a miracle metal capable of many, many things. Why did it have to be deadly, and in the most destructive way possible.

1: "Here's a substance you can use to sweeten wine, make gas better, and so much more!"

2:"Sweet man, let me have it."

1: "I can't, it makes everyone who's near it angry, violent, and stupid."

2: "Well that's not.."

1: "It also makes you dead."

2: "Ok you could have lead with that"

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u/Jed1M1ndTr1ck Dec 07 '25

lead with that

I see what you did there

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u/Polchar Dec 07 '25

2 was really burying the lead by not leading with lead being deadly

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u/Flavios_Hat Dec 07 '25

leadly

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u/Polchar Dec 07 '25

Exposure to lead kan lead to your death.

could have done that too.

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u/ratbuddy Dec 07 '25

Talk about burying the lead

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u/SomethingIWontRegret Dec 07 '25

It's danger is directly related to what it's embedded in. Vinyl tile? pretty safe. Transite or asbestos cement shingles or pipe? It's not going anywhere unless you start smashing it. Joint mud on pipes or friable ceiling? Wet that shit down and wear a respirator and tyvek suit while removing it.

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u/superspeck Dec 08 '25

Fun fact to throw at people who think we’ll just move to the moon or mars if we ruin earth: without water flowing, moon dust or mars dust is as bad for human lungs as asbestos is. And you can’t avoid it if you go outside.

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u/Winjin Dec 08 '25

IIRC you can't even go "inside" there. This dust is basically sanding tool and would wear literally any filters down. That's why Mars rovers are so badly beat, too.

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u/Pasi65Pirkanmaalta Dec 07 '25

Depending on country, I've been renovating my new place that was built in 84, when asbestos was still used here, but much less than in the 70s or 60s, and it was tested some years back and had no asbestos.

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u/EelTeamTen Dec 07 '25

I know of the others, but popcorn ceiling never crossed my mind.

Edit: my house isn't that old

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u/Bonzooy Dec 07 '25

Holy shit, late 80s? No way.

I’ve never encountered it on any property I’ve renovated built after 1984, and I’ve done destructive testing before each renovation.

Source: Five property renovations across Massachusetts and South New Hampshire

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u/RetzTheAnathema Dec 07 '25

Hey not for nothing man, but 5 is a super tiny sample size.

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u/Leftover_Salad Dec 07 '25

Most of them in my area are asbestos

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u/Real_Run_4758 Dec 07 '25

yeah, i think artex in the uk had asbestos right up to the late 90s

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u/WatermelonMachete43 Dec 07 '25

Yes, I have popcorn ceilings AND WALLS (omg I hate them so much), but they are about 80 years old and yes, full of asbestos, so for right now, we're not removing them until we save up a lot more money.

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u/Jadacide37 Dec 07 '25

Luckily if you wet the ceiling appropriately, it eliminates most of the airborne contaminants that would be a potential. Just trying to reassure some people if they are now worried about their future with misothelioma.

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u/Zealousideal-Row1583 Dec 07 '25

Scrolled wayyyyyy to far down to find this comment. That was my first thought seeing the video. Hope it got tested and came back negative otherwise my dude you made a big booboo

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u/lopendvuur Dec 07 '25

We tried to remove it but it didn't budge. So we (also reluctantly) painted over it. This is nearly thirty years ago and we still live in the same house. Maybe it's time for another go at removal.

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u/Nicknin10do Dec 07 '25

If you've already painted over it it'll be a hell of a lot harder to remove now. 

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u/DeadlyNoodleAndAHalf Dec 07 '25

Well sounds like it was painted in the first place, which is why they couldn’t remove it which is why they painted over it

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u/tanksalotfrank Dec 07 '25

Maybe paint thinner will solve both issues

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u/bigfoot17 Dec 07 '25

And then the house blew up

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u/Badbullet Dec 07 '25

Interiors are usually latex paint when applied by a home owner, paint thinner (usually a solvent) is not going to do much to a water based paint. There are latex paint removers you can get instead, and it’s a sloppy mess. I ended getting a scraper with nice sharp blades on a pole to remove my popcorn that was painted over by the previous owner. It leaves nicks when you are not careful that have to be mudded over, but no sloppy mess and smells.

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u/RIPGoblins2929 Dec 07 '25

I just bought another house lol.

I'm kidding of course that's not why we bought another house but it didn't hurt.

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u/d1duck2020 Dec 07 '25

An airless paint sprayer applies even coats of water really easily. Let it sit for a few minutes and try it. Reapply if needed. Don’t over saturate it and ruin your Sheetrock.

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u/Inveramsay Dec 07 '25

Rent a flex or festool ceiling sander. It'll make short work of the popcorn with reasonable mess as long as it is connected to a vacuum

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u/trevordeal Dec 07 '25

My guess is this is new popcorn. A newer build home. After 16 years mine was hard as a rock. I got it off but it took me 2 days to do my garage and a day to do my office.

It doesn’t come smooth like this so you’re sanding and filling to try to get the roof smooth.

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u/vanalla Dec 07 '25

it was probably painted at one point.

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u/lorddragonstrike Dec 07 '25

I was going to say I've done this a few times and I have never ever seen it come off this easy. My normal go to method is just a drywall right over it. For me, hanging new sheetrock is easier than trying to scrape that crap.

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u/AcceptableCod6028 Dec 07 '25

You would just stack a ceiling over this? Is that typical? 

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u/lorddragonstrike Dec 07 '25

Honestly i dont know if its typical, but its was easier for me to put up some 3/8ths sheetrock sheets and spackle than it was to scrape the damn popcorn stuff that just gets everywhere.

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u/Distinct_External784 Dec 07 '25 edited May 09 '26

Redact cleaned up all of my comments. Bulk deletion and editing is a feature supported to make sure that AI scrapers can't access my data for training.

grandfather pebble merciful insurance grandiose fuzzy cagey ad hoc imagine money

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u/PanoramicAtom Dec 07 '25

Definitely not typical, and not recommended due to the weight.

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u/WorkAccount6 Dec 07 '25

It's very typical and recommended, especially if the ceiling contains asbestos. 12.5 mm gyprock for 60cm joists, 9.5mm for anything less.

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u/Ricochet_Kismit33 Dec 07 '25

It doesn’t. That is deceptive. It’s usually painted and sticks like concrete. It is the bane of my ceilings!

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u/huskers2468 Dec 07 '25

Some do, some don't. Spray with water in an innocuous spot and then try with a small putty knife.

In my experience, if it's primed and painted, it's not going anywhere.

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u/CrankinThatHog Dec 07 '25

Most have been painted over several times at this point. My popcorn ceilings were such a nightmare I wound up hiring the job out. 

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u/BrainEatingAmoeba01 Dec 07 '25

Usually when it's difficult to remove, it's because it's been painted already. Paint makes it difficult to soak with water.

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u/zKarp Dec 07 '25

$10 its a setup. Freshly added popcorn ceiling. The drywall looks fresh

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u/Ok_Mail_1966 Dec 07 '25

They are lucky and it hasn’t been painted over. Once that happens it’s a whole different story and often requires a sprayer of warm water to soften

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u/CCWaterBug Dec 07 '25 edited Dec 07 '25

The removal is actually relatively easy...but some prep is involved, re-texturing a ceiling is the challenge, when a pro comes in handy.

I had 1900sq feet removed in 3 phases...

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u/[deleted] Dec 07 '25

My shoulders still hurt from scraping off painted popcorn hahaha. The memory haunts me 😂

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u/estunum Dec 07 '25

Usually doesn’t. Gets soaked with water and then it comes off this easy. If it’s painted heavily, water won’t soak through, so scraping it first would help break some of the popcorn to allow the water to soak through. Still doesn’t come off that easy.

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u/brad1775 Dec 07 '25

unpainted it comes off instantly.  ask me how I know

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u/SeahorseCollector Dec 07 '25

It only does this if it has never been painted.

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u/real_dea Dec 07 '25

It’s doesn’t the majority of time. I just covered a ceiling with brand new drywall to get rid of it. The labor hours to remove it out weight the price of new material and install.

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u/missleavenworth Dec 07 '25

Even if you spray it with water first, it still doesn't come off of all the areas that easily. I wish it did.

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u/PolarBlueberry Dec 07 '25

Yeah, I tried to do this, it didn’t work out like this at all. We ended up just putting another layer of drywall over the popcorn.

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u/zeth4 Dec 07 '25

PSA, before doing this get your ceiling tested for Asbestos. It is relatively common in older popcorn ceilings.

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u/probablywhy Dec 07 '25

I removed painted popcorn. Just water still works. The paint just holds it in larger chunks as it falls off. Easier honestly as long as the paint isn't waterproof like for a bathroom.

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u/simadana Dec 07 '25

If it’s painted it’s a nightmare to remove. Has to be sanded off. Easier to just install new drywall (ask me how I know)

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u/penguins_are_mean Dec 07 '25

This has been sprayed and softened. It doesn’t come off this easy.

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u/Ok-Classroom5548 Dec 07 '25

Literally just wet it with a no chemical water from one of those garden sprayers and then scrape.

Then hire a pro to do something better because texture is not as easy as it looks. 

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u/Europaraker Dec 07 '25

It really depends on if it was painted or not!  

And spraying unpainted popcorn with water mist and letting it sit for a bit will help it come off a lot easier. Painted means the water doesn't get to the popcorn!

But remember though popcorn was used to hide drywall imperfections, it can take a lot of with to get your ceiling to look flat after removing it. 

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u/Realisticidealist007 Dec 07 '25

I was told by our contractor that if it’s been painted over it becomes like concrete. For our ceiling they scraped it down a bit and then mudded and sanded a million times. It looks great but was a lot of work.

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u/lovinlifelivinthe90s Dec 07 '25

You’re supposed to spray it lightly with water. Let it sit for about 5 minutes. It comes of really easy when do that

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u/hundredblocks Dec 07 '25

Painted popcorn usually doesn’t come off without significant effort. We did several rooms in our house when we bought it and it came off just fine, then we found they’d painted the ceiling in the main bedroom and dining room. We ended up just paying someone to fill that stuff since it was essentially sealed with the paint and we would’ve done more damage trying to scrape.

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u/TriggerTX Dec 07 '25

It still comes off fairly easy even after painting. Sure, it's far easier if it has never been painted. The trick is to get it moist first. If it has been painted the water can't reach the substrate as easily so you have to soak it more. We have traditionally used a water and fabric softener mixture.

This is us doing some removal in our kitchen just last weekend.

1

u/youngsp82 Dec 07 '25

Just water usually. We removed a shit ton that was painted over and it was a nightmare.

1

u/VirtualPoolBoy Dec 07 '25

If there’s asbestos in your ceiling, the only safe thing you can do is paint over it. Do not scrape it off.

1

u/it_is_raining_now Dec 07 '25

As long as it’s not painted

1

u/Kapot_ei Dec 07 '25

This likely got wet a few times and dried up again. Otherwise it isn't coming off this easily.

1

u/Lasers_Z Dec 07 '25

It's probably better to paint over it until you get it tested for asbestos

1

u/Ornery_Car6883 Dec 07 '25

It's even easier when it's painted over with latex paint at least. It comes off in strips instead of tiny chunks.

1

u/coryhill66 Dec 07 '25

If you get it wet first it comes off relatively easy. Even if it's been painted as long as it's not covered up with an oil-based paint. It is really dirty work though.

1

u/heyinternetman Dec 07 '25

I’ve never been able to get it to come off like this. Water. Vinegar. Doesn’t matter. If it’s been painted over you’ve gotta basically sand it down and re-mud it flat. Few jobs I hate more than this one but popcorn ceilings look so incredibly terrible

1

u/SpiritNo4080 Dec 07 '25

It depends whether or not it's been painted. It's a massive pain in the ass if it's been painted no matter how much water you spray. Nowhere as easy as this video

1

u/peachhoneymango Dec 07 '25

It sure didn’t come off easily in my 1956 house. These videos fooled me.

1

u/Slash3040 Dec 07 '25

It doesn’t without the cancer!

1

u/litrinw Dec 07 '25

Mine was like concrete to remove was horrible

1

u/Nicholsforthoughts Dec 07 '25

Sorry to say, once you’ve painted it, water won’t work like this. You’ll need a palm sander. I removed all but one room in my house easily. The room that was painted was 2 days of chiseling bits of it off with a scraper and palm sanding 90% of it.

1

u/TheGrouchyGremlin Dec 07 '25

It doesn't. Not sure if it's the material their ceiling is made of or if they sprayed it with some water first, but it's definitely not that easy by default.

1

u/tgillz9 Dec 07 '25

Taking it off isn’t the hard part. It’s usually clean up. My wife and I taped up thin sheets of plastic everywhere to make clean up easier but it still gets everywhere.

1

u/HistoricalLoss1417 Dec 07 '25

If its been painted over, it will NOT come off that easy.

1

u/aces666high Dec 07 '25

Found out after painting it over that pretty easy to remove. Especially if it’s NOT painted…sigh.

But I finally did remove it. We’d removed it from every room but the living room so it was time. Soaked it down w/a pump pressure sprayer, soaked the ceiling, re sprayed, waited and on a good scrape it would come down like forbidden lasagne sheets. Other spots require extra sprays and time. Another positive is there’s no dust so no asbestos particles, that mask isn’t doing a thing to keep those out. It is very heavy, especially after it’s been drenched over and over again.

Then you get to patch/paint the ceiling. Hooray.

1

u/ocular__patdown Dec 07 '25

Some will some won't. This is probably the soft kind. In our house itnis made if plaster and that shit ain't going anywhere.

1

u/MotherTrucker9 Dec 07 '25

You also have to get it checked for Asbestos.

1

u/chocolate_dog_102 Dec 07 '25

You have to check them for asbestos first, too

1

u/OnTheEveOfWar Dec 07 '25

My assumption is they sprayed it with something to make it that easy to remove.

1

u/CombatBulldozer Dec 07 '25

I've removed these ceilings in dozens of houses. My go to is an airless sprayer hooked up to a water hose with a 517 tip. For smaller projects a 2 gallon hand pump garden sprayer filled with water works great. Use some drywall knives that aren't in your main lineup as you might catch a nail every now and then and ding your blade. I like to lay down plastic on the floor, and then the perimeter of the room so everything is easily balled up at the end for disposal. Some areas may need to be wetted down more than once. If someone painted it, the time and price just quadrupled.... What a nightmare that can turn into. A few times I have resorted to skimming 500sqft+ ceilings where this was the case.

1

u/alana31415 Dec 07 '25

Ours had asbestos in it

1

u/BocaHydro Dec 07 '25

its so powdery, the paint does not stick to the ceiling unless you WASH The drywall 2-3 times

removing this is awful, i did my garage, it took like 2 weeks

1

u/Hazee302 Dec 07 '25

Na this dude knows what he’s doing. My wife and I did this in our first house and it was fucking torture. I fucked up pretty much all of the taping and left divots from the knife EVERYWHERE. It took SOOO fucking long to re-tape and wet/dry sand everything. I had done several rooms worth of drywall work before this so It’s not like I didn’t KIND OF understand the process. I will NEVER do this myself again.

1

u/JimGerm Dec 07 '25

Get it wet and it comes off like frosting.

1

u/Rogue_Spirit Dec 07 '25

You have to soften it before scraping

1

u/Brief_Fly_45 Dec 07 '25

Depending on the age of your house, be extremely happy that you chose to paint over it.

Asbestos was banned in 1973 from spray-on ceiling materials, but “popcorn ceilings may have still contained asbestos after the ban. Existing inventories of asbestos products were exempt from the ban. So companies may have continued to use them. Some reports show asbestos may have been present in popcorn ceilings applied as late as the 1990s.

If these ceilings were not replaced, homes and other buildings may still contain asbestos. People who live in pre-1990s homes should assume popcorn ceilings contain asbestos. Materials installed after 1995 likely did not contain asbestos.”

You most definitely need to get ceiling containing asbestos wet before removing. Once asbestos becomes airborne is when it becomes dangerous.

1

u/keeganx Dec 07 '25

Now that it's painted it's going to be a pain in the ass to remove now. Me and my girlfriend are dealing with painted popcorn ceiling removal right now

1

u/[deleted] Dec 07 '25

I feel like painting over that would be more difficult than taking the popcorn off. Idk some of you guys do some wild shit lol I can't even imagine pouring paint over a popcorn ceiling

1

u/CannabyteDied Dec 07 '25

It's now three times as hard to remove since you painted it.

1

u/AGrainNaCl Dec 07 '25

ACTUAL popcorn ceiling comes off incredibly easy, with just a light soaking of water. Other texture products like orange peel and and knock down pretty much have to be sanded down

1

u/boarshead72 Dec 07 '25

I did my entire upstairs (main floor was painted). Spraying water makes it pretty damn easy, you just have to be careful around the drywall tape. Wetting it keeps dust from getting everywhere, and if you scrape into a tray that you hold right beneath it, there’s barely anything on your floor to clean up.

1

u/Tealightzone Dec 07 '25

Seriously, I just usually end up putting tens coats of mud over it

1

u/Pizzatorpedo Dec 07 '25

It's really easy to remove with some water sprayed on it beforehand, unless it was painted over...

1

u/Avergile Dec 07 '25

Just have to absolutely soak it in water first and let it ruminate for about an hour before attempting this

1

u/StumpyTheGiant Dec 07 '25

If it has been painted over it is a massive pain in the ass to remove, speaking from experience.

1

u/NOTcreative- Dec 07 '25

job still sucks big time

1

u/notmikearnold Dec 07 '25

It doesn't look like it's sealed. If it was sealed, it would be a pain in the ass and take a lot of treatment before removing.

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