How To Remove a Popcorn Ceiling

Do the scrape test

Before you start removing the old popcorn texture, do a simple scrape test in a small area of the ceiling. First, try scraping a dry area of the ceiling with your drywall knife. If the popcorn texture comes off easily, you’re good; you can start scraping the rest of the ceiling. If it’s really stuck on there, you can use water to help remove it.

Use a garden pump sprayer to mist the ceiling, and let it soak for about 15 minutes before scraping. Give it only a light misting – too much water could damage the drywall or cause the joint tape to loosen. If the texture hasn’t softened after 15 minutes, spray it again and wait another 10 to 15 minutes. Using the water method can also help reduce the amount of dust scraping the old texture generates.

If the texture still hasn’t softened, it might have been painted, or paint might have been mixed into the texture before application. In either case, water won’t easily penetrate it. If the texture is painted, you may be able to dry scrape it first to reveal some of the unpainted texture, and then wet scrape the surface. If the texture contains paint, you may have to dry-scrape the entire ceiling or abandon the project and cover it with drywall or T&G boards.

Tip: Prevent gouging by rounding off the corners of your popcorn scraper—whether it’s a wide putty knife or drywall taping knife—so it won’t gouge the ceiling and leave you with dozens of ceiling wounds to repair. Use a file, a sander or an electric grinder to do this.

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Prep the room

Every successful DIY job starts with the right preparations, especially a big, messy one like removing a popcorn ceiling. This is a messy job, really messy.

Remove the furniture

If possible, remove all furniture from the room you’ll be working in. As you remove the popcorn ceiling, you will not want furniture to be in your way when moving the ladder. If moving everything out of the room is not possible, arrange it in a cluster and cover it with drop cloths.

Remove ceiling fans and light fixtures 

Shut off the breaker to any fixtures and remove them. Leaving lighting and ceiling fans in place may seem easier, but they will only get in your way and get covered with wet popcorn scrapings. Plus, you do not want to accidentally spray water into electrical fixtures.

Protect can lights from water spray

For recessed “can” lights, stuff newspaper or rosin paper inside them to ensure that they remain dry when water is sprayed around them.

Cover electrical boxes

Shut off the power to any electrical boxes in the ceiling and cover them with painter’s tape. This will keep the wiring dry when spraying water on the textured ceiling. Overlap the sides of the junction box with tape, and then trim the perimeter with a utility knife, taking care not to nick the wires.

Cover the floors and walls

Cover your floors and walls with plastic drop cloths as you begin the popcorn ceiling removal process. It is not recommended to use canvas drop cloths because water can soak through them. Using plastic drop cloths also makes cleanup easier, since they can be rolled up and thrown in the trash once your project is finished. After the popcorn ceiling texture has been removed, leave the plastic in place to catch any mess you’ll make repairing and sanding it later.

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Start scraping the popcorn texture off ceiling

Now that everything is covered and the room is prepped, it’s time to start scraping. The key here is work in small sections. Spray, if you’re using water, and scrape about four square feet at a time.

If you work on too large an area at once, the popcorn might dry before you have time to scrape it off. If that happens, repeat spraying the area and wait another 10 to 15 minutes before scraping.

Tip: Use a mud pan—the kind used for joint compound—to catch the popcorn before it hits the floor. That way, you’re not tracking it all over the place when you walk and move the ladder around. You may also use the edge of the pan to clean your scraper when it becomes loaded up with wet popcorn.

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Patch and smooth the ceiling after scraping

Scraping alone won’t leave you with a paint-ready ceiling. You may need to patch the drywall as scraping it probably created a few dings and gouges. It’s At a minimum, you’ll have to sand the ceiling to get it perfectly smooth before painting.

Prime and paint

Once the old popcorn texture is gone and the ceiling is all smoothed, it’s time to paint the ceiling. Be sure to use a primer first. Once that’s done, you can remove the tarps, re-hang all the fixtures and move the furniture back to where you want it.