Removing Popcorn Ceiling Texture & Wallpaper - Oh Joy!

While these two may not be the most fun steps in a remodel, they have quick turn around times and almost instant results on the plus side.  The place is full, yes full, of popcorn ceilings - whoever thought they were a good idea!?!?!  I may be stepping on toes, but really!!!  And wallpaper, well - we like paint I guess - easy to change and so easy to do over.    Here are a few of hints......  (If you aren't interested in these two actions, just skip to the pictures.....)

Removing popcorn ceilings

• Take a sample to see if there is asbestos in your ceiling (likely if it was installed prior to 1978) and send it to a lab for analysis.  Check the EPA's site or the web for more info.  We were lucky - our samples came back free and clear.  
• Get a garden sprayer - these are a godsend for both of these activities.  Much easier on your hands than a hand held sprayer bottle and more effective at wetting.  A one or two gallon on is great!
• Use a little less than a 1/4 cup of liquid dish soap per gallon of water as wetting agent.  This really helps the ceiling "hold" the water.
• Cover your floors really well - from what we read or heard a plastic sheet and then a paint cloth or paper on top of that.  In our case we are replacing the sub flooring in places or at least are down to the sub floor, so it wasn't much of an issue.
• Gently, but thoroughly and methodically spray the ceiling with the water in about 3 foot wide sections.  Let it soak in - or as my mom told me "let the water do the work." (Of course, she was talking about something I burned in a pan, but the idea is the same.)  On unpainted ceilings (they look VERY similar to painted) the stuff comes down fairly easily with a wide paint scrapper.  We used 8" and 10" blades most the time and held a 13 gallon rectangular plastic waste basket underneath it to catch the majority of stuff.  It takes a bit of time to get the rhythm, but once you get the hang of it, it goes fairly easily.  It really helps to have two people - one person to spray and cleanup (empty empty the waste basket, sweep, wipe things down) and the other to scrape.
• If you are really having to work at it, it probably needs more water.  Spray it again and let it set for a bit before you go back at it. It should scrape off fairly easily. If you are dealing with PAINTED popcorn ceilings, you'll need to spray more, just don't go overboard, you don't want to ruin the drywall.
• We bought two Werner 20" high (about 42" long and a foot wide) folding platforms to work on.  A friend lent us his years ago to paint our ceilings and they are a life saver.  Bill found them on sale the day after Thanksgiving and bought two for less than the price of one at their usual price.  Keep your eyes open for them.  This allowed the scraper to just keep walking and working without having to get up an down so much. (Oh yeah, the sprayer/cleaner is also the platform mover!)
• Let the stuff that didn't make it into the waste  baskets dry a little then sweep it up and toss it in the garbage.  Look up and smile!!!  Even without the mud or paint they look great!

Here are some photos of the process.......

Here's is one of the upstairs bedrooms with the closets removed and the
popcorn ceiling still in place.

One of the greatest tools on earth - the yard sprayer!  

Half the first popcorn ceiling done!  Instant gratification!

The scrapper in action.  That waste basket is a must!
And those platforms!!!  Great all around tool for a home.

Ah, the importance of good footwear on a construction site!
Go Keen!

And then there is the wall paper!  Not that different.  Spray, pull, scrape, sponge down and clean up!  The only problem is the adhesive is nastier and the spray stinkier!  Still, with two of us remembering the mantra "Let the water do the work" it went okay.  Here are our hints for removing grass cloth wallpaper:

• Use that garden sprayer again and fill it with a 1:1 ratio (yep, 1:1) of HOT water and white vinegar.  We actually ended up only mixing one gallon (total) at a time after the first time because as the water cooled it seemed to become less effective.
• Again, cover you floor is necessary and one person on the web said keep a lot of old towels on hand and roll up them up along the base of the wall to catch run off.  Then do a lot of laundry.
• Score the wall paper with one of those handy dandy wallpaper scorers.  The grass cloth takes a lot of scoring.  I am not sure about other papers.  Don't press too hard because you don't want to harm the sheetrock underneath.
• Spray one panel well and then the next.  Apply the water slowly, but not too lightly.  When you are done spraying the second panel, start pulling the first.  
• We found the top layer came of fairly easily, then we had to go back and spray the glue/second layer again before we could really get it that off.  Again - let the water do the work - don't rush. 
• The material underneath really affected the ease of removal.  We had three types - unfinished dry wall, painted and deeply textured drywall, and drywall that was primed.  They all had their advantages and challenges, so, just be patient.....
• Clean off the last of the glue with a sponge and a couple of buckets of water.  Again, don't get things too wet, but.....
• Stinky, but rewarding!  

After on the left and before on the right.  The platforms were
great for this too!

All gone!  Look at all the different wall textures!  Who knew?

I'll get to the really fun stuff tomorrow!  They started work on the foundation for the addition this week!