The Cost To Remove Popcorn Ceiling

How much will it cost to remove the popcorn ceiling texture in my home?

At CertaPro Painters® of Lewisville – Flower Mound, TX we know that if you have popcorn texture on the ceilings in your home, chances are you’ve considered having it removed at some point. Very few home improvement projects will update your home as quickly as removing dated popcorn and applying a modern orange peel or knockdown texture to your ceilings. Not to mention, popcorn texture is a magnet for dust, pet fur, and cobwebs.

We understand that cost is an important factor when it comes time to update your home by removing popcorn texture. The exact cost of popcorn removal is determined by several factors, including:

• Room size and number of rooms
• What year your home was built
• Whether the popcorn has ever been painted
• The condition of your ceilings after we remove the popcorn texture
• What type of texture you would like us to put on the ceiling after we remove the popcorn
• Whether we are also painting the walls or other surfaces in the home
• Whether your home is furnished or empty

Although we can’t provide an exact cost until we complete your free proposal (which we are now offering through remote video conference as well as in-person), we can give you some insight on what’s involved in a popcorn ceiling texture removal project so that you can get an idea of what’s required.

Room size and number of rooms

We’ll determine a price per square foot based on the remaining factors, and then apply that price to the actual number of square feet of ceiling area in your home. Obviously, the more square feet, the higher the price. Keep in mind though, that as the size of the project increases, we reduce the price per square foot because we’re able to take advantage of economies of scale.

What year your home was built

Unfortunately, asbestos was used in popcorn ceiling texture until the early 1980s. If your home was built prior to 1985, we will request that you have an asbestos test done prior to our arrival to remove the popcorn. If the test comes back positive for asbestos, unfortunately, we will not be able to remove the texture and you will need to work with an asbestos remediation company.

Whether the popcorn has ever been painted

In most cases, the popcorn in our North Texas homes has never been painted. That’s good news because the popcorn removal process involved wetting the popcorn and then scraping it off the ceiling. If you’ve ever had a water leak in your home that got your popcorn texture wet, you may have noticed that it almost immediately started sagging in the area that got wet. If the popcorn has ever been painted though, the paint will keep the water from wetting the popcorn itself, and it will not come down easily. In that case, we might need to first sand the popcorn to remove the paint and then start the wetting process. That extra step = more time = higher cost.

The condition of your ceilings after we remove the popcorn texture

You may have heard popcorn texture referred to as “acoustic texture.” Don’t be fooled! Popcorn texture was invented for one reason, and one reason only. When tract homes were being built at lightning speed, some home builders realized that they could save time and money by cutting corners when finishing ceilings, and simply covering up their sloppy work with very coarse popcorn texture. Of course, not every builder cut corners, but popcorn became a fad, and even the conscientious builders followed suit. When the popcorn comes down, we’ll be able to see what condition the ceiling is in. In the typical case, your ceiling will be in good condition, and ready for us to apply a modern texture, primer, and paint. Unfortunately, if you’re home’s builder was one of those who cut corners, there may be many hours of additional work required to get your ceiling ready for the new texture.

What type of texture you would like us to put on the ceiling

Many of our customers assume that the lowest cost option is no texture at all. That’s actually not the case. Whether the builder cut corners or not, the ceiling will invariably need work before it will be able to simply apply primer and paint. In most cases, that includes applying multiple very thin layers of drywall “mud” to the ceiling with sanding in between.  A modern orange peel or knockdown texture – which you probably already have on your walls – is a lower-cost option.

Whether we are also painting the walls or other surfaces in the home

When we apply the new texture and coatings to the ceilings, we need to very carefully protect your walls from overspray. Unless, of course, we’re going to be painting the walls.  If that’s the case, we can cover any overspray with the new wall paint, and you’ll save a bit of money.

Whether your home is furnished or empty

This is a big consideration. Popcorn texture removal is a messy process. We will create plastic “walls” within your home to contain the dust as much as possible, and we’ll completely cover your floors and everything else in your home. The more we have to cover, the more time and materials are needed. Similarly, because we’ll be removing the popcorn while standing on ladders, we have to have room to move those ladders around. That may require that we move your furniture every time we need to move our ladders. If your home is fully furnished, it could add up to 20% to the cost of your popcorn removal project.

Lastly, give yourself a vacation!

We strongly suggest that our customers plan to be out of the house while popcorn removal is going on. It’s hard to overstate how messy a process it is, and the plastic enclosures we put up will make it difficult to navigate around your home. So give yourself a vacation, get out of the house for a few days, and come home to your gorgeous, updated, new home!

These are just a few examples of the topics we’ll go over with you when we provide your free proposal. As you can see, there’s no easy answer to “how much will it cost to remove the popcorn ceiling texture in my home?” That being said, while we can’t give you a price without viewing your home, we can assure you that you will receive an outstanding value when you select CertaPro Painters® of Lewisville – Flower Mound for your popcorn removal project.

One last factor to keep in mind while you’re planning your project: most of our whole-house popcorn removal projects take between one and two weeks to complete, with the size of the home, the height of the ceilings, and overall scope of the project being the determining factors.