More and more people asking me to remove the old “popcorn” ceilings, what would be the best way to remove this in a remodeling scenario, when people are living in the house and you want the best possible job with the least intrusion?
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I think the best way is to use a wet sponge then scape off the tougher areas.
We have found the best way to remove popcorn ceilings is to use our paint sprayer to spray water on the ceiling (careful not to use too much) - follow this with a scraper using a light hand.
The Homax Products 12 in. Ceiling Texture Scraper features a unique bag attachment to help capture falling debris. It is designed to remove unwanted popcorn ceiling texture. The 12 inch blade scrapes large areas - complete a room in 30 minutes or less. WE DO THE SAME THING JH BASEMENTS DOES WITH THE AIRLESS SPRAYER AS WELL. YOU COULD ALSO USE A GARDEN (PUMP TYPE) SPRAYER.Spray with water and let sit for 30 min. If you are removing a large area by the time you finish spraying you should be ready to scrape it off. Comes off very easily. Do not soak the ceiling.
There are many good answers but before you remove texture or acoustic spray you need to know the age of your home some older homes have asbestos in the acoustic and this can be hazardous to remove. If your home is over 30 years old you should have it tested it could save your life long term. If it is you can always leave the acoustic & skim coat it with drywall mud to encapsulate it and give it the same finnished look.
Hope this info is helpfull
Michael Parker
Parker Remodeling & Construction
Absolutely have your ceiling tested for asbestos before working on it. Another way to remove popcorn visually, is just to put new sheet rock on top of it, effectively making your ceiling just a little bit lower. 
Rhoda http://www.billfryconstruction.com/
First take a small piece of the popcorn ceiling (about a dime size with do) and bring it to a local asbestos testing company. I recommend NVL Laboratories here in Seattle. They charge about $25 and will get you the results in a day or so. If you find any level of asbestos, hire a professional asbestos abatement company to properly remove and dispose of the popcorn ceiling. If no asbestos is found, we have found the best way is to first install 6 mil plastic on the floors and then painters plastic over the walls. Spray/mist the ceiling with water using either a garden hose or paint sprayer (especially if the ceiling has been primed and painted well) Don’t overload the ceiling with water or you will create a small lake over the floors. Afer letting the water soak for a minute, carefully scrape off the popcorn with a large blade. Remove plastic from walls, then floors and dispose. You will most likely have to repair the seams in the sheetrock with a coat or two of joint compound. Call us to discuss your project!
You can get rid of popcorn by spraying then scraping, but in order to get a smooth finish you will need to sand or skim coat.
Assuming the popcorn has not been painted over, simply moisten the popcorn and scrap it off the ceiling. One might want to cover the floor with some type of protection as the process is very messy.
After it’s tested, you can use steam to ensure that you don’t over wet the ceiling and then scrape it.
First and most for your safety, wear safety glasses, place a face mask, then need to test for asbestos & lead, depends on age of home, penetrate the ceiling with small screw driver to determine type of ceiling material, then spray with warm water lightly, then use a hand scraper to remove popcorn material.
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Test
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Stream
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Scrape
(If it has asbestos it has to be propely removed. Submit to a lab and if it is confirmed, hire a professional asbestos removal company)
I agree with Next Level Construction…Spray with water and let sit for 30 min. If you are removing a large area by the time you finish spraying you should be ready to scrape it off. Comes off very easily. Do not soak the ceiling. My wife and I just did several large sections of our home. It was very messy, but if you lay down plastic and scrape very gently, it comes off very easily with slight imperfections afterwards.
The very first thing that should be done is to test for asbestos. I think all contractors are in concensus on that. Besides removal, your options are to encapsulate the popcorn ceiling with either new sheetrock, or seal it and skim coat. If you do decide to remove it and you have detected asbestos a certified asbestos removal firm must do the job if you decide to hire a contractor, otherwise a homeowner may do it themself.
The best removal technique is to wet the ceiling with a pump garden spayer thoroughly, making several runs back and forth as to ensure full water saturation and to prevent any dust particles from atomizing once they are disturbed from scraping. You need to wear proper full body smocks and Respirators rated for asbestos removal. I use a paint scraper tool to do the rest. Start in one corner and work acrcoss the entire room. It's best to do cleanup while the debris is still wet too so have someone working behind you cleaning up and continuing to wet the surfaces as they dry.
Michael Fazekas, Owner
Soleil GCI
Portland, ORhttp://www.dlwalldesign.com THE BEST WAY FOR OUR COMPANY TO REMOVE POPCORN CELING FIRST COVER ALL THE FUNITURE FLOOR AND ANY PLACE THAT CAN BE DIRT BY THE POPCORN REMOVING WE USE BAKING SODA AND HOT WATER BAKING SODA MAKE THE WATER GO SMOTHER AND IT PENETRATE MORE INTO THE POPCORN THIS IS A MESSY JOB SO I RECOMEND USE BLACK GARBAGE BAGS GOOD LOOK…