New Westminster Popcorn Texture Removal Archives

November 23, 2013November 2, 2016

Ceiling Refinishing

Most fads of the 60s and 70s have pretty much disappeared. Except pet rocks. Like parrots and other long-living animals, pet rocks often outlived their owners, ending up abandoned in animal shelters.

This condo at 55 Blackberry Drive in New Westminster has had ceiling refinishing

Anyway, for some unexplainable reason, popcorn ceilings, sometimes known as stippled ceilings, are also still hanging in there. What you may not know is that you can do something about it! Ceiling refinishing is an option that will leave you with smooth ceilings.

Can’t I Just Scrape Off My Ceiling Texture?

Getting smooth ceilings isn’t as simple as scraping off the texture. There are other things to consider, outlined below, and this is why a professional who has a lot of ceiling experience should be hired. At RemoveCeilingTexture.com, our entire business is built around ceiling refinishing. We have the expertise necessary to turn your outdated, textured ceilings into smooth, flawless surfaces.

Asbestos:

If your home was built prior to the early 80s, the ceiling texture could contain asbestos. Asbestos fibres are generally not dangerous unless they are airborne, which they will become if you scrape the texture. These fibres are microscopic and when breathed in can get lodged in your lungs. This can lead to breathing problems, scarring and in extreme cases, mesothelioma. If you do have asbestos in your texture, you can still have smooth ceilings. RemoveCeilingTexture.com’s unique process can give you smooth ceilings without disturbing the asbestos fibres. The fibres are sealed in and won’t be disturbed unless there’s some sort of home demolition, or a major earthquake, in which case, ceiling texture would be the least of your problems.

Painted Ceiling Texture:

People often don’t know what to do with dirty ceiling texture. It can’t be cleaned, so they just slap some paint over it. This method is not an ideal solution. Who wants to repaint their ceilings every 6 months? If the texture has been painted, it won’t scrape off easily, if at all. It’ll be very difficult to remove it without gouging the ceiling. This is another great reason to have the professionals at RemoveCeilingTexture.com deal with your ceilings.

Uneven Ceilings:

The reason stipple is applied to ceilings is so that they don’t have to be finished properly. This saves the builder time and money. If you do manage to remove the texture from your ceilings, you will likely find that they’re in rough shape. They may be uneven or wavy. Wavy ceilings are seen especially in condos with concrete ceilings. The concrete frames they use are not perfect, so you’re left with waves, ridges, holes and other blemishes. This is where ceiling refinishing comes in.

What is Ceiling Refinishing and What is Remove Ceiling Texture’s Process?

If there is no asbestos in the ceiling texture, the texture is removed with a special sander/vacuum. This is not some Red Green inspired duct-taped contraption, but a refined piece of German engineering created specifically for the wall and ceiling industry.

*If there is asbestos in the ceiling, we skip the sanding step and add an encapsulant to the mud compound for the skim coating step below.

The first step to smooth ceilings is sanding the texture with the Festool specialty sander

The Festool sander is German-engineered for the wall and ceiling industry

Next comes the crucial step that will make your ceilings look professional: ceiling refinishing. A mud compound is applied by hawk and trowel, the same method used by plaster artisans for centuries. Depending on the condition of the ceiling, one to three coats are applied in this fashion, with time for drying between each coat.

During the ceiling refinishing process a mud compound is applied

The last step is sanding. Our method of applying the compound is so precise that the ceilings don’t really need much sanding at all. Just a light sanding and the finished product is revealed: a smooth, flawless surface.

Ceiling refinishing and repair in Vancouver

Refinished ceilings with potlights in Vancouver

I Immediately Regret This Decision

A North Vancouver homeowner called Remove Ceiling Texture after a failed DIY attempt

So you thought getting smooth ceilings would be easy. You armed yourself with a scraper and the same single-minded determination that wives often witness when husbands refuse to follow the IKEA directions (seriously though, you need the Rosetta Stone to figure out those Swedish hieroglyphics). You thought, “I’m a handy guy (or gal), how hard could it be?” You got up on your ladder and you began the tedious process of scraping the popcorn texture. You soon regretted this decision. Either the texture didn’t come off nicely and you’ve damaged the drywall, or the texture did come off, but then you saw that the ceilings were uneven and looked terrible.

Failed DIY ceiling texture removal attempt in North Vancouver. RCT was called to fix the ceilings.

It’s shortly after this happens that we get a lot of calls from bashful homeowners. Our name may be Remove Ceiling Texture, but only because “Remove Ceiling Texture & Refinish Ceilings & Repair Ceiling Imperfections & Fix Homeowner’s Ceiling Mistakes” makes for a pretty long domain name.

Instead of trying to do it yourself, contact us from the start. We provide FREE, no obligation quotes for ceiling refinishing. Call us today at 604-420-7578 or contact us here or use the form below.

Do your ceilings need refinishing? Contact us today for a FREE, no obligation quote!

February 4, 2013March 23, 2020

Fire damage and popcorn ceilings

Fire damaged popcorn ceiling in New Westminster BC

Not all damage to popcorn ceilings comes from a leaky roof or a clumsy upstairs neighbour. The owners of this New Westminster condo found themselves in the midst of a fire, which left a good chunk of their apartment, including their popcorn ceiling, severely damaged. That’s why they got in touch with Vancouver’s Ceiling Experts at RemoveCeilingTexture.com.

As depicted in the before and after shots, you can see that we were able to remove the fire and smoke damaged popcorn from the concrete ceilings of this New Westminster condo and resurfaced the ceiling to a perfectly smooth, paint-ready finish.

Does your home have damaged/ugly popcorn ceilings? Click here to contact us!

January 7, 2013March 23, 2020

How textured ceilings reduce your property value

Textured ceilings are out of date and obsolete

Any type of textured ceiling, including popcorn ceilings have a common purpose. They are sprayed on to hide any imperfections and lack of workmanship from the original builder. Textured ceilings are an easy method to distract your eyes from noticing how terrible the workmanship is on the underlying surface that is your ceiling.

There are those who argue that textured ceilings have acoustic properties. This theory suggests that textured ceilings reduce the echoing effect of sound in your home. However the acoustic properties of textured ceilings are highly exaggerated.

Sure, in a completely empty house, textured ceilings may have a minimal sound dampening effect. But once you have furniture, area rugs, picture frames and other furnishing inside the house, the sound dampening properties of a textured ceiling are entirely inconsequential.

Textured ceilings are an eyesore

Cracked ceiling texture reduces property value

The fact that home builders realized in the 1960’s that they could cut corners by spraying ceilings with popcorn texture to hide workmanship problems may have seemed like an easy solution to a problem back in the day. But it created a number of new problems. In addition to a variety of respiratory problems that textured ceilings contribute to, they also create a rough, uneven surface that is ultimately a bigger eyesore than the problem they were designed to solve in the first place.

Imagine this; Would you really want that type of popcorn texture on any other surfaces in your home? Would you be OK with popcorn texture on your hardwood floors? Would you not mind if your counter-tops were sprayed with popcorn texture? How about if your windows were covered with popcorn texture? Would that be OK? The answer is an astounding “No way”! And for a good reason. Popcorn texture is ugly, nasty and disgusting to look at. In short, textured ceilings are one massive eyesore throughout your house.

Now imagine if you were listing your house to sell it, and your lawn and front yard was ugly and neglected. Would that eyesore reduce your home’s curb appeal? Would that in turn reduce your home’s market value? You bet. There is a good reason why well maintained and well groomed homes sell quicker and fetch a higher price on the market.

It’s no different on the inside of your house. An ugly, unsightly, cracking and otherwise diseased ceiling will have negative effects on the market value of your home.

But obviously, we are in the business of removing textured ceilings and replacing them with beautiful smooth ceilings, so it is expected that we have a bias against textured ceiling. So let’s have a look at what some Realtors and other home owners have to say about the negative impact of textured popcorn ceilings on the value of a house.

What the experts have to say

Below is a sampling of what Realtors and homeowners alike have to say about whether textured ceilings lower the market value of your home or not.

Cascade Real Estate Team (California/Arizona); There ought to be special place in hell for whoever invented popcorn ceilings. They’re ugly, they’re impossible to clean, they may contain asbestos, and they are a big turn-off to potential home-buyers. My personal favorite is when it has glitter in it! If you are trying to sell your home, I recommend getting rid of them. Popcorn ceilings distract potential buyers from the true value of your home.

Roof Leak in Burnaby causes cracked and delaminated ceilings — Horrific scene; This ceiling texture is delaminated due to leaks

Mauri W. (Fix and Flip Network); Most people do not want the trouble of removing old unsightly ceiling coverings, especially if they contain hazardous asbestos, which can be expensive and problematic to remove. You could sell as-is to a home investor who plans to renovate. Or you can find home buyers who will overlook the old style ceilings if your home has enough pluses. While it’s ideal to remove the popcorn texturing, you also have other options—depending on the condition of the ceiling, whether it contains asbestos and your budget.

Amy G. (Washington State Realtor); I have personally removed popcorn ceilings in 2 homes. ( my husband is a contractor and I am a real estate agent) It is not as awful to do as it might seem (of course have it tested for asbestos first) and I cannot tell you how many clients I have had turn around and walk back out the door with one glance at popcorn ceilings. True dollar to dollar value, not huge, but it makes a big difference in perceived value which is what matters to the buyer. Good luck!!!

Ed B. (California Realtor); It all depends on what your competition has. If most of your competition has had the popcorn removed, they’ll look more attractive than your home because it’s going to require less updating than your home. If you’ve updated everything in the home except for the popcorn, it’s not going to look right. It’s a relatively inexpensive. I would recommend you shop around to get the popcorn removed and have the ceilings smooth. Just one professional’s opinion

Removing popcorn textured ceilings in your home, and replacing them with beautiful, smooth and clean ceilings will increase your property value. And it is a lot more affordable than you might expect. Fill out the form below to get in touch with us. We will provide a quick and free quote and stick to it. No surprises, GUARANTEED!

Take action now! Fill this contact form to get in touch with us!

December 26, 2012March 23, 2020

Popcorn ceilings and people’s thoughts

We asked them what they think about their popcorn ceilings

Ceiling texture that has cracked over the years

As a company that has built its business around removing popcorn ceilings in Metro Vancouver, you would imagine that we have a certain bias against textured ceiling. But one thing is for certain. If our potential customers didn’t have a problem with textured ceilings in their home, our business would have never been plausible.

In addition to the potential hazards that we have explained your popcorn ceiling can pose, we set out to do a social experiment and ask our clients, what is it about popcorn ceilings that they dislike, and what motivates them to get in touch with RemoveCeilingTexture.com. As you may imagine, there were a variety of responses, some of which contained colourful language that doesn’t belong on this blog. But below is a slice of some of the responses that we got;

And here’s what they told us

Greta from Richmond, BC: One problem is you can’t dust them without the “popcorn” coming off. Super annoying, particularly around any ceiling fans.

Raymond from New Westminster BC: Asbestos was used in the ceiling texture during the 50s and 60s. It’s use actually extended well into the late 70s and it’s frequently found in houses of that era. The expense of scraping the popcorn is significantly increased if it is present, assuming the contractors go the full 9 yards. Somewhere between double and triple the cost.

Leung from Burnaby, BC: I had popcorn ceilings in one of my investment properties at Metrotown. The popcorn ceilings were painted several times. Popcorn isn’t fun to paint over! Even with the thicker rollers you have to go over it at least 4-5 times to make sure you get enough paint on. Then you have the issue of the popcorn falling off while you are painting it. I hate it and I’m glad it’s gone.

Richard (Custom Home Buider) from West Vancouver, BC: Popcorn ceilings were only designed to hide poor ceiling finishes. You typically don’t see popcorn ceilings in custom built homes but more in condominiums or spec homes.

Susan from Port Moody, BC: I’m with the “no popcorn” people. It’s what everyone has said and worse, if you ask me. They hold nasty cobwebs and rain popcorn pellets on you when you try to dust them. Painting them is awful and time consuming, but like any ceiling, they yellow in time and must be repainted every so often. And yes, they are really just a cheap way to hide blemishes. And I’m going to be even more curmudgeonly and say that I don’t buy the “acoustic” argument. We had the ceiling texture in our vaulted living room ceiling removed, and we have solid-surface floors. We really do not have a problem at all with echoing & noise. Project creep is just an excuse. Get them removed when you have those floors installed. The result will be gorgeous.

Wayne from Langley, BC: I am a general contractor and have been for 30 plus years. I’ve applied popcorn texture to many ceilings and have owned homes with it also. I also suffer with allergies, and the dust from the popcorn does a real number on me.The thing with the popcorn ceiling is that it deteriorates over time and decomposes into dust particles that fall all over you, your bed, furniture, floors, pictures frames, moldings, etc. The only way to fix this is to remove the texture and have a smooth ceiling so you can breathe clean air for a bit. The flat textured ceilings also dry and deteriorate over time, but as you can tell if you pass a broom across it, a lot less of the texture will fall off on each stroke than the coarse popcorn ceilings.

Collin from Coquitlam, BC: 1975 popcorn ceiling got water damage and started falling down at one house I lived in . The popcorn tested positive for asbestos of course. Assume any popcorn ceiling has asbestos until proven otherwise just like you assume all 1970s or earlier paint contains lead.

Joan from North Vancouver, BC: I would be worried about getting mesothelioma from a deteriorating popcorn ceiling. It would be insane to remove a popcorn ceiling without a professional. You cannot be sure what is in the popcorn ceiling. People seem very unaware of the potential hazards. If you get cancer from removing the ceiling or living with a crumbling one, it would be years later. I think the public is sadly unaware.

Christine from Vancouver, BC: Not only do I hate popcorn, but I hate all textures, both ceilings and walls. They look tacky and gross. When I see textured walls or ceilings, I imagine a scenario in which two hillbillies banter back and forth about how to class up their trailer home. The one says to the other, “You know what would really class up our home, hon? Textured ceilin’s ‘n some fancy wooden trim! Yeehaw!” My husband and I just spent the whole day de-tackifying a room full of textured walls and ceilings, and ripping off trim. The simpler, the better in my opinion- and classier looking too.

Nolan from White Rock, BC: Seems like people either hate these ceilings or are indifferent to them. Does anybody actually like popcorn ceilings though? Not that I’ve heard of. By the way, if you are concerned about noise traveling from room to room, a good solid-core door does much more to fight noise than acoustic ceilings ever could.

Jason from Port Coquitlam, BC: While I admit the acoustic dampening is good if you have hard floors and nothing in the house, for carpeted houses and houses with actual furniture, wall art, shelves, etc… popcorn ceilings can be more annoying than useful. I have already accidentally scraped the popcorn from some our low ceilings numerous times in the two and half years since we moved in and been quite annoyed by the dust falling in my eyes, clothes, food, etc. I sleep in a loft bed, so I am particularly close to the ceiling which makes it even more annoying. And the fact that you can never match the existing texture perfectly when you repair it, makes things worse. Even worse, we have a moth infestation, and find several bloody waxworms crawling around the walls and roof per day. We vacuum them up frequently to prevent them laying more eggs, but spotting them is made much harder due to the stupid popcorn. This is particularly annoying because they do not stay on the roof, they actually spin silk to come down or even just fall right off, so we are trying to get into the habit of covering all of our food so that we don’t end up with a mouthful of maggots (not to mention that every twitch of the hair makes us think that a worm just fell on our heads). If the ceiling was flat, the task would be so much easier, cleaner and faster.

Helen from Surrey, BC: Moth maggots have been falling from my ugly popcorn ceiling for weeks now. I will hear a light pop and look over to see one trying to snuggle up with me on our leather sofa, it’s absolutely gross! So I took a tissue and a chair and walked around to try and nap the suckers from their popcorn dream home. I discovered SO many stuck up there inside a small web-like cocoon. I am removing the popcorn ceilings pronto! I can’t have worms raining from my ceiling any longer!

Here’s what you can do

If you are in agreement with the statements our fellow citizens have made about their popcorn ceilings, but don’t have the time or patience to deal with the problem, you’re still in luck. Contact the professionals at RemoveCeilingTexture.com TODAY!

We will come in, measure your place, give you a firm price and stick to it. We’ll deal with the pain of removing those ugly popcorn ceilings so you don’t have to. We’re in and out with a quick turnaround time and we won’t leave a large dent in your wallet.Simply fill out the form below and we will get in touch with you in within 24 hours.

Do your textured ceilings make you cringe? Click here to do something about them!

May 2, 2011March 23, 2020

Amazing Ceiling Transformation in New Westminster

This apartment was located in the Sapperton neighborhood of New Westminster, in a low-rise building which was built in the 1970s. The ceiling texture in this project included asbestos, as do a very large percentage of dwellings built prior to 1980. Therefore we could not disturb the ceiling texture whatsoever, as it would be a serious health hazard.

As you can see in the before and after photos, the transformation from the textured ceilings, to a beautiful, smooth ceiling absolutely stunning. Our exclusive process seals away the asbestos for the life of the building, and eliminates it’s health hazards. Do yourself and your family a favor and contact RemoveCeilingTexture.com TODAY! Stop putting up with that ugly, dusty, dirty and unhealthy textured ceiling in your home.

If you suspect that your ceiling popcorn texture includes any asbestos, contact us immediately to find out how our exclusive process can eliminate the health threat of asbestos to your family, at a fraction of the cost of asbestos abatement.

Click on images to see full size photo: