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Popcorn Belongs in a Bowl, Not on a Ceiling

Renovations

29 Feb

Removing popcorn ceilings can be compared to… well, nothing. Is it pleasant? Absolutely not. However, if you’re like us, you pretty much despise popcorn ceilings and will do just about anything to remove them. So, our first task after getting the keys was removing those wonderful (insert sarcasm here) popcorn ceilings. Fortunately, we only had to worry about our first floor since the basement isn’t finished.

how to remove popcorn ceilings

We’ve never removed popcorn ceilings before. It was not really something on either of our must-do lists and not something we like to do for entertainment. Luckily, we had a few people to ask and got the best tips and tricks.

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How to Remove Popcorn Ceilings | What We Learned

Cover EVERY single square inch of your floor with plastic. We used painter’s plastic that you can pick up at your local hardware store. It worked wonders. We used duct tape to secure it to the edges of each room and it made cleanup fairly easy.

Don’t make this same mistake! Us newbies thought it would be easier to just sweep up the bathroom and laminate floors, so we didn’t cover them with plastic. We’d already been scraping for four hours and wanted to take a ‘shortcut.’ Take our word for it – it is not easier. Just cover everything in plastic – even the bathrooms.

Once you add water to the popcorn ceilings, it turns into this thick paste that gets everywhere. Save yourself the headache and put the dang plastic down.

We used a lawn and garden sprayer to spray the ceilings with water before scraping. Be generous when spraying the water.

If your ceilings have been painted, the popcorn is about 1000 times harder to remove. We would recommend spraying it with water and letting it sit for about 15 minutes.


Putty knives worked the best for us to do the actual scraping. Brett’s was on a six foot broom handle and mine was handheld. It worked well to have both sizes – Brett was able to stand and cover more ground while I worked around the outside edges of the room on a ladder.

The stuff you scrape off gets everywhere. On your clothes, in your hair, on the walls… Everywhere.

Once you scrape off the popcorn, you’re still not done. You then have to go over it with sandpaper. The positive: you only have to sand the rough parts. The negative: the dust.

We used a pole sander but after everything was done, I did a little research and found there is an extension you can attach to your shop vac. Might be worth looking into to help with the mess!

Cleaning isn’t too bad. Warm water and some elbow grease will get the ‘stuff’ off the walls. Soap, water and a mop will help with the bathroom and kitchen floors. Be ready to go through the house at least three times.

The job was messy. In total, it took about eight hours. It was quite a way to spend the first day in the new house. However, we’re so glad we didn’t have to worry about maneuvering around furniture. We’re waiting to finish and add texture to the ceilings once we get all the walls moved in the house. One step at a time, right?

All our best,

Signature

 


North


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3 Comments

Previous Post: « The New House: A Tour
Next Post: Day Two Is for Knocking Down a Wall »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Aunt Gayle says

    February 29, 2016 at 3:03 pm

    Wow Kelly! You guys rock –

    Reply
    • Kelly says

      March 6, 2016 at 7:33 pm

      Thanks Aunt Gayle!
      Hope all is well!

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Day Two is For Knocking Down a Wall - North Country Nest says:
    March 3, 2016 at 8:29 pm

    […] After scraping the ceilings of the entire first floor of the new house (which took an excruciatingly-long amount of time) we moved on to knocking down the main wall. Side note, if you missed our post about the ceiling scraping event, check it out here. […]

    Reply

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oh, hi!

We’re Brett and Kelly! A husband and wife team tackling our first complete home renovation. We love all things DIY, our two furbabes and lazy summer days out on the lake. Our mission? To share the journey of turning a house into a home.

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what we’re loving right now

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the archives

Who doesn't love a good before and after?!? Who doesn't love a good before and after?!?
Last summer, Brett and I didn’t get out on the w Last summer, Brett and I didn’t get out on the water at all – not once did we take the boat out.

Given the fact that we live in the Land of 10,000 Lakes, I felt like the worst Minnesotan. How could we not enjoy the water when there’s three within five miles of our house?

This year? We've been able to get out on some body of water at least once per week - how cool is that?!

What’s been really great about these last few months is that we’ve seemed to have found a nice “balance” between go-go-go and taking time to enjoy whatever it may be.

While this season of relaxed work is probably not the norm, it's been a pleasant surprise that we'll be enjoying for as long as we can!

Enjoy the week, friends!
If you need me, I'll be here gazing lovingly at ou If you need me, I'll be here gazing lovingly at our newly trimmed windows and painted walls 😍

We have to add trim to the slider, install the baseboards and frame up + install the pantry door.

And then...

This kitchen will be DONE! 🙌
Yesterday, #ontheblog we did a mid-year check in o Yesterday, #ontheblog we did a mid-year check in on our renovation list and shared two new projects we're adding (of course!)

The second addition? Giving a little refresh to this laundry room by pushing back the washer, dryer and cabinets.

We finished it wayyyy back in 2017 but there was a small frustration: the washer and dryer cover the window.

Every few months we'd circle back to the space and see how we could make it work. It was one of those little issues that might not seem like a big deal to anyone else, but here's the thing - you deserve to LOVE your home.

After four and a half years of constant projects, I often find myself wondering why in the hell we are doing this and I keep coming back to this idea that a home is meant to be loved, to share a story, to work for you, to be a space that you can relax in and enjoy.

So while the washer and dryer covering a window might be insignificant to a visitor, for us, it's something we see every day. And, after three years of brainstorming, we finally found a solution that felt good.

I guess that's the bonus of being four years into a reno - the idea of knocking down a wall seems like an easy project nowadays 😂😂
Just in case you missed it - new last Thursday #on Just in case you missed it - new last Thursday #ontheblog is a tour of our front porch and a few summer decorating ideas!

Hope you all had a safe and happy Fourth of July! 🧨
Sometimes, it's not all rainbows and butterflies.. Sometimes, it's not all rainbows and butterflies... especially when it comes to neighbors.

New post #ontheblog today all about the lawsuit we've been in with our neighbor for the last year. And it started all because of our garage.

In short: three years ago the county required us to get a survey done on our property in order to build the garage. The results showed that the easement our neighbor was using to access her property was not in the right place - it was inside our property lines instead of outside.

Fast forward to July 2, 2019 when we were served lawsuit paperwork from said neighbor, claiming the rights to the easement location - and it's been a long, stressful process since then.

But, we received the good news last week from our lawyer - everything is finalized and we can finally put this whole mess behind us!

Cheers to starting the week off on a high note!
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In other news, Brett scored big time and found a giant rug for our living room - it was half off and arrived last week. Now we're patiently waiting until we get the new floors down until we roll it out. Check the stories if you want to get a sneak peak!😁😁 Enjoy the day, my friends!
Spent the evening at my parent's with two of my si Spent the evening at my parent's with two of my siblings and their kiddos.

Brett showed up around dinner time and proceeded to spend the next hour in a water + cake fight with six kids under 10.

Yup, I'm married to an adult child. 😂😂 Kidding aside - I had one of those 'I love summer' moments, watching them all run around outside, laughing their heads off.

Hope you're enjoying the start to your week, friends! 🙌
So, here's the deal. The kitchen tile project was So, here's the deal. The kitchen tile project was not all sunshine and roses.

Two words: dried grout.

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We started this entryway with white built-ins and light walls. Damn it looked good in pictures but real life? With two black dogs and a lake... Well let's just say the functionality of the design choices were at an all time low.

So, we overhauled the space and darkened the walls and built-ins. While I was a little nervous to go so dark, I have to admit Brett's instincts were right one this one.

So, here's to continuing to find that balance of function and design - and I'd love hear, have you compromised anything because it just didn't fit with how your family lives in your home?!?

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