How to Remove Popcorn Ceiling

1. Before starting the removing popcorn ceiling, it is imperative that you clear the rooms from any furniture or loose fixtures of other kinds. Rest of the room and items, that cannot be removed, should be covered by the plastic sheets completely to avoid any messy aftermath. Use Frog Tape to secure the sheets, especially if the room is carpeted to avoid any dust getting into carpets.
2. Power supply of the room should be cut off before starting your work. You can use circuit breaker to avoid power supply to whole house. Wall outlets should also be covered by plastic sheet to prevent them from letting water in them during wetting process.
3. For added ventilation in the room, you may place a fan in the room as well. Never face it towards the ceiling though. Place it at a place, where it does not blow up the dust on the floor as well. It is better to keep it at lowest settings.

Once all the preparations are done properly, you may start the actual process.

1. The actual process starts by wetting the ceiling. 4-6 foot square areas are wetted at a time to remove the ceiling properly. For this purpose, the pump sprayer is used which is filled with the solution of warm water and 2 to 3 tablespoons of dishwashing liquid per gallon. After spraying the area, let it sit for at least 15-20 minutes to let the solution soak in entirely and penetrate as deep as possible. As the popcorn surface is very dry and porous, it will easily soak. Soak it time and again as needed.
2. Once you are sure that the material is now all wet and ready to get off easily, get up on the ladder and start using large 6-inch floor scraper or a large putty knife and start scraping gently the popcorns away. You have to be very careful, as you do not want to cip into the drywall itself. Neither do you want to damage the tape holding it together. And if you feel that even after 15-20 minutes of soaking has not made the ceiling give way and sticks there, it is better to repeat the soaking process to soften the surface and wait further for 10 to 15 minutes to let the water soften the material to desired consistency.
3. After you are done with removing most of the ceiling using large scraper, use small putty knife to scrape off the rest of the material and to get corners clear of residual ceiling. Keep on working around the room until the ceiling is clear of all the material perfectly.

1. Once all the texture is taken off completely, let the ceiling dry fully if it is wet. You may notice some of the sheetrock peeking through parts of the ceiling. It is nothing to be worried about so long as the surface itself, is smooth. To get perfectly finished and smooth look, you should sand down the entire ceiling.
2. It also happens more often that while removing texture, some of the drywall gets chipped away as well which should be repaired before you proceed to next step. Do not worry; repairing is quite simple. If the hole is big, use joint compound and tape just like you would repair any drywall area. Let the compound to dry for at least 24 hours. Use sand paper to smooth it before moving on to the next step.
3. Once drying process completes and it is smooth, prime the ceiling with you choice wall primer and paint it with your desired colour. For best and long lasting solution and finishing, make sure you use ceiling-specific latex paint.
4. Once the paint dries completely, make sure you dust and clean up the area thoroughly before removing the sheets and restoring the power of the room. Carefully remove the plastic sheeting from the floor and wall outlets ensuring no scraped mess spills over. Clean up floors thoroughly and in case of carpeting, vacuum clean the whole area.