Ricochet Construction is a Dallas-area leader in ceiling repair of all varieties. Popcorn ceilings -- which were popular in homes built beginning in the 1950’s and continuing all the way through the 1980’s -- are a common source of irritation for many property owners. The aesthetics just haven’t survived as home decoration has evolved, and so most people want to eliminate the popcorn texture and work from a smooth, painted ceiling surface before doing any form of updating or redecorating.

Although most people agree they want to remove the popcorn ceiling, there are important several issues to take into account when deciding exactly how to deal with this form of ceiling.

You often hear that popcorn material can be easily removed with water and a scraper. Which is true because the texture itself will absorb water, swell, and dislodge from its hold to the drywall beneath it. This can be a fairly quick, cheap, and painless way to remove your ceiling texture. This is absolutely the best scenario to hope for in this type of ceiling repair.

However, using water to dislodge a popcorn ceiling only works if the texturing has not been painted over. In most cases of ceiling texture that has been in place for a long period of time, it has been painted at least once, if not several times. So there may be a quite thick layer of paint between the texture and any treatment applied to it. The paint will not allow water to be absorbed into the texturing, which means that it won’t dislodge. With painted popcorn ceilings you must often use chemical strippers, do much more intense scraping, and you often cause damage to the underlying drywall in the process.

At Ricochet, we are well-versed in what it takes to clean off popcorn texturing to allow new painting to be done, whether this requires a water-removal or a full stripping for painted surfaces. We can also advise -- depending on the difficulty of the stripping -- on whether it might be more efficient and reliable long-term to cover the popcorn with another form of ceiling material, or to rip out the ceiling and re-drywall completely. While this sounds like a bigger job, it’s actually sometimes cheaper, and yields a much cleaner and long-lasting ceiling, than trying to remove stubborn popcorn texturing.

Asbestos was a very common building material for quite a long time in American construction, and it’s not uncommon to find it in popcorn ceilings in older structures. At Ricochet, we can quickly and accurately determine whether the ceiling contains asbestos, and we know how to deal with the actual removal of the material in a safe manner. There are home kits that allow consumers to check for asbestos, but we generally recommend having a professional do this in order to ensure that the testing is done correctly.

While ceiling texture isn’t an emergency repair issue, it is something that reduces the aesthetic quality of a home, and it can lower your ability to enjoy the home you’ve worked so hard to buy and design for yourself. It can also make renting units more difficult, both because popcorn ceilings have come to be associated with older spaces, and with potential health hazards, such as asbestos.

The scope of the job of removing a popcorn ceiling can go from quite simple to very complicated, but in either situation this is a home or building improvement that can make a dramatic difference in how you experience a space, and we understand just exactly how important that is to any property owner.

At Ricochet Construction, we are well-equipped and fully experienced in ceiling repairs, and can inspect your properties and advise you on exactly what repairs you need, and how long they should take. We have contracted with numerous owners and HOA’s on the removal of older materials, and can supply a long list of satisfied customers to give references as to the quality, timeliness, and professionalism of our work. Contact us any time to find out more!