Ceilings
Popcorn Ceiling Removal.
Take the 1970s off your ceiling — properly, and without wrecking the house.
On the job
Real work from Durham Region homes and job sites.
Popcorn removal is a messy job done well or a disaster done badly. Scraping alone leaves a scarred, uneven ceiling; the smooth result you actually want comes from the skim coat afterwards.
We contain the room in plastic, protect floors and fixtures, wet-scrape the texture, then skim coat, sand and paint the ceiling to a smooth finish.
What's included
- Poly containment of walls, floors, doorways and vents
- Fixture and vent-cover removal and reinstall
- Wet-scrape removal to reduce airborne dust
- Repair of gouges, loose tape and old seams
- One to two skim coats to a smooth finish
- Prime and two coats of flat ceiling paint
- Full cleanup and debris disposal
The details
Asbestos: read this first
Texture applied before roughly 1990 in Ontario may contain asbestos. We do not scrape unknown ceilings. A sample test through an accredited lab costs very little, and if it comes back positive the work must go to a licensed abatement contractor. We will tell you this before quoting, every time.
Painted popcorn ceilings
Once texture has been painted it no longer absorbs water and will not scrape cleanly. In those cases the better route is usually to skim directly over the texture or to board over the existing ceiling. We assess which on site.
What the room looks like after
A dead-flat ceiling in modern flat white, with crisp wall-to-ceiling lines. If you want a light texture instead of smooth, we can spray a fine orange peel.
Common questions
How long does a room take?
An average bedroom is one to two days including skim coat drying. A whole main floor is typically four to six days.
Do we need to move out?
No. We work room by room with containment, so the rest of the house stays usable.
Should I remove or cover it?
Removal gives the better long-term result and does not lose ceiling height. Covering makes sense when the existing ceiling is badly damaged or asbestos-positive and stable.