Not all popcorn ceilings are made with asbestos fibers but many certainly were. The only way to know for sure is to have a sample tested.

Were the ceilings ever painted? If yes, it could be a real challange to get them down. Also, most drywall compound in older homes contained asbestos.

You should have no concern about your ceilings. Asbestos does not emit vapor. When asbestos is removed, the fibers can become airborne. This is the real danger and professional removal is required which can become expensive.

1971 is close on the asbestos dates. Look in your local phone book for asbestos abatement contractors and/or hazardous material testing services. They can come and take a sample, test it and let you know either way. I imagine the test is only around $100. If they find asbestos, hire a professional to remove it.

If the prior owners removed the texture on your office ceiling and repainted, you should be fine in that room. But ask the testers about it just to put your mind at ease.

Why would you expect a seller to say to you that a popcorn ceiling could "possibly" have asbestos in it? Again, it only becomes an issue if you want to remove it. In the 40s and 50s, it was common to put asbestos siding on homes that mimicked cedar shingle siding. The siding was never a problem. However, the workmen who helped manufacture the siding is another story. Again, asbestos does NOT emit any toxic gas.

Either way, a cheaper option is to spray paint the ceiling - you will be stuck with the texture but you'll be amazed at the difference between white and that icky grey. Someone more knowledgeable abt asbestos ought to chime in, but spraying the ceiling as opposed to rolling, which might knock a lot of stuff loose, ought to work as far as I know.

If you feel handy, an airless sprayer is the best tool for the job, you can rent them, or, if you have a fair bit of painting to do, you may consider buying one like a Wagner Paint Crew, two words of advice: 1) don't get one if you're careless with equipment, they are delicate and dangerous, and 2) they require quite a lot of masking, prep and cleaning. If they are not properly cleaned and cared for, they don't last.

As for the painting, assuming there's no asbestos (have it tested) you can lightly vacuum or run a broom over it to remove loose stuff or cobwebs, otherwise, just paint straight over it. It's not like there isn't a lot for the paint to key to. Paint ceiling first, walls after.

Test for asbestos first, just moistening it wouldn't be enough to be safe, also, if it's asbestos, it would need to be disposed of appropriately.

I would contact an expert or leave it and paint over it, if it does contain asbestos.

Our house was built in 1985. We bought it in 1991 and had the popcorn ceilings made smooth before moving in. No one mentioned anything about asbestos in the ceilings. We were warned, however, that the kitchen vinyl floor might have asbestos in it because 1985 was around the time when asbestos was outlawed in vinyl flooring. Instead of removing the vinyl floor, we covered it with a new vinyl floor.

By the way, we were very pleased with the popcorn ceiling removal. But it was a very messy job, best done before you move in.

Remove the popcorn. Painting over it is just putting lipstick on the pig. You will love the look when you have smooth ceilings.

I removed about 2000 sq ft of popcorn ceiling in a house we used to own. Some had been painted, some not.

If it has been painted, the best way is to go over the ceiling with a wide bladed drywall finishing blade to knock off some popcorns. Knocking down the texture opens it up so water will penetrate more easily. Then wet down with a garden sprayer, let soak and, using the wide blade and a drywall hawk, commence scraping, catching the peeled texture on the hawk. Keep a large trash container positioned so you can scrape the hawk off directly into the trash.

Same process but w/o the need to knockdown for unpainted ceilings.

As far as messes go, I thought it was minimally messy--about a 3 on a scale from 1-10. No where near as nasty as working with large amounts of Gorilla glue, applying blacktop sealer or removing old tile & black mastic from hardwood floors! (Yeh, I'm made some real doozey messes.) :-)

Even though i was informed that asbestos was removed as an ingredient in acoustic(popcorn) ceiling texture in the seventies, you should even have it tested if your house is newer than the seventies into the eighties because although it was banned (asbestos) in the manufacturing back in the seventies, suppliers have had it in their warehouses longer than that and have sold it well past the seventies. It's always a safe bet to get it tested and as bdpeck states, there are abasement testers in most all areas that will test it for free or a minimal charge. Most places you can take a quarter sized sample over to them and they'll test it right on the spot. Never remove it until you have it tested and it's deemed safe. Wetting it down is an unsafe practice if it contains asbestos, but is one of the steps taken when it's removed. Here's a link that might help or google removing asbestos popcorn ceilings for more info.

Here is a link that might be useful: asbestos

is it just one room? For all the agravation couldn't you just have some drywallers in and re-drywall the ceiling over the popcorn?

I removed a popcorn ceiling last month but I did have it tested for asbestos first. There is a lab in CA that does it for about $25. You take a small sample from the ceiling, mail it in, and you get the results back very quickly--in about a day or two. Email me privately if you want to pursue the testing and I'll track down the name of the lab from my file.