You could drywall over it. Is there anywhere that tests or can you buy a kit that will tell you if there is asbestos in the popcorn. I hate that stuff and we do have it as well. We are going to wood plank our ceilings to keep down the mess involved in removing it. You can get thin wood tongue and groove at Lowe's for just this situation. I'm looking forward to following to see what others say. Good luck!

Have a sample of it tested. Cheap.

There are testing services and there are kits that allow you to take the samples yourself and mail them off.

simplify52 and tats....thanks for responding. Husband nixed the tongue and groove idea. I've thought about thin drywall over it, but that would require removing all of the crown throughout the house. I've read about some of the kits that you mail off for texting. Seems they have very mixed reviews but for $95 I guess it would be worth a shot to know for sure. Unfortunately, there are no testing services in the area.

Patricia, thanks for the response. I read the wet scrape method would be okay but wanted to ask here and get pro advice and /or personal experience advice.

Unfortunately, the contractors around here only do the dry scrape. I actually thought of trying to do this myself, but I know it is way more than I can handle.

bamamom. You could probably do a 1/4 inch drywall without disturbing the crown moulding. DIY wet method is messy but if you are in decent health not difficult. Just make sure to mask the entire area first. Or discuss it with your contractor, negotiate a price with them to do it with the wet method. He might find he prefers it after using it. I've done both. I find the wet method is easier.

Thank you rollinggirl. I'll confess that I had actually started scrapping the popcorn in a spare bedroom. I did use a spray bottle filled with water and one of those popcorn scrapping tools that you can attach to a long handle. DIL had just finished scrapping her DR and said its not to hard but messy. I didn't put anything on the carpet cause I'm planning to replace the carpets in the bedrooms (the remainder of the house is hardwood and tile). When I started getting gouges in the drywall, I switched to a 6" putty knife which was easier and then I decided to google and watch the YouTube videos to make sure I was headed the right direction and not missing some steps. That's when the asbestos possibility came to light! I had done half the room already. I did vacuum everything up with a hepa bag less vac and disposed of the scrapings in plastic bags that I had sprayed the inside with water. Then I washed the canister and filters with hot soap and water. Everything came to a halt and I started calling contractors for estimates and asking about their process.

I must admit it wasn't the hardest thing to do but I will be 59 in a couple of months and definitely felt the burn in my muscles.

I guess I can continue as I've already done and then prime and paint this room, leaving the other rooms in the house as is.

So as long as the popcorn is damp I should be okay?

I don't know on asbestos I only know as far as removing popcorn. It depends on where you live when they stopped using it. Your best bet would be to have it tested first. From what I could find researching the subject however as long as it is kept wet and disposed of you aren't at risk. It's not a high risk exposure like pipe wrap or the stuff they used in air ducts. I would be sure to wear a hepa mask however, they sell them at the hardware store. From what I found that's all the precautions you need. If the pros are willing to do it dry then it's probably not dangerous.

I just did my kitchen, living room, and daughter's room ( and will scrape the rest of the ceilings as well). Sprayed with water, waited ten minutes, and it came off like butter. Easy. I did have to sand and repair in some spots. I put a couple of coats of drywall primer on before ceiling paint. It looks flat and nearly perfect. The rooms look so much bigger. I didn't tape plastic down but moved all furniture out. I put a canvas tarp down and when it filled, emptied it in the garbage can outside. Easy. I cleaned as I went. However, my ceilings were not previously painted so it came off easily. For sure test for asbestos if you are concerned.

Thanks rollinggirl and Shmed - I think I was trying to scrape to soon after wetting a section. I'm going to send off a sample for testing before doing any other rooms. I'll try and finish this one myself. Only one bathroom and the kitchen have the popcorn painted over but if we do the whole house I'll leave those for the pros.

Thanks again.

Sounds like a smart plan. If you do any more don't be afraid to get it fairly wet. Let us know how things work out.

I finished scraping the ceiling yesterday. Feeling it today. Bought sparkle/joint compound to fill in mistakes. Not as many on the second half of the room. I did put plastic down this time and wore goggles and a mask. Going to fill in the gouges today and hope to sand tomorrow. Maybe get it painted this weekend to include the walls which after removing the stars was the original intent. Ha!

Husband said if we (I) intend to have smooth ceilings in the remaining areas of the house we will pay to have it done.

@bamamom you are one tough woman. Go for it. Well done. What a sense of accomplishment you must feel. Then again getting the rest done isn't a bad idea. Rest those muscles. Drink lots of water to help them heal.

rollinggirl - I am definitely not as tough as I once was. Haha!

I've spackled the ceiling and calling it a day! Maybe tomorrow I can sand. I put the spackle on very heavy and smoothed it as if I was doing a smooth icing on a cake! Which sounds very good right now. Says to wait 12 hours before sanding but I'm waiting till tomorrow morning.

Thank you for the water suggestion. Very good idea and one I had completely forgotten about. Plus some Motrin.

I'm happy with it so far. Looking forward to painting the ceiling so I can pull the carpet out and then paint the walls. I'll post when I get the ceiling painted and the fan/light back up.

PS. The picture is from my iPad and looks very grainy, as if the texture is still on the ceiling.. It is much smoother than the photo shows

It looks great, the picture came across smooth. Sounds like you're doing it right to me . You've gotten so much done. Sounds like you need a cattle prod so (we) starts helping. Well done, I for one am completely impressed. I want to see pictures of the finished product.

Will do. Thanks

@bamamom- did you texture the ceilings again after you scraped the popcorn off? I'm in the process now, and trying to figure out next steps. Still have a hallway and a bedroom to scrape, I did the wet method, and while messy it wasn't too bad. Will be fixing up the ceilings this weekend, I'm thinking of doing the roll on knock down texture, but curious what you did.

Holly - sorry for the delay getting back to you. I am out of town till Friday night but happened to take a couple of pics of the ceiling with my phone before leaving to share with my sister. So I can share now as well.

I tried to do a light spray on texture and it was hideous!!! So I sanded that off and decided what the heck we will have three rooms with smooth ceilings. So I left the ceiling smooth. I must say I'm tickled to death with how it turned out. It was a LOT of sweat and burning muscles but now that it's finished, I'm so glad it did it.

My next project is to replace the original Baseboards with 4" tall baseboard like we have in the rooms wih the hardwoods, basically every room except the three bedrooms. Then the dark brown wall color will be painted either BM Manchrster Tan or Elmira White. Hope to get that done next week.

The carpet has been hauled away along with all the plastic. i will pull the pad up when I finish the baseboards and walls.

I've decided, though it may take two weeks per room, that I am going to scrape the other two bedrooms. Will start on our MB next and move our into this room and other furniture to other areas of the house till MB is finished. Then the other spare room will be done. Once they are done...new carpet in all three. Yay!

Heres pic of the ceiling. I will update with the new baseboards and wall color. It will definitely be a couple months before this bedroom is back to normal. Ha!

Well my pics are not attaching.

There we go.

PS. I will say there are a few little "dimples" but as my DIL said your not a pro and no one is going to come in and critique your work.

I will probably hire out the scraping of the ceilings in the living areas of the house since those rooms are pretty big. Plus the kitchen popcorn ceiling has been painted as well as the guest bath ceiling.

It looks really good, well done. I've seen " Pros " that don't do so well.

rollinggirl Thank you so much. It's not perfect for sure but 1000% better than before. I notice the imperfection, but if I don't wear my glasses in there I can't see them :-) I did look at the MB ceiling, that was pro done, with my glasses on and was surprised to see some of the same little imperfections in there too.

Holly have yo decided what to do yet? Keep us posted.

You should be proud you worked hard on it. Congrats.

My ceilings aren't totally perfect. There are imperfections to be seen, especially when I'm on the ladder looking directly up. But I'm sure once the furniture and rugs and art work is in my eye will go to those things and not straight up to the ceiling. I'm so glad to read about others doing this because I was unsure before I started. I watched a lot of YouTube videos and read a bunch about scrapping popcorn before I started, but sometimes you just have to get in there and go and even if it isn't perfect it's a whole lot better than it was. Seriously, my home was cavernous before. The opposite of perfect isn't bad and sometimes good is good enough. I have a total of 1500 sqft just in my upstairs. I understand that a contractor will charge 2 bucks a sqft; that's some serious change that could go for something else.

@Shmed if your guest are ladders looking at the ceiling you have bigger problems than the small imperfections in your work. ;) As you said it doesn't need to be perfect. Contractors will stop taking advantage when they realize home owners can and will do these things on their own. Well done.

We have just bought a home that has popcorn ceiling with sparkle. The house was built in 1985 so asbestos does not concern me. I have seen one procedure that I intend to use. It involves securely duct taping a 6" putty knife to a shop vac tool. Do not wet the ceiling. As you scrap the popcorn ceiling off, the vac vacuums it eliminating a lot of dust and mess. There is a vacuum tool made especially for this that promises not to damage the ceiling. I am going to check this out.

@Carmen if you decide to make your own you might go with a plastic scraper. It won't gouge like metal. Gotta love that sparkle :)

Good advice! There is a scraper--I think plastic--that is not suppose to damage ceilings and is attached to a vac nozzle on a hose, which is suppose to fit most shop vac models. We will research more after we get out of our house tomorrow and closer to closing on our next house in July.

Bananamom, I'm 69 and looking forward to working on my new 1985 paneled house with popcorn-textured ceiling, dirty carpet, and inundated cigarette smell. We won't close until July; however, like you, I have researched a number of things. I am collecting ideas to apply to our place so your topic caught my attention. I will be trying a dry scrape using a shop vacuum to catch most of the stuff as the textured is scalped away. Your ceiling looks great. Your experience helpful. Best wishes with your project.

in california any popcorn ceiling installed before 1980 is presumed to have asbestos (almost all did) After that it was banned.

Well the ceiling fan/light was hung this morning. I've started pulling the baseboards and hope to prime and paint the walls tomorrow.

When I returned from my recent trip, I was looking at the pics on my laptop and the ceilings appeared to have a slight texture (orange skin looking?). YIKES! So, this morning in the daylight I looked at the ceiling and there is a slight texture that I can see with my glasses on (LOL) and it is from the 1/2" roller! Dang! My husband told me to keep my glasses off when looking at the ceiling. Ha! So, lesson learned. Next ceiling gets painted with a smaller nap roller and most likely the SW brand of paint. I love the way their paint "levels" so that should really give a smoother surface. My DIL used the Behr ceiling paint and it seems a little smoother. I used Valspar's ceiling paint. Goes on a beautiful lavender color and turns white as it dries.

Carmen - Good luck with your projects. Post updates for us.

Shmed - the estimate for scrapping and skimcoating our house was $2900! They estimated the rooms with the popcorn ceilings at 1500 sq ft. I've three rooms that have the smooth ceilings from previous renovations. Whew! You are very correct in your statement those funds could be used for something else. :-)

Okay, I'm back to pulling my baseboards.

Well, I worked on two of my popcorn rooms this weekend, pretty sure they had asbestos since they were applied in 1973. I just used a cool scraper I found that collects most of the scrapings, and a cheap garden sprayer for the water. I just made sure to wear safety glasses and a mask. After skim coating and sanding, I applied roll on texture since I don't have a hopper, and then painted it. These are pictures before and after paint. Roller on the texture was was more labor intensive than I expected, and it took over a gallon of ceiling paint to cover it which wasn't expected either. I am happy how the texturing turned out, I will probably rent a hopper to do my living room area as it is almost 800SF and I think will just take too long to roll on.

Holly - Bless your heart. I know that roll on texture is a LOT of work. Did that in our kitchen. Looks good girl. I think the flat texture looks so much better than the little hanging popcorn pieces for sure.

Rest up today.