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Paint Home Repair Remodeling

Smooth Ceiling Diliema

2 months ago

Hello all -
Recently had a qualified contractor remove a popcorn ceiling in a 2000 square single level home (performed well and safe as it had abesteos) but the transition to smooth ceilings turned bad. His crew mudded, sanded, applied primer, paint but the existing drywall lines from when the drywall was installed, in 1969, are still showing 😔. Also mudded/sanded blemishes showing too through the paint. Is this a lack of paint issue? He suggested a complete repaint -- reprime and repaint. I suggested a reprime and repaint but with orange peel style to hide blemishes that could show again. Which is better in your folks opinion? I went with his choice but worried I'm in a cycle of him and his crew coming back each week to repair and repaint I orginally wanted smooth ceilings but now I'm regretting it as I'm worried the 2nd reprime/repaint suggestion could continues to show the ceiling imperfections . Thoughts from those who worked on 60s drywall appreciated. It makes sense why the original builders put popcorn in (hide drywall imperfections) but the popcorn and it's beloved abesteos had to go.

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Comments (6)

PRO
PPF.
2 months ago
last modified: 2 months ago
but the existing drywall lines from when the drywall was installed, in 1969, are still showing

I don't see any drywall lines in your images.

What are you trying to show in the image with the two red lines?

Are we looking at painted ceilings?

I see what looks like some imperfections. Is this what you are asking about?
kevingary
Original Author
2 months ago
Sorry my pictures may have been reduced in resolution after uploading. The red lines show the dry wall lines and your circles show the areas they may have smoothed over or old nail smoothings.
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It's possible that this design could be scraped off, but probably it would need to either be plastered over or drywalled over, both of which are large undertakings -- if you have a more modern style, though, it might be worth it, as this is very dated in all but the most formal traditional houses. I think that recessed lights are great for both your own experience (more light in more places) and for resale -- you could leave your current wiring and just update that light, adding cans, instead of changing over entirely.
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If you can’t remove then you will have to patch and i will tell you from experience it is not easy to do as each ceiling was done by a person that had their own tools. Can this be smoothed by just remving the texture or just have adywall guy come out and see if it can be smoothed with drywall compound
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Comments (6)
Smooth texture is far more aesthetically pleasing. Plus, your rooms will look lighter and brighter. Each little bump or ridge in the ceiling surface, no matter how small, casts a tiny shadow. Those textures have thousands and thousands of those little bumps and ridges. Combined, it makes a huge difference in the room. Too, the ceiling stays cleaner, with less grab for airborne dust to cling to. You say that this dry wall guy says he "never" does smooth ceilings. But then, you say he says he'll do it for $400. A level 5 surface is a lot harder and painstaking than a textured one. Not just any one can do them. The texture's primary purpose is to hide flaws. So, naturally, contractors prefer to do textured ceilings, and their stated reasoning for it varies in creativity. I have a smooth ceiling in the large living room of my relatively new-to-me-house. (Have no idea why they only did the living room that way.) It was built in 1997, and I live in a climate with extreme temperature fluctuations. No cracks in the ceiling, If you choose to go with smooth, I would NOT hire a guy who "never does them." A $400 upcharge for the entire house is phenomenal, though. If he can get a different subcontractor who is skilled in level 5 drywall finish, get it in writing before he sobers up :-) Then send me his name and I'll fly him to Colorado to do the rest of my ceilings. For reference, here's a link to some photos of the different ceiling textures to help you make a decision. Drywall ceiling texture
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I really dislike faux beams in most cases, IMO they always look phony I would add some molding and leave it.
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klem1
2 months ago
To answer your question,no amount of paint can hide poor mudding and sanding job.
lharpie
2 months ago
Looks kind of like my bathroom ceiling which i patched myself lol. our contractor took completely uneven old plaster paired with drywall of totally different thickness and made it look flat. same for drywall team that did our kitchen (again matching plaster and drywall flawlessly). it doesn’t look terrible in the pics but painting isn’t going tomake it go away. i’d definitely choose flat paint!
ci_lantro
2 months ago
Impossible to know what is going on from just pictures.

Could be that bottom barrel cheap primer was used and topped with one coat of bottom barrel cheap ceiling paint and the new mud work sucked up the cheap paint. Or possibly being stingy the the paint application.

Or bad drywall work & any or none of the above.

Use some kind of straight edge--large drywall knife, metal yardstick, etc. and place an edge perpendicular to the ceiling across the questionable areas. That will tell you how flat the ceiling is & what the problem is.
Valinta
2 months ago
Add thin drywall to the ceiling

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