If it has never been painted, then sometimes you can get very, very lucky, and can remove it with a spray bottle of water and a scraper! Spray an area, and try scraping it off (you'll need lots of drop cloths, cause it will be messy!)
Otherwise, a coat of plaster can do it, if the popcorn is minimal, though sometimes I have seen people add drywall right over top, in effect doing a new ceiling.

Good luck with your project. I do hope for you they have not been painted.

Safety glasses and mask! You'll wear a lot of it. A good trowel tradesperson can skim coat it to a smooth finish...you'll need that anyway as the scraping ruins not just the texture but the base coat below it.

Depending on the age of your home, you will want to test for Asbestos first.

Removing popcorn is not just very messy, but in older homes there is also a danger of exposing yourself to asbestos.. Anything oil based also carries the danger of exposure to VOCs, and oil-based finishes also harm the environment more than water based ones.

There is a better solution. We're talking no mess, no dust, no toxic vapours (in fact, no vapours at all), with a finish as smooth as a mirror and unlimited design options. It's called stretch ceiling. A fully recyclable membrane is stretched across the ceiling, either over an existing ceiling, or in a new build, instead of installing drywall and covering it with popcorn. Tracks, or profiles, screwed into the walls or existing ceiling around the edges hold the membrane in place. These profiles and the membrane take up less than one inch of room height.

If you later desire a change, a new membrane can be inserted into the same tracks, or the tracks can be unscrewed and the screw holes easily filled with a little bit of filler. You will not need to do this as maintenance, however. The system lasts a lifetime.

We take care of installation for you, and installation is included in the price that we quote.

We carry over 280 colours, in high gloss, matte, satin, and fine canvas-textured finishes.

Here are a few examples, please feel free to visit our profile for more, and add them to your ideabooks!

Call us for a quote, we do not charge for a site measure/quote in areas that are near our offices. If you are further away, you can still get a free quote by supplying us with your measurement information. We have a network of authorized dealers across North America and beyond.

The best way to remove popcorn ceiling is to hire someone who does it regularly to do it. It is a very intense messy job. First check online for a lab to test if it has asbestos. If it has asbestos, it would be very expensive to remove and can be covered with drywall or other material that was previously posted. You do not want to do it yourself if it has asbestos because asbesto fibers, which are tiny and hard for a nonprofessional to contain, will get into your lungs and possibly give you cancer years later. Hire an abatement company if you can handle the cost.

If no asbestos, then water the surface and scrape. Its very hard work for the arms. Its all in the prep to cover surfaces. After it is scraped, holes need to be filled , sanded, and then two coats of primer before painting. For a nice job, hire someone.

I had popcorn ceilings removed professionally and this is the process. Im very grateful that mine test negative for asbestos. But it was SO messy by nature of the job, that I had to ask them to only do half the house and then they did the other half a year or two later. Best wishes and remember, do the right thing. Don’t expose yourself or others to asbestos.