Popcorn Ceiling Removal in Sacramento, CA

What the Texture Is

Acoustic ceiling texture was sprayed on wet, usually over drywall, and dries into a soft, lumpy layer that crumbles if you rub it with a finger. It was fast to apply and hid seams and uneven taping, which is why it went onto so many tract-house ceilings. Some batches were made with chrysotile asbestos as a filler; many were not. The texture itself gives no clue, and neither does a bit of glitter, a painted surface or a later coat of texture sprayed over the first one. A sample that goes through the full depth, down to the board, is what the lab needs.

Why the Date Is Only a Hint

EPA's bans on spray-applied asbestos surfacing came in 1973 and 1978, so a ceiling from the 1960s or early 1970s is a stronger suspect than one from the 1990s. That is not the same as a cutoff. Citrus Heights, where four in ten homes went up during the 1970s, is the clearest local case of houses built while the rules were changing, and the ranch homes along Folsom Boulevard in Rancho Cordova span the same decades. Sac Metro Air's rules have no exclusion date for newer buildings, and about a fifth of Fair Oaks houses are from the 1980s. Ceilings were also re-sprayed during later remodels, so one house can hold textures of different ages. In the pre-1960 homes of Sacramento's older neighborhoods, texture is sometimes found over plaster rather than drywall, and the plaster is sampled as a separate material. The sampling and lab analysis page explains how each layer is handled.

When Removal Is the Practical Choice

Removal makes sense when the texture is water-stained or flaking, when recessed lights, a ceiling fan or new wiring will cut into it, or when the ceiling is coming down in a remodel anyway. A ceiling that was painted over is harder to strip, because water no longer soaks in easily. Scraping a positive ceiling dry, or sanding it, is never acceptable.

How a Room Is Prepared and Stripped

1. Furniture comes out, and the floor and walls are covered with plastic sheeting taped up the walls so nothing reaches the baseboard.
2. Heating and cooling are shut off and the supply and return registers in the room are sealed so the system cannot carry dust to other rooms.
3. Doorways get a plastic flap entry, and a negative air machine with a HEPA filter pulls air out of the room and exhausts it outdoors, so any leak flows inward.
4. The texture is misted with water mixed with a wetting agent, given a few minutes to soak, and scraped in sections into bags held under the scraper.
5. The bare ceiling is HEPA-vacuumed and wiped, the plastic is misted, folded inward and bagged, and the room is inspected before anyone reopens it.

Apartments Hit the Threshold Fast

In a single-family house, Sac Metro Air's Rule 902 generally does not apply. In an apartment building with five or more units it does, and the renovation threshold is 160 square feet: two 10-by-10 bedroom ceilings already exceed it. Carmichael, where about a quarter of housing units are in buildings of that size, is where this matters most. Over the county line, Yolo-Solano exempts a West Sacramento single-family home only when there are no other buildings on the lot.

Your Part Before and After

• Plan for the room, and any room the crew passes through, to be closed for the work day.
• Expect the ceiling to show tape seams and nail pops once the texture is gone; a skim coat or new texture and paint is a separate drywall job.
• If the floor is next, test it too. Ceilings and floors often get done together, so see vinyl tile and mastic removal, and where ducts run through the ceiling, duct wrap and pipe insulation removal.

How long does it take? One or two rooms often take a day of removal plus set-up and clean-up. A whole house usually takes several days. Retexturing or painting the ceiling is a separate step afterwards.

Questions About This Work