Popcorn Ceiling

thepainter

Popcorn ceiling is an annoying constructional and design mistake that a lot of people are suffering with while contractors are saving money. I have a lot of people interested in getting rid of the ceilings and wish to get flat, smooth surface. DOES ANY ONE HAVE ANY CLUE HOW MUCH THIS COST. I have done the jobs and charged $3.5/sq ft for rooms 250 sq/ft or bigger and $4/sq ft for rooms less than 250 sq/ft. So on average I collect $1000 for a room which includes masking, popcorn removal, Spackle (re float) , primer and paint. If there are furniture I charge about $200 bucks extra. HOW DO YOU PEOPLE FEEL ABOUT MY PRICES? THANKS! VIK

Celtic

How is it the contractors fault if that is what the people wanted/paid for??


Do your prices include:
Testing for Asbestos
Abatement of located asbestos

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skyhook

Sounds pretty cheap for Asbestos Abatement. Do the home owners and their neighbors know the dangers you have subjected them to or are you a licensed and certified Asbestos removal contractor?

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mikenewman@fron

Sounds like a fair price to me. Most of the newer popcorn is asbestos free. If it is asbestos based that's a whole other ballgame. Then it's best to leave it in place and use an encapsulment coating before a skim coat. This is going to require more skim coats obviously but it's safer and cheaper than removal. Mike

Humble Abode

I didn't realize the old popcorn ceilings were asbestos, but now that you mention it, it makes perfect sense. In the four years I have been in business I have only ever ONCE seen a popcorn ceiling. They are not very common up here.

About what year did they stop using asbestos in popcorn ceilings and switch to the current product? I would like to know for when I come across these in the future.

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Celtic

What qualifies as "newer"?
Did the OP mention when these ceilings were "popcorned"?



From a quick search for "popcorn ceiling+asbestos":

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KentWhitten

Wait, where'd asbestos come in? Is this what they used in your area? They've been putting up popcorn ceilings sprayed from a drywall hopper for decades here. Drywall popcorn, not asbestos whatsoever. I guess if they were doing it with asbestos, then you'd better listen and have it checked before doing it, but this is the first I've ever heard of this.

What part of the country you talking about?

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Custom Cabinetry - Portland, Cape Elizabeth, Scarborough, Kennebunkport, Yarmouth, Falmouth, Cumberland, Ogunquit, Maine

Salmon Falls Cabinetry

Celtic

You guys are kidding me right?

A lowly electrician is one of the few (ok...2) that knew popcorn ceilings are suspect?

How is this even possible?

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skyhook

Hopefully your jobs were built after 1980. If so and you're making money, go for it.
Sometimes the homeowners are educated about the facts of asbestos and decline to do it right, thereby subjecting unsuspecting contractors to the dangers and the haz mat dumping.

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HandsThatMold

I just came across this site and found this post.Ive been in construction for six months now.About three months ago my boss had me scrap the popcorn off a ceiling throughout a whole three bedroom house with a putty knife.This house was built in the 60's or 70's.Should i be concerned?What can i do to find out if i was exposed to harmfull substances?Im actually sitting here getting really pissed off...tell me i am worrying for nothing.If there is cause for concern im going to sue the hell out of that cheap bastard.As a matter of fact i know he got a job removing siding that there was some asbestos concern about but the people he put on it didnt seem to care.If i get sick for a 10 dollar an hour job im going to be all kinds of ****in pissed.

eagleandbaby

It takes decades to know if you have contracted mesothelioma from asbestos exposure. Not everyone who is exposed to asbestos will contract the disease. There are different levels of asbestos in popcorn ceiling that have it. If you cant get a sample form another room in the house or the rooms you took down you may want to test some other homes next to it if they were all built in around the same time. There may be no way of finding out for sure.

Also, $1000.00 per room is pretty good in So. CA. especially if they are small rooms. I think most company's charge around the $250.00 range to remove and reshoot with a knockdown texture, (maybe they don't have knockdown where you are), if it is a smooth texture add another $50-$75 bucks, and about $150-$200 to prime and paint.

Celtic

The only way to know with 100% certainty that a material contains asbestos is to test that material.
There are certain materials that are always suspect as containing asbestos - but if you wanted to start ANY sort of legal action, you would need confirmation from a lab.


The "funny" thing about exposure to asbestos is that the effects do not appear for years....a lot of years.

Here in NJ there is a town called "Manville" ...you all know the town....you just didn't know it...

http://www.jm.com/

For years, they put asbestos in their products...no one knew asbestos was bad. The asbestos would coat the entire town like snow. Parents would hold their babies-right after work w/o having changed clothes..etc.

JM never told anyone what they knew....asbestos had "issues"...it would cut into profits (what else is new?).

Well...they got sued in 1980...
Here are a bunch of links:
http://archives.cbc.ca/IDCC-1-75-608...logy/asbestos/ (audio clip - CANADA)

http://archives.cbc.ca/300c.asp?id=1-75-608
(Timeline - CANADA)

http://www.mantrust.org/
(Trust that holds the money

http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1090180356701
(Bankruptcy Judge Puts Brakes on Asbestos Claims ~ 2004)

Google "MANVILLE+ASBESTOS" for more...
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JM may/may not be your problem here.

The question would be:
Did your employer have any reason to/not to test the material being removed?

Is your employer a legitimate asbestos abatement contractor?

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fathersonfab

I've also heard that the best and safest way to get ride of a popcorn ceiling is to just mud over the whole thing. Is this right?

Obviously the safest way is to have an abatement company remove it. $$$$

If you're gonna scrape it off, wet it first with water using an airless sprayer.

jcalvin

Removed about 400sq' in a home built in 1979. Best aproach we used was a backpack sprayer, LOTS of plastic, and a good wide drywall knife. Be very careful when you wet it and run your knife across it. We ran into a few problems of getting it too wet and actually pelling some of the tape off of the old drywall. Very messy job but all in all not too bad.

TimNJ

How about just drywalling overtop of the popcorn. Seems a lot less messy than scraping.

skyhook

That would be concidered Encapsulating, a very good, safe solution.

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wizendwizard

I just looked at a home today that the HO wan'ts to remove the popcorn ceiling. 2800 sq ft. Home was built in 1984 so i don't think i'm going to have the asbesto's issue. I'm glad you guy's got in this discussion when you did. It has taught me things i didn't know i would ever need. Thanks Guy's!!

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fireguy

The requirement in Oregon is any remodels are to be tested for asbestos. This requirment is often ignored. Asbestos can be found in sheet rock, the mud, flooring material, even concrete. I found this out the hard way.

davy crockett

This can't be happening,I can't believe the rate my older contractor buddies are losing their health,I had a friend 56 who used to saw asbestos ceiling tile in a closet to keep dust down at jobsite.He died at 56,but couldn't breathe the last couple years. We need to spread the info when we know something. If it's considered snitching so be it. I wish someone had told me about this popcorn 10 yrs ago. Now I can sit and worry for a while about all the popcorn we sanded to minimize the appearance without having to remove.

Frankawitz

Here's something that you may want to check into, The EPA has Laws on the books that ANY Contractor that scraps or opens a ceiling or wall larger then 2'x2' and the house was built before 1989 the Home Owner has to be told that due to the age of their house that there could be Asbestoes and Lead base paints. as for popcorn ceilings we use to spray them in the 1980's and some of our mix had asbestoes added cause if makes the mud flow and it is also added to plaster cause it helps the plaster smooth out and plus it adds fire protection. Back in the day they used it in almost every product made. the stuff was added to floor tile, ceiling tiles, exterior siding, insulation and the list goes on. I have a dust collector when we do jobs like these. this machine pulls 1500 cu ft per minute, so it keeps the dust in the area we are working. We also use a garden sprayer to wet the popcorn before we scrape it. just make sure you wear a mask, I have dealt with this stuff for 25 years since I started doing repairs, I would run into it all the time. As for be exsposed to it, well you wont know for 20 years or so, your breath comes hard sometimes and when you sleep you'll snore real heavy, my Family members say I sound like Grizzly Bear when I sleep. My son had a friend spend the night when he lived here and the kid thought there was a bear in the house, when my son told him, it's my old man sleeping dude. So you have a while before you'll see any changes. as you get older(I'm 51) you feel tried alot more, I find myself falling asleep just watching the news or something. My girlfriend says she gets scared when I'm sleeping cause she says I quit breathing for like 30 seconds and then I take a deep breath and then she says I start breathing again. I don't know cause I'm asleep. Just make sure you wear a mask, that's all I can say, that's like plain old drywall mud will get you cause of the Silica sand in it. and you guys that use Durabond the Mica in this tuff will rot your teeth and you'll taste metal, so I would say to all of you put a mask on your face when your sanding or scraping any mud or plaster, also if you can get a dust collector this will protect your customers and their Family. Good luck