Popcorn Ceiling sanding without Planex

[pjcoop]

Hello All
I have a popcorn ceiling that has been painted many many times. It is only one room so I do not want to buy the Planex. I tried sanding with my ETS125 with 60 grit paper, but it is not aggressive enough. So I am thinking the Rotex RO125 or the RTS400.
Thanks
Peter

 

[peter halle]

A couple of years ago I had to remove popcorn from 9 condos.  The painted ones i ended up using a wallpaper steamer and scraping most off before using my ETS 150.  My Rotex was just too heavy.  You could check into renting one.

Peter

 

[barnowl]

Have you thought about using an ice chopper to get allot of it off before sanding?

If so, I'd grind the corners so that it doesn't gouge the plaster underneath.

 

[Paul G]

Hudson sprayer with water, soak it, scrape with mud knife being careful to not gouge the drywall paper. Gather up the plastic tarps and dispose. Painted popcorn may need multiple hits of water to soak

 

[andyman]

Watch out for asbestos [scared]

 

[Paul G]

Watch out for asbestos [scared]

True, around here the cut off is the mid 70"s. It's one of the reasons I always do this with water to avoid airborne dust. I also skim coat the ceiling afterwards with thinned mud rolled on and knifed down and lightly sand as a base for primer, helps avoid the paper fuzzies. Of course I'm assuming this is on drywall, haven't ever dealt with this on plaster.

 

[jacko9]

Watch out for asbestos [scared]

True, around here the cut off is the mid 70"s. It's one of the reasons I always do this with water to avoid airborne dust. I also skim coat the ceiling afterwards with thinned mud rolled on and knifed down and lightly sand as a base for primer, helps avoid the paper fuzzies. Of course I'm assuming this is on drywall, haven't ever dealt with this on plaster.

I've done this several times always using a lot of water and re-applying mud to the cleaned ceiling as necessary.  Asbestos is a real problem from that kind of ceiling.

Jack

 

[pjcoop]

I have done the spray water and scrap before, but this was being difficult. So i experimented with the sander and was able to achieve an orange peel effect that everybody is happy with. Now i am stuck sanding so i thought the dts or the rotex would make things go quicker. This is why i was wondering if about those two sanders
Thanks
Peter

 

[jacko9]

I have done the spray water and scrap before, but this was being difficult. So i experimented with the sander and was able to achieve an orange peel effect that everybody is happy with. Now i am stuck sanding so i thought the dts or the rotex would make things go quicker. This is why i was wondering if about those two sanders
Thanks
Peter

Peter,

The biggest issue here is asbestos not sanding or scraping difficulty.  Don't take asbestos contamination lightly, it is a very serious health issue.

Jack

 

 

[Paul G]

Watch out for asbestos [scared]

True, around here the cut off is the mid 70"s. It's one of the reasons I always do this with water to avoid airborne dust. I also skim coat the ceiling afterwards with thinned mud rolled on and knifed down and lightly sand as a base for primer, helps avoid the paper fuzzies. Of course I'm assuming this is on drywall, haven't ever dealt with this on plaster.

I've done this several times always using a lot of water and re-applying mud to the cleaned ceiling as necessary.  Asbestos is a real problem from that kind of ceiling.

Jack

Yes, it all depends on the location and date of build. Around here it's use ended mid 70's.

 

[pjcoop]

I am not worried about the asbestos, since it was redone about 15 years ago, but I swear has been repainted every year. Just not looking forward to all the sanding.

 

[Paul G]

I've sanded many a wall and ceiling with this crazy rig, works like a charm. Shop vac+dust deputy+rigid random orbital... If it can do it I have no doubt a rotex will get it done in no time. My only question is if the vac bag will clog some, DD eliminates that worry (and introduces others related to static) but for one rooms worth of ceiling the bag will probably be fine.

 

[pjcoop]

I use my ETS125 for sanding drywall patches all the time have not had any issues with clogging. The RO might be the one to go to. The DTS 400 is really small, just thought it might be more aggressive than the ETS125

 

[Paul G]

If you have a RO125 then give it a whirl, I'd try starting at 60-80 grit

 

[mastercabman]

Spray water,let it soak ,then use a floor scrapper.Works everytime!

 

[andyman]

Put some pva in if spraying water as water doesn't do that good.
Amazing what asbestos was put in years ago, just done my refresher last week from 100% asbestos cigarette filters to talcum powder.
Seems you guys in Canada have the biggest asbestos mine in the world even though you have banned it you still export it ???.
The mine is in the town of asbestos!

 

[Saskataper]

I was talking to some guys from a major disaster restoration company a while back and they said they have found asbestos in popcorn ceilings done in the late eighties, it was banned in 78 but old stock hung around for a while. Kinda scares me as I have done a couple popcorn removal jobs where I figured I was safe cause they were mid eighties.

If your ceiling has been painted several times and 60 isn't doing it I would think about just putting up new drywall over the old popcorn. Even if you can get the popcorn off with a rotex your going to have a lot of mudding to do to fix it, more than you would on a nice new drywall ceiling

 

[jacko9]

I was talking to some guys from a major disaster restoration company a while back and they said they have found asbestos in popcorn ceilings done in the late eighties, it was banned in 78 but old stock hung around for a while. Kinda scares me as I have done a couple popcorn removal jobs where I figured I was safe cause they were mid eighties.

If your ceiling has been painted several times and 60 isn't doing it I would think about just putting up new drywall over the old popcorn. Even if you can get the popcorn off with a rotex your going to have a lot of mudding to do to fix it, more than you would on a nice new drywall ceiling

I agree and even if you don't have room for an additional layer, cutting the old layer off dry would be a fairly easy job.

I don't think that I would ever sand a ceiling that might have asbestos in it, it isn't worth the long term health risk.

Jack