Question for Planex users

[Ben H]

Just bought a new place and it's loaded with lots of tacky drywall ceiling textures.  I'm thinking about picking up a Planex to grind this crap off.  From what I can tell most of it has not been painted, but a few rooms have. 

My questions is once I actually sand everything down, will I need to skim coat the ceiling?  Or will I be at a paint ready surface?

 

[peter halle]

What kind of textures / treatments do you have?  The thickness of the treatment might determine if there will be sufficient material left over to cover the joints adequately.

Peter

 

[Ben H]

Mostly stipple.  Some, what I would call, sea shell.    I would be OK with a little compound work here and there.  I wouldn't expect it to perfect.  But if I'll need to skim the whole room...that's another ball game.

 

[tjbnwi]

I skim them then sand with 180. You can also thin the compound and roll or spray it on then sand.

Tom

 

[Ben H]

So what is your typically process for non-painted ceilings?  Do you wet them down and scrap, or just let the sander eat it off?  What is your grit process? Types of paper?

 

[Bikeboy80]

24 or 36 grit on about 4 speed will eat though the texture painted or not. I then switch to 80 or 120 to clean things up at close to full speed. Skim areas that need some help then go over the entire surface with 220 to prep for paint.

Just a note, if it is an older home make sure there is no asbestos  [wink]

 

[tjbnwi]

Same as Bikeboy.

Sand with a coarse grit work to 120-150. Skim, sand.

Tom

 

[Ben H]

So it sounds like skimming is not avoidable.  Just so I'm clear, are you having to skim the whole ceiling, or just parts? 

 

[RonMiller]

I don't (yet) have the planex but I did have to remove a textured ceiling in a bathroom yesterday. Took 2 hours with 80 grit and my ETS 150-3. Very little touchup needed. Of course I could ignore the edges since crown molding is going up.

 

[tjbnwi]

So it sounds like skimming is not avoidable.  Just so I'm clear, are you having to skim the whole ceiling, or just parts?   

A lot depends on the ceiling and the operator. I usually skim the entire ceiling.

Get a couple of the interface pads for the Planex, they help with wavy ceilings.

Tom

 

[atlr]

Ron, about how many square feet?

Took 2 hours with 80 grit and my ETS 150-3.

 

[Bikeboy80]

So it sounds like skimming is not avoidable.  Just so I'm clear, are you having to skim the whole ceiling, or just parts?   

A lot depends on the ceiling and the operator. I usually skim the entire ceiling.

Get a couple of the interface pads for the Planex, they help with wavy ceilings.

Tom

Ditto on the interface pads!

I have found many of the textures have a primer coat under them, if so it seems to make it easier to not have to skim thr whole ceiling. But you won't know till you get in to it.

 

[Paul G]

I'm not sure I understand what the texturing material is that you're dealing with, I recently removed acoustic 'popcorn' ceiling from an entire house, some was painted and other parts not. I used a garden sprayer to soak it down and then scraped with a mud knife. The soak dwell time is a matter of practice, longer on the painted areas. I then went through and did a better job on the tape joints and nails for a smooth ceiling and then using a roller applied mud over the entire surface and knifed it off followed by a light pole sanding. Then primed and paint. Walls were textured with a drywall mud knockdown and wanted those smooth also. That won't scrape off so I skimmed it with mud to cover/fill the existing texture and sanded using 5" and 6" random orbitals hooked up to a dust vac using 80 and 220 grits.

Standard safety precautions apply to dust and asbestos depending on the age of the stuff you're removing.

 

[Paul G]

So it sounds like skimming is not avoidable.  Just so I'm clear, are you having to skim the whole ceiling, or just parts?   

A lot depends on the ceiling and the operator. I usually skim the entire ceiling.

Get a couple of the interface pads for the Planex, they help with wavy ceilings.

Tom

I would add to make sure to get the correct interface pad set, the interface pad applied to the standard disk greatly reduces the dust capture.

 

[RonMiller]

atlr - about 80 sf. Actual sanding time was probably about 75 minutes. But I had to stop frequently because I hurt my right shoulder last week and it's sore and weak. Used 240 today for a few minutes to finish the patches.