Acoustic and popcorn ceiling texture applied before roughly 1980 in Los Angeles frequently contains asbestos. Dry-scraping it releases fibers into every room in the house. Before we remove a single square foot on a pre-1980 property we have the texture sampled and lab tested. If it is positive, the removal goes to a licensed abatement contractor - not to us - and we come back afterward to float and finish. Any contractor who offers to scrape your 1972 ceiling this afternoon without testing it is a liability you do not want in your house.
Because most people fill them with joint compound and paint over it. A crack caused by movement needs the joint reinforced with mesh or paper tape and a wide feathered float, not a bead of compound. If the crack is structural we will say so and tell you to have it looked at rather than sell you a cosmetic repair that fails again in eight months.
Popcorn removal and smooth refinish generally runs $2.50 to $5.00 per square foot depending on ceiling height, how many coats of paint are locked over the texture, and whether the ceiling needs a full skim or a partial. A standard 200 square foot bedroom typically lands $1,450 to $2,200 including paint. Asbestos abatement, when required, is a separate cost from the abatement contractor.
If the house is pre-1980, assume it might until a lab says otherwise. Testing is fast and inexpensive and we arrange it.
No. We contain room by room. You will want to be out of the specific rooms being worked on during the day.
Yes - orange peel, knockdown and light skip trowel. Perfect matches on hand-troweled texture are difficult but we get close enough that it reads as one surface.
Not if it is a movement crack and we reinforce it properly. If it is structural, no cosmetic repair holds and we will tell you that instead of taking the job twice.
