Here's the entire Skim Coating over a textured ceiling Playlist Series: ua-cam.com/play/PL7Ww-LhWbB0HItcbzpNDOItxexzM40BTc.html Below in Paul's Drywall and Painting Shop are all of the tools and products I used in this video: ▶ www.amazon.com/shop/paulpeck 🔴 Be sure to SUBSCRIBE for more useful Tips goo.gl/Es5k5z Thanks for being a part of this Community! -Paul 👍😎
Hi Mary, no it will just fall off... You’re going to have to either prime it first or scrape it off. If your ceiling is before 1982 you’ll need to get a small sample and send in for testing to see if it has asbestos in it. I hope this helps. Thanks so much for watching and subscribing!😎 -Paul
@@PaulPeck Thank you so much. So instead of scraping with all that dust I can prime ceiling and then skim coat. For me at age 70 that may be my best bet.Thanks again. I love your channel !!
Probably by using a roller? And then smoothing it out with a blade, let it dry up and sand it down for that smooth finish and it would be ready to paint. Fyi: I just got that info from another video 😂😅
@@nadinequintieri3621 you will have it under but it wont show on your asbestos inspections if you cover properly it is more dangerous if you scrape it because it will be on the air even when contaied you better off covering it
Thank you so much for replying! So if we just cover the popcorn ceiling by skimming over it can we still interfere with the asbestos or will it stay stable. I'm so confused on what to do.
I just did 400+ sq/ft in a 2 step process, literally followed these instructions to the last word, except I used a smaller knife because I couldn’t get a bigger one. Couple touch ups after two coats with MINOR sanding after using the knife to knock down ridges, looks banging. Thanks for the tips!
That’s awesome man!💥👊🏻 I’m glad my videos could help you. I really appreciate your feedback. Thanks so much for watching and commenting my friend!😎 -Paul
27 year veteran of the remodel world and the first 10, drywall only. The key to skim coat is to pull the mud one direction and skim 90 degrees to the skim. It will smooth out so much better and make the second coat a lot easier........of course experience trumps almost any trade, the longer you do it the better you'll get, no matter how many videos you watch. 45 or 90 minute mud is so much better for the first coat any day of the year and it save s the dry time as well
My 2000 square foot house has 1 cathedral and 2 tray ceilings. The entire house was popcorn when I moved in. I scraped, textured, and painted all my ceilings myself, with the exception of one cathedral ceiling which I contracted out. Turned out fine.
Nice job!! I have a job coming up and was hesitant on removing the gloss painted ceiling but when I saw this…I was like “sweet” that’s time saving, faster, without all the breathing dust, and mess to clean up! Thanks I’m gonna watch this again before I start the job!
I've been in business near 20 year's and no matter if I've been doing all tricks of the trades I still enjoy watching other knowledged tradesman. I don't believe in to much learning. Thanks for your videos and clean language as explain the Technics as are performing your job to help us better jobs for customers.
Not kidding skim coating is hella difficult without the popcorn in the way. Been trying to do just one long living room wall with lots of old repairs and such from being a rent house for 40 years. What a pain it's been to get smooth I'm ready to just fork over the money saved for another project and hire a professional. Great videos and very well explained. Could be an instructor for the way you explain techniques so someone like me who's never in their life touched a trowel and had no idea what a hawk was until just recently. Thank for taking the time to record and post your work.
After wetting and scraping my master bath I sanded the ceiling and painted it. It looks great, but I was not looking forward to doing it throughout my house and had decided to just repaint my popcorn ceilings. Now that I've seen your video I will do a small bedroom first to see how well it goes skimming the ceiling. So glad I found your channel. Thanks!
My first time doing drywall work I was terrible but your videos helped a lot. Only 3rd time doing it, I skimmed my popcorn ceiling today and it looks great.
That's really a great idea. When I remodeled our 40 year old rental property, I sprayed a light coat of water on the ceiling and the popcorn textured pealed right off for me. On the negative side, this method was extremely (and I do mean extremely) messy and I had a helper who was a bit too aggressive with the scraping and did cause a bit of damage with the scraping knife. I wish I would have known this 5 years ago. Thanks for sharing.
Drywall tube. Nice work man! Ya I was shown by an older boss of mine how to skim coat without sanding between coats or pretty much at all.. wed knockdown after so wasn't necessary. But his stuff honestly looked finished. He prided himself on not even having one on job site. Not sure I agree but it taught me to not rely on a pole sander and just use that 6 in between coats. I still try not to use a sander when I do any mudwork but I find myself going over things more than I should if I just sanded..I just hate the dust and mess and added labor! Thanks for the good info and videos! Im Floating my hallway over popcorn currently but it's taking me two coats to look like your one.. gonna do rooms later with some of the tips u gave.
i was a union carpenter for 10 years now im a drywall contractor and i agree with everything you said especially about useing the all purpose to skim it does have more glue
Just moved into a older building and saw those lovely popcorn ceilings. I'm a rookie so I know I probably can't do it, but at least I've learned how to do this and what to ask for.
I'm not a contractor, I'm just here for tips... And, I've realized, happily, from your video what a true pro can do... So, instead of DIY, I'm going to do some more research & hire someone to skim my ceilings... Cool to see you work though... Backbreaking work, but man, it looks great!
I do 2 things prior to skim coating over painted acoustical 1 light sanded of the high spots or Blades the ceilings then skim coat it really helps with chatter marks. Love your videos you good work my friend
I was stumped on how to get rid of the ugly popcorn ceiling in my bathroom. We were having a problem with mold in the cracks. This tip helped me figure out how to transform my bathroom! THANKS!
I like the skim coat idea. I have to bid on a studio apt today & the customer wants the popcorn gone. It's a rental so I'm going to try to talk him out of it with high $ numbers. He's a friend & I have plenty of inside work here in Wyoming. I started my biz in 1997 & I've done all the textures but skip trowel is my favorite. Thanks for the idea.
Hi, you are doing a great job on the skim coat. I am a retired drywall finisher of 21 years. We would have one guy roll the mud on and the other guy skim coat. On a big project take turns rolling and skim coating. Did you ever just use a sprayer and wet the popcorn down then scrape it off? Anyway that work will give you strong bicep's for sure.
FANTASTIC tips! Never would’ve thought to encapsulate this way. Excellent! I would probably even prefer doing this to removal of an unpainted popcorn ceiling, since skim coating has minimal risk of asbestos exposure. Thankfully, I don’t presently have any popcorn ceilings in my life.
Nice job of smoothing the ceiling; I'm sure with the second coat, it will be nearly flat. The paint that was previously applied to the popcorn must have made it into a much stronger substrate than the popcorn-alone would have been. What I don't get is why the owner would want to mess it up with yet another texture; I'll bet that in a few years there will be a plethora of videos on how to skim over a skip-trowel finish.
You make skim coating a ceiling look so easy. I have done 3 ceiling in my house and I find it to be difficult. I think I’m not using the right mud or mix correctly. I use a lighter mud that is supposed to reduce dust in sanding but I think the mud you are using is probably better so I might look for that brand and also follow your mixing and roll on method. Looks easier.
Oh my gosh! I don't think I am able to do this at my age and steadyness on a ladder. BUT I will show my son. This is wonderful info. Thank you soooooo much.
I really appreciate that Dianne.💥👊🏻 Good luck with your project. Let me know if your son runs into any questions along the way. Thanks so much for watching and subscribing my friend!😎 -Paul
This is the video I was looking for last fall when I did this to the whole house. I did basically what you showed took two coats then a light sanding I then sprayed orange peel on ceiling and walls. You make it look very easy it took me a long time and I made a good mess but it turned out well.
We tried removing popcorn from our kitchen ceiling using recommended techniques online. We’re big (or were-getting on) diy people, but gave up on the popcorn removal-wasn’t going well at all. Did luck out and found a guy who hung new drywall over the old ceiling. Joint compound on the seams. I sanded the few spots that needed it, and we primed and repainted. So that’s a great option. But was $500 -one room. We’d like to do our whole house. But our house is a cape, so bedrooms upstairs have slightly sloped edges. Your technique will handle that problem great-learning curve definitely needed with the gentle sloping, but will be way better than what we have now. Thanks so much for a great solution!
Thank you for this! I was about to try to remive my sisters popcorn ceiling and this looks like a better alternative. Thank you for this helpful video. You are a skilled drywaller! I hope you are getting paid well for your skills. Thank you and God Bless you!
Good stuff chief. i have a 41 yr old home that whose pop corn painted over multiple times- scrape failed. I put new drywall on the living and dining room but the bedrooms haven't been done. I may try this in one of them and see how it goes.
I've done a lot of drywall repair on walls and ceiling. Always shied away from textured ceilings. I have a ceiling with water damage to fix the leak and replace the damaged drywall and blend in the stippled texture. After watching your instruction, no more doubts about my ability..
I do this all the time. I have a question though. Ive found that when you have a ceiling that was originally put up over oil based paint, then painted with a latex, the mud can cause the existing texture to crack and peal off bringing the mud down with it. Have you seen this? How do you deal with it?
Nice Paul, thank you so much I am going to be looking for a way to do this in our house really soon this is great timing, I was thinking I'd have to scrape it all off at first.
So we don't have to take down any of the nasty popcorn ceiling right ? Just skimming over it will do the trick right ? don't judge me im slow LOL no seriously iam slow when it comes to most projects im kinda of a hands on learner. Ty again guys.
This is so awesome! Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge. I'm just getting ready to remodel a 70's home with popcorn ceiling and was not looking forward to it!
Hi Paul. First of all I would like you to know that I am a housewife that knows enough about fixing things around the house to be a little dangerous but smart enough to know when I need help. I have been dreading taking down popcorn ceiling that has no easy solution to be taken down out of my entire house. I’ve done three rooms and a small bathroom so far and you are absolutely correct there is no easy way to get that flat and not Making a dusty mess throughout your entire house because of the sanding. I even used plastic on all the walls the doors taped it to tarps in the floor and it still made a mess throughout my downstairs. I decided to go with the one that you showed using the sand and joint compound. However, I think I’m not seeing your video that shows the issue with popcorn ceiling if the drywall under it has never been primed or painted. Then adding that sand compound. So what’s the best way about going about that. I live in Augusta Georgia area And wouldn’t mind a quick phone call. I am always up for good suggestions
OMG thank you for your videos. I have been in a nightmare with my house and the texture walls and ceilings. I wish I would have known this trick before I painted my bed room.
I tried scraping my popcorn ceiling off even wet it a bit to try to loosen it up. My house is built in 1976 I don’t know what they used but when scraped into felt like I was scraping stucco lol 😂 . Ended up skim coating it and dam it looks awesome 👏🏽👌🏾
This drywall video helps tremendously. I have a 2-family with lots of painted popcorn on plaster. I have already removed the plaster to replace with drywall on the 2nd floor. I think on the 1st floor I will keep the plaster and try to skim coat the popcorn walls and ceiling. Can you tell me the dimension of your walls and ceilings and how long it roughly takes?
Hi Steven, I’m glad you’re enjoying and learning from my videos!👍🏻 Your walls have popcorn too? The room in the video is 14’x14’. It took me 30 to 45 minutes to apply each skim coat to the ceiling. I hope this helps. Thanks so much for watching and subscribing man!😎 -Paul
@@PaulPeck Hello, yes the walls and ceilings have popcorn also the walls are all plaster. I am removing the bad plaster walls and will remove the ceilings because I want to insert insulation. Just wondering since I will have a mix of drywall and plaster in which all of the plaster will be skim coated once I have everything painted will the whole room should look like new drywall correct?
Beautiful work my friend !! EASTER EGG for those who are in dire need to defeat your popcorn demon - THE GOOD NEWS IS YOU CAN GET IT OFF IN ABOUT A DAYS WORK = The trick for chiseling it off is spray an area down with light water mist and then hit with a heat gun - Put your heat gun on high (around 1000) -you can do it yourself or have a friend move ahead of you with the heat gun - BEST to chisel while the painted popcorn has been softened and expanded by the heat gun following not too long after its been hit by the heat gun - a normal bedroom could be done in a day especially if you have an assistant w/the heatgun - its not so hard as it is tedious so be patient and accept that this is what your doing for the whole day lol -GOODLUCK
Hey there Jay!💥👊🏻 Yes skim coating is a bit of a workout for sure. But the results are usually well worth the effort!👍🏻 Thanks for watching and commenting my friend!😎 -Paul
There's something curiously relaxing about watching a pro skim coat a wall or ceiling. Fascinating actually 🤔. I'll take on almost anything...but not this. I'd rather watch you do it. GREAT JOB! 👍🏼
Except u have to buy maybe 4 sheets of sheetrock, a box of 100 screws, put it up, buy joint tape and a box of mud, a mud pan, a mud knife, tape and bed the joints, sand the mud and paint it. So ur still gonna have to buy the mud any ways so?!?
Not to mention you generally need multiple people and or a drywall hoist. Have to mark our the studs, get your tape lines looking good and fill all the screw holes. A skim coat is half the time and a 1/5 of the coat.
Your technique is marvelous. If I had that, I'd do my own popcorn ceiling. I am considering doing it tho. I just think it will be a whole lot of work. The walls turned out beyond my expectation.
Paul I Did a lot of these ceilings, and I used concrete fill it Drys in a couple of hours and you can apply another coat, Just have to clean your pail out after your Done as it will set up
Hi Paul, not sure if this question has already been asked but what do you recommend if the popcorn has not been painted? Thanks, and I love your videos!
Awesome video! Good pointers about using the green lid joint compound for higher glue and to not thin it down this much. Keep up the great work! #drywalltube
I subbed when I heard all purpose, I just skimmed a farmhouse used 35 gal and have 35 to go. this stuff is amazing I finished a homeowners hang job of course no glue, lol didn't crack once and it sanded perfect because I only sand off 1% anyhow.
The problem here is that old popcorn doesn't have a strong bond to the underlying sheetrock. By putting mud, then primer and paint x 2 over it you're adding a lot of weight and eventually it's going to come off in sheets. Not tomorrow or even next year necessarily, but eventually. Use something like a wallpaper remover tool to poke thousands of little holes through the paint, then spray water on it, wait 30 mins, spray water again x 3 and start scraping.
My take is to attempt to scrape it. I tried hot water, vinnegar etc. It's best to skim at this point. The bond the popcorn has to the sheetrock is dam near glue. Yes, I got underneath the paint, still to hard. Scrape if possible, skim if bond is strong.
Thanks for your video. Our 1994 home is all popcorn ceilings. The kitchen ceiling has been painted, so the skim coat seems like good solution there, but all other rooms are original. My question is so many of these videos are empty rooms; Where does everyone put all their furniture? I feel like we need to move out and move back in again after it's over. (we need new floors too) It's overwhelming at my age. Thanks for any advice.
Asbestos wasn't banned from popcorn until 1982, so it's a health hazard to scrape off old popcorn if you don't know when it was applied. He should mention this at the start of the video
888strummer but what most people don't realize is how to scrape it and the process of doing the scraping and disposing is fine even if asbestos or to the crazy extreme of lead it's fine! But most people don't know!
@@kenbarr7069 I would never recommend a homeowner scrape asbestos off of ceilings. And I think a video like this should begin by explaining that asbestos wasn't banned from popcorn ceilings until 1982. A separate video can be made to show ways of safely removing asbestos or lead as you are right there are safe practices for removal. The best advise I give people is to simply never buy a home with popcorn ceilings if they don't like popcorn. As a contractor for 30+ years I'm amazed at all the people who buy a new home with popcorn and then call me and ask if I can remove the popcorn. And when I tell them I don't remove popcorn or skim over it, they get very upset. There is so much work where I live that I luckily can pick and choose all my work. But again; I'll never understand why any homeowner who hates popcorn ceilings would buy a home with popcorn!
I am a DIYer I am also a woman but I am a jack of all trades and I do quite well. I just repaired an emissions leak in my jeep so with that taken care of there are no more codes for my EVAP system. I can now get a smog. I have popcorn ceilings I’m not sure if there’s asbestos in there so I’ll have them tested first but I think I would like to just skim coat them as you did. This would be a lot safer I think a lot easier even though it’s a lot of work it’s easier because my popcorn ceilings are on plaster my whole house is plaster not drywall period. About 17 years ago 16 years ago when we bought the house I recessed lighting put in and they had to scrape the popcorn to make The recessed lighting lay flat because they asked me if I wanted that done I said sure because I had planned on getting the ceiling scraped eventually. And then I got a divorce so that was no longer feasible. I wonder now how many fibers if this is asbestos were released into the air or if I should’ve painted over that scraped portion or if I still should paint over that’s great portion. I didn’t know back then what I learned now.
It's just as easy if not easier to scrape it. I scraped about 1600 square feet myself and had no issues. Used just a little joint compound just to patch nails and other spots that needed it.
#drywalltube I don't have any popcorn, but I do have some ceilings where you can see the butt joints in the right light. You've inspired me to pick up some all purpose and do something about it!
Hey Paul! I was so inspired by your video I decided to skim coat the bathroom ceiling to cover up the sprayed on knockdown. I was warned by a friend that over the shower it may bubble and then fall, which it did. I ended up having to scrape all of it over the shower off. Should I merge it together with what I have done so far, or scrape it all and start fresh? The rest seems to be fine.
Painted popcorn does come off scrape off hot water and vinegar and Dawn soap spray let's set for 20min to 30min spray again before scraping to lower dust and this way you only have to skim coat once and for me personally I can scrape popcorn faster then skim coating over it
Agreed. I'm a painting contractor. I ran a bucket of vinegar / water mixture through a small old sprayer I no longer used. My wife and I had 2200 sq ft of house prepped with plastic, ,sprayed and removed in under 4 hours. After that I did a decent amount of mud work to ensure the ceilings were flawless prior to paint, however it wasn't a big job. Everyone cries Asbestos...we wore respirators and when you wet it down there is very little dust that gets in the air.
I used to put a little plaster of paris in the first coat to get it to set faster, then you can just smooth the ridges instead of scrapping them in 5-10 minutes.
Scraping takes way less time. Skimming takes at least 2coats, sanding, touch up and a ton of skill. Not to mention if that popcorn has not been painted it super dusty which will not allow the mud to stick and over short time it will flake off.
Omfg ive killed TWO electric sanders, put in ALOT of hours sanding by hand, tryna get that popcorn crap off the ceiling in my bathroom! It had about 3 ( minimum) layers of paint, btw.. Ive just begun the 4th or 5th MONTH of this project (im still recovering from an injury to the achilles heel where i cut into the nerve behind my ankle. Yeah. OUCH, indeed!).. anyway, this video of urs is a TOTAL game changer!! Thank u soo much!! Oh.. & my HEEL thanks u too!!
UPDATE" Ive (finally!!) got the whole ceiling done, a whole wall, and now working on the second. Following ur advice has been a total game changer for me. i had a little setback due to some of that popcorn crap that had found its way into the drains of both my tub and sink, thereby creating a clog/blockage from HELL!! I was ready to pour some muriatic acid down the drains-it was a nightmare! Thankfully a manager at my local home depot was able to stop me in time to save my drains!! lol Either way, my project has been going swimmingly now, and is moving along nicely.. Thanks again!!
Seems more of a skill, which happens with practice. My back & neck hurt just watching, with 1 eye on my ugly popcorn ceiling with silver chunky glitter from the late 60's. Ugh.....
My wife and I cleaned then skim coated 90 year old "plaster" (more like brick mortar) ceiling this year. It wore out some 60+year old shoulders, but we did some fine work.
Now that is a master class in skim coating! I WISH I could make mine nice like this! Also wondering how do you tell if it’s asbestos? Just bought a house today and previous owner didn’t know.
Bee Snort have someone test it! we found a lab in our area to do it for $40, and ours was positive for asbestos so thank goodness we tested it before removing ourselves
Popcorn with abestos was outlawed after 1977 so house built sfter that should have plastic instead of that abestos. There are test that can be run on ceilings by a professional on houses built before 1977!
great videos, you literally saved me from ripping down an asbestos covered ceiling. I was just wondering what type of compound you would suggest to skim a popcorn ceiling?
Here's the entire Skim Coating over a textured ceiling Playlist Series: ua-cam.com/play/PL7Ww-LhWbB0HItcbzpNDOItxexzM40BTc.html Below in Paul's Drywall and Painting Shop are all of the tools and products I used in this video: ▶ www.amazon.com/shop/paulpeck 🔴 Be sure to SUBSCRIBE for more useful Tips goo.gl/Es5k5z Thanks for being a part of this Community! -Paul 👍😎
Can you skim coat non painted popcorn ceiling ?
Hi Mary, no it will just fall off... You’re going to have to either prime it first or scrape it off. If your ceiling is before 1982 you’ll need to get a small sample and send in for testing to see if it has asbestos in it. I hope this helps. Thanks so much for watching and subscribing!😎 -Paul
@@PaulPeck Thank you so much. So instead of scraping with all that dust I can prime ceiling and then skim coat. For me at age 70 that may be my best bet.Thanks again. I love your channel !!
Yes, that’s correct Mary.👍🏻 Good luck with your project! Let me know if you run into any questions along the way.😎 -Paul
Good video I subbed something I need to take care of whole house has that crap on the ceiling thanks again
I've been painting and drywalling for 24 years now and this guy definitely knows his stuff. Thank you very much for your expertise and knowledge
He knows how to waste a bunch of time. Nobody is going to pay you for your time to do that.
@@rolandthethompsongunner64 Wrong. I’ll pay him to do it.
Im a professional drywall taper for over 7 years and its by far the best recommendation I have seen online good job 👏
Do you think there might be a way to shoot mud up there and then hit it with a big blade to speed things up?
Probably by using a roller? And then smoothing it out with a blade, let it dry up and sand it down for that smooth finish and it would be ready to paint.
Fyi: I just got that info from another video 😂😅
Do you still have to have the ceiling tested for asbestos if you do it that way?
@@nadinequintieri3621 you will have it under but it wont show on your asbestos inspections if you cover properly it is more dangerous if you scrape it because it will be on the air even when contaied you better off covering it
Thank you so much for replying! So if we just cover the popcorn ceiling by skimming over it can we still interfere with the asbestos or will it stay stable. I'm so confused on what to do.
I just did 400+ sq/ft in a 2 step process, literally followed these instructions to the last word, except I used a smaller knife because I couldn’t get a bigger one. Couple touch ups after two coats with MINOR sanding after using the knife to knock down ridges, looks banging. Thanks for the tips!
That’s awesome man!💥👊🏻 I’m glad my videos could help you. I really appreciate your feedback. Thanks so much for watching and commenting my friend!😎 -Paul
@@PaulPeck i have same type ceilng,will i need 2 coats of mud?
27 year veteran of the remodel world and the first 10, drywall only. The key to skim coat is to pull the mud one direction and skim 90 degrees to the skim. It will smooth out so much better and make the second coat a lot easier........of course experience trumps almost any trade, the longer you do it the better you'll get, no matter how many videos you watch. 45 or 90 minute mud is so much better for the first coat any day of the year and it save s the dry time as well
This here is the definition of "experience". Bravo in a big way
Not sure how I got this video, but stayed to watch the skim coating exhibition.
Thank you!!!! I have an ENTIRE HOUSE with popcorn ceilings. CATHEDRAL Ceilings! 4 bedrooms and living room. Now you’ve made my day!
My 2000 square foot house has 1 cathedral and 2 tray ceilings. The entire house was popcorn when I moved in. I scraped, textured, and painted all my ceilings myself, with the exception of one cathedral ceiling which I contracted out. Turned out fine.
@@sa3270when you say "textured" did you do orange peel on your skimmed ceilings?
Yeah jump right on that. 😂
@@UVIckiWhat’s orange peel? It’s either popcorn, knock down, or skim trawled.
The only time when popcorn finish looks good is when you can't see the shit!!!
Agreed
Also agreed!
The worst.... my house has so much of downstairs I’m dreading it
or you at least painted over the damn sparkles LOL
Thanks for making me laugh... I needed that !!!
one of the best videos i seen on drywall. I have been doing drywall and painting for the last 10 years and this is legit.
Nice job!! I have a job coming up and was hesitant on removing the gloss painted ceiling but when I saw this…I was like “sweet” that’s time saving, faster, without all the breathing dust, and mess to clean up! Thanks I’m gonna watch this again before I start the job!
I've been in business near 20 year's and no matter if I've been doing all tricks of the trades I still enjoy watching other knowledged tradesman. I don't believe in to much learning. Thanks for your videos and clean language as explain the Technics as are performing your job to help us better jobs for customers.
I just attempted my bedroom ceiling; What a hassle !
Professionals like yourself truly make this an artwork !
I appreciate that man!👍🏻 Thanks so much for watching and subscribing!😎 -Paul
Not kidding skim coating is hella difficult without the popcorn in the way. Been trying to do just one long living room wall with lots of old repairs and such from being a rent house for 40 years. What a pain it's been to get smooth I'm ready to just fork over the money saved for another project and hire a professional. Great videos and very well explained. Could be an instructor for the way you explain techniques so someone like me who's never in their life touched a trowel and had no idea what a hawk was until just recently. Thank for taking the time to record and post your work.
He makes it looks easy lol
you aint joking
After wetting and scraping my master bath I sanded the ceiling and painted it. It looks great, but I was not looking forward to doing it throughout my house and had decided to just repaint my popcorn ceilings. Now that I've seen your video I will do a small bedroom first to see how well it goes skimming the ceiling. So glad I found your channel. Thanks!
How did it go
My first time doing drywall work I was terrible but your videos helped a lot. Only 3rd time doing it, I skimmed my popcorn ceiling today and it looks great.
That's really a great idea.
When I remodeled our 40 year old rental property, I sprayed a light coat of water on the ceiling and the popcorn textured pealed right off for me.
On the negative side, this method was extremely (and I do mean extremely) messy and I had a helper who was a bit too aggressive with the scraping and did cause a bit of damage with the scraping knife.
I wish I would have known this 5 years ago.
Thanks for sharing.
Drywall tube. Nice work man! Ya I was shown by an older boss of mine how to skim coat without sanding between coats or pretty much at all.. wed knockdown after so wasn't necessary. But his stuff honestly looked finished. He prided himself on not even having one on job site. Not sure I agree but it taught me to not rely on a pole sander and just use that 6 in between coats. I still try not to use a sander when I do any mudwork but I find myself going over
things more than I should if I just sanded..I just hate the dust and mess and added labor! Thanks for the good info and videos! Im Floating my hallway over popcorn currently but it's taking me two coats to look like your one.. gonna do rooms later with some of the tips u gave.
i was a union carpenter for 10 years now im a drywall contractor and i agree with everything you said especially about useing the all purpose to skim it does have more glue
Just moved into a older building and saw those lovely popcorn ceilings. I'm a rookie so I know I probably can't do it, but at least I've learned how to do this and what to ask for.
And yes Paul I am a drywall contractor 15 years you have a lot of good videos and a new subscriber
Wow, good job, good idea for covering skim coating the popcorn ceiling! I like that idea less of a mess! Two thumbs up!
I'm not a contractor, I'm just here for tips... And, I've realized, happily, from your video what a true pro can do... So, instead of DIY, I'm going to do some more research & hire someone to skim my ceilings... Cool to see you work though... Backbreaking work, but man, it looks great!
I’ve come to like drywalling. It’s extremely rewarding to see the finished outcome.
I do 2 things prior to skim coating over painted acoustical 1 light sanded of the high spots or Blades the ceilings then skim coat it really helps with chatter marks. Love your videos you good work my friend
I appreciate your input Mario!👍🏻 Thanks so much for watching and subscribing man!😎 -Paul
Thanks Brudda, your vids are what the internet was made for.
I appreciate that Jim!👍🏻 I’m glad you’re enjoying my videos! Thanks so much for watching and subscribing man!😎 -Paul
I was stumped on how to get rid of the ugly popcorn ceiling in my bathroom. We were having a problem with mold in the cracks. This tip helped me figure out how to transform my bathroom! THANKS!
you make it look so easy. very thorough in explanations. thank you paul!
I like the skim coat idea. I have to bid on a studio apt today & the customer wants the popcorn gone. It's a rental so I'm going to try to talk him out of it with high $ numbers. He's a friend & I have plenty of inside work here in Wyoming. I started my biz in 1997 & I've done all the textures but skip trowel is my favorite. Thanks for the idea.
OMG, once again, a brilliant idea that I never would have thought of! This would have saved my all kinds of time on my last home!!!
Hi, you are doing a great job on the skim coat. I am a retired drywall finisher of 21 years. We would have one guy roll the mud on and the other guy skim coat. On a big project take turns rolling and skim coating. Did you ever just use a sprayer and wet the popcorn down then scrape it off? Anyway that work will give you strong bicep's for sure.
FANTASTIC tips! Never would’ve thought to encapsulate this way. Excellent! I would probably even prefer doing this to removal of an unpainted popcorn ceiling, since skim coating has minimal risk of asbestos exposure. Thankfully, I don’t presently have any popcorn ceilings in my life.
Nice job of smoothing the ceiling; I'm sure with the second coat, it will be nearly flat. The paint that was previously applied to the popcorn must have made it into a much stronger substrate than the popcorn-alone would have been. What I don't get is why the owner would want to mess it up with yet another texture; I'll bet that in a few years there will be a plethora of videos on how to skim over a skip-trowel finish.
Exactly my thoughts.
I just want to say, Thanks! You are a great teacher and person to put this info out there. You videos really help!
You make skim coating a ceiling look so easy. I have done 3 ceiling in my house and I find it to be difficult. I think I’m not using the right mud or mix correctly. I use a lighter mud that is supposed to reduce dust in sanding but I think the mud you are using is probably better so I might look for that brand and also follow your mixing and roll on method. Looks easier.
I would love to do that to my pop corn ceiling, you make that look so simple very nice job.
I appreciate that David!💥👊🏻 Thanks so much for watching and commenting my friend!😎 -Paul
Oh my gosh! I don't think I am able to do this at my age and steadyness on a ladder. BUT I will show my son. This is wonderful info. Thank you soooooo much.
I really appreciate that Dianne.💥👊🏻 Good luck with your project. Let me know if your son runs into any questions along the way. Thanks so much for watching and subscribing my friend!😎 -Paul
This is the video I was looking for last fall when I did this to the whole house. I did basically what you showed took two coats then a light sanding I then sprayed orange peel on ceiling and walls. You make it look very easy it took me a long time and I made a good mess but it turned out well.
We tried removing popcorn from our kitchen ceiling using recommended techniques online. We’re big (or were-getting on) diy people, but gave up on the popcorn removal-wasn’t going well at all. Did luck out and found a guy who hung new drywall over the old ceiling. Joint compound on the seams. I sanded the few spots that needed it, and we primed and repainted. So that’s a great option. But was $500 -one room. We’d like to do our whole house. But our house is a cape, so bedrooms upstairs have slightly sloped edges. Your technique will handle that problem great-learning curve definitely needed with the gentle sloping, but will be way better than what we have now. Thanks so much for a great solution!
This is also a great alternative to scraping the popcorn texture in regards to the possibilities of asbestos in the popcorn texture.
Thank you for this! I was about to try to remive my sisters popcorn ceiling and this looks like a better alternative. Thank you for this helpful video. You are a skilled drywaller! I hope you are getting paid well for your skills. Thank you and God Bless you!
see THIS makes sense, if you do take the PC off, you still need to skim coat the drywall
Good stuff chief. i have a 41 yr old home that whose pop corn painted over multiple times- scrape failed. I put new drywall on the living and dining room but the bedrooms haven't been done. I may try this in one of them and see how it goes.
Really nice video I’m a plasterer from uk we would just use a trowel to skim to make it much easier than using a knife. Great video and very skilful
I really appreciate that Jan!👍🏻 Good to know my friend. Thanks so much for watching and subscribing!😎 -Paul
@@PaulPeck are you in miami?..I need appraisal for 560 square feet approximate..thanks
thank you for sharing this! I am using this technique currently and was surprised how much joint compound is takes to cover up all of the old popcorn!
This is awesome, I wanna do stuff like this and other types of home maintenance for living. It seems very fun
It is a very rewarding trade for sure man!💥👊🏻 Thank you so much for watching and subscribing my friend!😎 -Paul
I bought a scraper for $17 at Home Depot . What a mess I made . Can’t wait to show this video to my husband. Thank you for this video ❤️
Watched till the end, learning as much as I can from your videos. I'll be starting my own projects soon using your knowledge
I've done a lot of drywall repair on walls and ceiling. Always shied away from textured ceilings. I have a ceiling with water damage to fix the leak and replace the damaged drywall and blend in the stippled texture. After watching your instruction, no more doubts about my ability..
We use 90 minute mix 1st coat then 2nd coat compound takes 24 hrs to paint ,all in a day came out beautiful.
I do this all the time. I have a question though. Ive found that when you have a ceiling that was originally put up over oil based paint, then painted with a latex, the mud can cause the existing texture to crack and peal off bringing the mud down with it. Have you seen this? How do you deal with it?
3:00-3:15 It's turning out so good it's like you're doing a magic trick. Amazing work!
How long does it take to skim coal a 12x12 ceiling.?
Nice Paul, thank you so much I am going to be looking for a way to do this in our house really soon this is great timing, I was thinking I'd have to scrape it all off at first.
Right on Chris!👊🏻 Thanks so much for watching and commenting my friend!😎 -Paul
So we don't have to take down any of the nasty popcorn ceiling right ? Just skimming over it will do the trick right ? don't judge me im slow LOL no seriously iam slow when it comes to most projects im kinda of a hands on learner. Ty again guys.
Friends all thought I was crazy, I skim coated liv. rm ceiling, light sand and sprayed knockdown texture, cieling paint,, looks awesome
This is so awesome! Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge. I'm just getting ready to remodel a 70's home with popcorn ceiling and was not looking forward to it!
Hahaha! don't do it like this!
I did my 70s home in a similar fashion. Well worth the effort. I am an amateur not a pro. It will get your upper body 8nto fantastic shape.
Hi Paul. First of all I would like you to know that I am a housewife that knows enough about fixing things around the house to be a little dangerous but smart enough to know when I need help. I have been dreading taking down popcorn ceiling that has no easy solution to be taken down out of my entire house. I’ve done three rooms and a small bathroom so far and you are absolutely correct there is no easy way to get that flat and not Making a dusty mess throughout your entire house because of the sanding. I even used plastic on all the walls the doors taped it to tarps in the floor and it still made a mess throughout my downstairs. I decided to go with the one that you showed using the sand and joint compound.
However, I think I’m not seeing your video that shows the issue with popcorn ceiling if the drywall under it has never been primed or painted. Then adding that sand compound. So what’s the best way about going about that. I live in Augusta Georgia area And wouldn’t mind a quick phone call. I am always up for good suggestions
OMG thank you for your videos. I have been in a nightmare with my house and the texture walls and ceilings. I wish I would have known this trick before I painted my bed room.
I tried scraping my popcorn ceiling off even wet it a bit to try to loosen it up. My house is built in 1976 I don’t know what they used but when scraped into felt like I was scraping stucco lol 😂 . Ended up skim coating it and dam it looks awesome 👏🏽👌🏾
pre 2000, or even pre 90, chances are there's asbestos in it, DONT scrape it without checkinng it out first
This drywall video helps tremendously. I have a 2-family with lots of painted popcorn on plaster. I have already removed the plaster to replace with drywall on the 2nd floor. I think on the 1st floor I will keep the plaster and try to skim coat the popcorn walls and ceiling. Can you tell me the dimension of your walls and ceilings and how long it roughly takes?
Hi Steven, I’m glad you’re enjoying and learning from my videos!👍🏻 Your walls have popcorn too? The room in the video is 14’x14’. It took me 30 to 45 minutes to apply each skim coat to the ceiling. I hope this helps. Thanks so much for watching and subscribing man!😎 -Paul
@@PaulPeck Hello, yes the walls and ceilings have popcorn also the walls are all plaster. I am removing the bad plaster walls and will remove the ceilings because I want to insert insulation. Just wondering since I will have a mix of drywall and plaster in which all of the plaster will be skim coated once I have everything painted will the whole room should look like new drywall correct?
Beautiful work my friend !! EASTER EGG for those who are in dire need to defeat your popcorn demon - THE GOOD NEWS IS YOU CAN GET IT OFF IN ABOUT A DAYS WORK = The trick for chiseling it off is spray an area down with light water mist and then hit with a heat gun - Put your heat gun on high (around 1000) -you can do it yourself or have a friend move ahead of you with the heat gun - BEST to chisel while the painted popcorn has been softened and expanded by the heat gun following not too long after its been hit by the heat gun - a normal bedroom could be done in a day especially if you have an assistant w/the heatgun - its not so hard as it is tedious so be patient and accept that this is what your doing for the whole day lol -GOODLUCK
I skim coated an old 3 story house in North Portland Or it was lath and plaster my Gosh what a job my arms were noodles at the end of that hellish job
Hey there Jay!💥👊🏻 Yes skim coating is a bit of a workout for sure. But the results are usually well worth the effort!👍🏻 Thanks for watching and commenting my friend!😎 -Paul
Drywall finisher a I salute you!🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️🍀☘️🍀🍀☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️
What about If the popcorn has been painted with a semi gloss paint, Do I need to prime it first?
There's something curiously relaxing about watching a pro skim coat a wall or ceiling. Fascinating actually 🤔. I'll take on almost anything...but not this. I'd rather watch you do it. GREAT JOB! 👍🏼
Just put 1/4 sheetrock up and finish it. Lot easier than mudding an entire ceiling!
Except u have to buy maybe 4 sheets of sheetrock, a box of 100 screws, put it up, buy joint tape and a box of mud, a mud pan, a mud knife, tape and bed the joints, sand the mud and paint it. So ur still gonna have to buy the mud any ways so?!?
Not to mention you generally need multiple people and or a drywall hoist. Have to mark our the studs, get your tape lines looking good and fill all the screw holes. A skim coat is half the time and a 1/5 of the coat.
@@garrettfalls7953 u sound like someone how might do this for a living!
Putting up 10 drywall sheets and doing all that work and prep sounds a hell of a lot harder than pushing mud onto a ceiling.
For this size room what @ would you charge to do it this way
Your technique is marvelous. If I had that, I'd do my own popcorn ceiling. I am considering doing it tho. I just think it will be a whole lot of work. The walls turned out beyond my expectation.
Ohhh it’s painted !! Thought it wasn’t wen not it’s a nightmare I would believe.. good vid
Yes, some painted popcorn ceilings can be impossible to remove... Thanks so much for watching and subscribing my friend!😎 -Paul
Paul I Did a lot of these ceilings, and I used concrete fill it Drys in a couple of hours and you can apply another coat, Just have to clean your pail out after your Done as it will set up
Hi Paul, not sure if this question has already been asked but what do you recommend if the popcorn has not been painted? Thanks, and I love your videos!
What did you end up doing to harden it?
Jesus why couldn’t I have seen this video yesterday. Kudos to you good sir.
Awesome video! Good pointers about using the green lid joint compound for higher glue and to not thin it down this much. Keep up the great work! #drywalltube
I subbed when I heard all purpose, I just skimmed a farmhouse used 35 gal and have 35 to go. this stuff is amazing I finished a homeowners hang job of course no glue, lol didn't crack once and it sanded perfect because I only sand off 1% anyhow.
The problem here is that old popcorn doesn't have a strong bond to the underlying sheetrock. By putting mud, then primer and paint x 2 over it you're adding a lot of weight and eventually it's going to come off in sheets. Not tomorrow or even next year necessarily, but eventually. Use something like a wallpaper remover tool to poke thousands of little holes through the paint, then spray water on it, wait 30 mins, spray water again x 3 and start scraping.
Interesting idea about poking holes through paint! Will try doing so in another room that still has popcorn ceiling.
You must not do this for a living
Im a painter,it wont add weight,its thin
@@tomlehr861 35 years experience tells me otherwise
My take is to attempt to scrape it. I tried hot water, vinnegar etc. It's best to skim at this point. The bond the popcorn has to the sheetrock is dam near glue. Yes, I got underneath the paint, still to hard. Scrape if possible, skim if bond is strong.
Thanks for your video. Our 1994 home is all popcorn ceilings. The kitchen ceiling has been painted, so the skim coat seems like good solution there, but all other rooms are original. My question is so many of these videos are empty rooms; Where does everyone put all their furniture? I feel like we need to move out and move back in again after it's over. (we need new floors too) It's overwhelming at my age. Thanks for any advice.
Do you have to do any prep to the ceiling? Tsp wash or anything if there have been heavy smokers in there?
I would prime the entire ceiling with an oil base primer like Kilz or B-I-N or The nicotine will bleed through leaving yellow stains.👍🏻
Also quit smoking...its bad for your lungs!!!!
I scrapped off unpainted popcorn and replaced with waxed venetian plaster on two coats of primer. Turned out beautiful
👏👏👏👏👏thank You I didn’t even know u could do this.. they all said u have to scrape it off.
It's cheaper if the popcorn ceiling has NOT been painted and you can just scrape it off.
Asbestos wasn't banned from popcorn until 1982, so it's a health hazard to scrape off old popcorn if you don't know when it was applied. He should mention this at the start of the video
888strummer but what most people don't realize is how to scrape it and the process of doing the scraping and disposing is fine even if asbestos or to the crazy extreme of lead it's fine! But most people don't know!
@@kenbarr7069 I would never recommend a homeowner scrape asbestos off of ceilings. And I think a video like this should begin by explaining that asbestos wasn't banned from popcorn ceilings until 1982. A separate video can be made to show ways of safely removing asbestos or lead as you are right there are safe practices for removal. The best advise I give people is to simply never buy a home with popcorn ceilings if they don't like popcorn. As a contractor for 30+ years I'm amazed at all the people who buy a new home with popcorn and then call me and ask if I can remove the popcorn. And when I tell them I don't remove popcorn or skim over it, they get very upset. There is so much work where I live that I luckily can pick and choose all my work. But again; I'll never understand why any homeowner who hates popcorn ceilings would buy a home with popcorn!
I am a DIYer I am also a woman but I am a jack of all trades and I do quite well. I just repaired an emissions leak in my jeep so with that taken care of there are no more codes for my EVAP system. I can now get a smog. I have popcorn ceilings I’m not sure if there’s asbestos in there so I’ll have them tested first but I think I would like to just skim coat them as you did. This would be a lot safer I think a lot easier even though it’s a lot of work it’s easier because my popcorn ceilings are on plaster my whole house is plaster not drywall period. About 17 years ago 16 years ago when we bought the house I recessed lighting put in and they had to scrape the popcorn to make The recessed lighting lay flat because they asked me if I wanted that done I said sure because I had planned on getting the ceiling scraped eventually. And then I got a divorce so that was no longer feasible. I wonder now how many fibers if this is asbestos were released into the air or if I should’ve painted over that scraped portion or if I still should paint over that’s great portion. I didn’t know back then what I learned now.
I love this idea! Is it cheaper than popcorn ceiling removal?
It's just as easy if not easier to scrape it. I scraped about 1600 square feet myself and had no issues. Used just a little joint compound just to patch nails and other spots that needed it.
I’m pretty handy around the house but no way would I even try to do this myself!
Not many can do this
You got some serious skills
#drywalltube I don't have any popcorn, but I do have some ceilings where you can see the butt joints in the right light. You've inspired me to pick up some all purpose and do something about it!
That’s awesome Wan Jae!!👍🏻 Let me know how that skim coating goes! Thanks so much for watching and subscribing my friend!😎 -Paul
That's amazing!!!
Drywalling is truly an art, it really requires skill and technique!!!
GOOD JOB!!!!
Hey Paul! I was so inspired by your video I decided to skim coat the bathroom ceiling to cover up the sprayed on knockdown. I was warned by a friend that over the shower it may bubble and then fall, which it did. I ended up having to scrape all of it over the shower off. Should I merge it together with what I have done so far, or scrape it all and start fresh? The rest seems to be fine.
Cut it out in shower area and greenboard? Or maybe just use a good sealing/bonding primer do like 3 coats on the ceiling area and reapply your skim.
That was very informational and gave me hope for my popcorn ceilings. I’d like to see your other videos.
So how much I can pay for some one can I do this job in my apartment??
Ur a blessing to single people. I have to do my on work. God gives me the strength 💪..
Painted popcorn does come off scrape off hot water and vinegar and Dawn soap spray let's set for 20min to 30min spray again before scraping to lower dust and this way you only have to skim coat once and for me personally I can scrape popcorn faster then skim coating over it
The popcorn texture may have asbestos in it, according to info on other channels. So, it's better to skim coat the ceilings.
Agreed. I'm a painting contractor. I ran a bucket of vinegar / water mixture through a small old sprayer I no longer used. My wife and I had 2200 sq ft of house prepped with plastic, ,sprayed and removed in under 4 hours. After that I did a decent amount of mud work to ensure the ceilings were flawless prior to paint, however it wasn't a big job. Everyone cries Asbestos...we wore respirators and when you wet it down there is very little dust that gets in the air.
We spray it down with water and wait about 5 minutes and comes right off
I used to put a little plaster of paris in the first coat to get it to set faster, then you can just smooth the ridges instead of scrapping them in 5-10 minutes.
Scraping takes way less time. Skimming takes at least 2coats, sanding, touch up and a ton of skill. Not to mention if that popcorn has not been painted it super dusty which will not allow the mud to stick and over short time it will flake off.
Keyword in the title says painted
Thanks Paul ,I will start my skimcoating índole painted popcorn ceiling
Your are a master coating !
Wow, I would have never thought to skim coat this stuff! What a great idea and awesome work! #drywalltube
I don't think I have the magic touch like he does.
@@hunterbravo9638 Some people are born good at something, but that's rare. For us normal folk, stuff like that is all practice.
@@AtlasReburdened You are right, they have the touch.
Found your popcorn ceiling video! BRILLIANT!
Hey Paul just wondering if it’s ok to slim coat them in places like Ontario, will they crack a lot with the change is seasons winters?
Omfg ive killed TWO electric sanders, put in ALOT of hours sanding by hand, tryna get that popcorn crap off the ceiling in my bathroom! It had about 3 ( minimum) layers of paint, btw.. Ive just begun the 4th or 5th MONTH of this project (im still recovering from an injury to the achilles heel where i cut into the nerve behind my ankle. Yeah. OUCH, indeed!).. anyway, this video of urs is a TOTAL game changer!! Thank u soo much!! Oh.. & my HEEL thanks u too!!
UPDATE"
Ive (finally!!) got the whole ceiling done, a whole wall, and now working on the second. Following ur advice has been a total game changer for me. i had a little setback due to some of that popcorn crap that had found its way into the drains of both my tub and sink, thereby creating a clog/blockage from HELL!! I was ready to pour some muriatic acid down the drains-it was a nightmare! Thankfully a manager at my local home depot was able to stop me in time to save my drains!! lol Either way, my project has been going swimmingly now, and is moving along nicely.. Thanks again!!
I'd hoped i could tackle this project, but I'm rethinking my limited construction abilities.... ;-)
Seems more of a skill, which happens with practice. My back & neck hurt just watching, with 1 eye on my ugly popcorn ceiling with silver chunky glitter from the late 60's. Ugh.....
My wife and I cleaned then skim coated 90 year old "plaster" (more like brick mortar) ceiling this year. It wore out some 60+year old shoulders, but we did some fine work.
Now that is a master class in skim coating! I WISH I could make mine nice like this! Also wondering how do you tell if it’s asbestos? Just bought a house today and previous owner didn’t know.
Bee Snort have someone test it! we found a lab in our area to do it for $40, and ours was positive for asbestos so thank goodness we tested it before removing ourselves
Katie Grace oh thank you so much!!! I will do that for sure!
Popcorn with abestos was outlawed after 1977 so house built sfter that should have plastic instead of that abestos. There are test that can be run on ceilings by a professional on houses built before 1977!
great videos, you literally saved me from ripping down an asbestos covered ceiling. I was just wondering what type of compound you would suggest to skim a popcorn ceiling?
Saves on cost of having it tested for asbestos and abatement too.
Yes very true!👍🏻 Encapsulation is usually the best option. Thanks for watching and commenting man!😎 -Paul
As a taper with 45 years experience I always put up new rock whenever possible, live and learn