# Popcorn removal



## South-FL-Painter (Jan 17, 2012)

Good Evening,

We find our selfs more and more involved with popcorn removal these days.I am looking to purchase few systems that works for sanding after skim coating the concrete ceiling.I would like to know what you guys are using?Old method of sand paper on the sanding pad handle is too much these days haha .

Sharp


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## cdaniels (Oct 20, 2012)

I have removed a lot of ceiling texture but never from a concrete ceiling.


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## Xmark (Apr 15, 2012)

concrete ceiling? never seen that around these parts. they stippled over concrete and you want it removed? a garden pump sprayer with hot water should work. scrape it off with a wide blade.use a porter cable or festool wall sander when dry.


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## Oden (Feb 8, 2012)

A lot of these senior citizens buildings and apartment buildings just have the cast ceilings popcorned. Easey to get off with some hot water and a scraper. Quite often the cast is gonna have a domestic Swiss cheese look when it's cleaned. You see all the air bubbles and imperfections the corn was hiding. The corn will come off easey though.


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## South-FL-Painter (Jan 17, 2012)

Guys,


I actually meant sanding after removal.Our process is,removal of popcorn with hot water and scrapper as mentioned above ,and then skimming the whole ceiling with either 45 or 90.

My question was:
What do you use as far as sanding the the joint compound,before applying primer.That porter cable sanding kit/machine looks bulky and heavy for sanding the ceiling with your hands up,especially condos that is sometimes 3000sqft and up.


Sharp


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## South-FL-Painter (Jan 17, 2012)

cdaniels said:


> I have removed a lot of ceiling texture but never from a concrete ceiling.


Here in Miami Beach all the high-rise condos have popcorn ceiling since it was built between 60's-90's,therefore we find our selfs very busy lately doing popcorn removal.


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## Epoxy Pro (Oct 7, 2012)

Pole sander is what i use


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## MikeCalifornia (Aug 26, 2012)

If you are just skim coating, with a skip trowel texture, you should have no sanding after a quick coat of the mud. Before the mud is dry, 15 min or so, just run your knife across any hard edges to smooth them out.


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## cdaniels (Oct 20, 2012)

Sharp_Painting said:


> Here in Miami Beach all the high-rise condos have popcorn ceiling since it was built between 60's-90's,therefore we find our selfs very busy lately doing popcorn removal.


good to be busy. :thumbsup:


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## Xmark (Apr 15, 2012)

Sharp_Painting said:


> Guys,
> 
> 
> I actually meant sanding after removal.Our process is,removal of popcorn with hot water and scrapper as mentioned above ,and then skimming the whole ceiling with either 45 or 90.
> ...


you might want to invest in a festool planex drywall sander. it's a little easier to use than the PC 7800 and it also has a pouch to place the pole in for easy overhead sanding.


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## South-FL-Painter (Jan 17, 2012)

cdpainting said:


> Pole sander is what i use


Yeah.We do to,but I am looking to invest in something more like 2013 lol.the dust all over is the main concern.If you use dust extractors,it makes life so much easier!


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## South-FL-Painter (Jan 17, 2012)

Xmark,

I think you just hooked me on that thing! I am a tool freak,when it comes to work,especially when the quality tools like that pays off in just couple of jobs!
I will do some research,but any idea how much a set like this would run me?I know festool is not the cheapest thing on earth.But again,it always comes to the end "you get,what you pay for"!




you might want to invest in a festool planex drywall sander. it's a little easier to use than the PC 7800 and it also has a pouch to place the pole in for easy overhead sanding.










[/QUOTE]


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## South-FL-Painter (Jan 17, 2012)

cdaniels said:


> good to be busy. :thumbsup:



Yes busy is very good!All thou its not for everybody!Busy only comes when you earn it.(its what I believe)

There is so many guys here in south florida that is constantly crying about how slow it is,but when you see the quality "they" do or provide to the customers I can only shake my head with no answer or any words.


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## South-FL-Painter (Jan 17, 2012)

I think that is not bad for a piece of art!


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## Epoxy Pro (Oct 7, 2012)

Sharp_Painting said:


> Yeah.We do to,but I am looking to invest in something more like 2013 lol.the dust all over is the main concern.If you use dust extractors,it makes life so much easier!


We don't do alot of sanding on ceilings and when we do they are usually small, I do need to check these videos out and maybe purchase one of these tools. I do run a Filter Queen Defender air filtration system if I have alot of sanding, it is a floor unit works good for what we use it for, but it does clog filters every day and can get expensive replacing them.


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## South-FL-Painter (Jan 17, 2012)

Any of you guys actually own Planex drywall sander?what would be your feedback.is it comfortable unit to work on the ceiling with?

Any input will be helpful,otherwise i will have to go by online 5 star review all over ahah


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## straight_lines (Oct 17, 2007)

Its for sure the best drywall sander on the market, second to porter cable. I was supposed to own one for my current job, but the owners decided to leave some of the rooms with popcorn, and we are doing wood ceilings in another. Just didn't have it in the budget to do it this time, I was a little disappointed because I would love to own one, but will have to wait a little longer.


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## Damon T (Nov 22, 2008)

There's some good feedback on the festool owners forum. I was looking into getting one for a popcorn bid I recently did. I haven't heard back on the job yet


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## Xmark (Apr 15, 2012)

Damon T said:


> There's some good feedback on the festool owners forum. I was looking into getting one for a popcorn bid I recently did. I haven't heard back on the job yet


i still wouldn't use it like the guy in the video. it would be much faster to wet it down,scrape,let it dry then sand and then mudd where needed.


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## South-FL-Painter (Jan 17, 2012)

I am going to order one soon,just looking for a right price.

Looks like Festool ,is like "apple" they don't really have any deals or coupons lol


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## straight_lines (Oct 17, 2007)

Scheduled festool price increase today, I think the planex did too. Finding a used one for sale or reconditioned when they come back around will be the cheapest you will buy one.


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## Workaholic (Apr 17, 2007)

No matter how you do it popcorn removal is work and needs to be charged accordingly.


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## Xmark (Apr 15, 2012)

Workaholic said:


> No matter how you do it popcorn removal is work and needs to be charged accordingly.


i usually turn down that kind of work. it's much like wallpaper removal and difficult to give a set price.

-what happens if the entire ceiling needs a skim coat and re-taping after the popcorn is removed? you really don't know what is underneath the texture until it is scraped off.


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## cdaniels (Oct 20, 2012)

Xmark said:


> i usually turn down that kind of work. it's much like wallpaper removal and difficult to
> 
> 
> > _* give a set price*_.
> ...


I have a texture removal job scheduled for next week that I will be doing at an hourly rate.Last one I gave a price on took me a day longer than I figured to get it painted.


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## Oden (Feb 8, 2012)

Most tapers get up in the air and sand their work with a sponge on a Bakker or stilts. The good ones do. The OP really shouldn't have any sanding to do to speak of. The ceiling is cast concrete. He Ain't gonna gouge that up.


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## South-FL-Painter (Jan 17, 2012)

We have a nightmare popcorn removal job now,its was painted over few times with oil paint.So we only scrape off whats peeling easy,and will follow with 2 skims,prime and paint.Big heartache


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## RH (Sep 7, 2010)

cdaniels said:


> I have a texture removal job scheduled for next week that I will be doing at an hourly rate.Last one I gave a price on took me a day longer than I figured to get it painted.


That's the best way to bid these - just like wallpaper removal IMO.

Just curious, never saw any mention of the possible presence of asbestos in the PC texture. That's a fairly common concern out here and needs to be treated more seriously than lead as far as I'm concerned. Has the potential for asbestos related issues become a mute point with many out there who are removing it?


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## South-FL-Painter (Jan 17, 2012)

researchhound said:


> That's the best way to bid these - just like wallpaper removal IMO.
> 
> Just curious, never saw any mention of the possible presence of asbestos in the PC texture. That's a fairly common concern out here and needs to be treated more seriously than lead as far as I'm concerned. Has the potential for asbestos related issues become a mute point with many out there who are removing it?


We just started doing more and more of it.I am also curious how this is handled.Does do it your self test kits work?Or you need to send sample to the lab?

Most of the condos we do was re-modeled in the late 80-90 so its very little chance of the asbestos,but you never know.And as far as I consider sale is always better than sorry.


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## mudbone (Dec 26, 2011)

Sharp_Painting said:


> I am going to order one soon,just looking for a right price.
> 
> Looks like Festool ,is like "apple" they don't really have any deals or coupons lol


 Me two.My daughters and wife gave me half the money up front for one on Christmas.Just havent made the festool plunge yet.Crazy thing is I could have really put it to good use on the job Im presently doing.Ended up using a friend of mines PC.


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## mudbone (Dec 26, 2011)

Workaholic said:


> No matter how you do it popcorn removal is work and needs to be charged accordingly.


 Amen to that!


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## mudbone (Dec 26, 2011)

Xmark said:


> i usually turn down that kind of work. it's much like wallpaper removal and difficult to give a set price.
> 
> -what happens if the entire ceiling needs a skim coat and re-taping after the popcorn is removed? you really don't know what is underneath the texture until it is scraped off.


 True.Just ran in to this.Popcorn was painted on large ceilings with oil base paint,stripped and Gardz applied,followed by two skimcoats of mud.Killer


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## Damon T (Nov 22, 2008)

I have a job coming up next week where the HOs had an abatement contractor remove the popcorn a few years ago. They did a great job, and the final surface looks really good. I did a test patch of primer about 10'x12' so I could see if there were issues I couldn't see otherwise. A bunch of nail dimples showed up, so I will prime out the rest of the lid, mud or spackle, re-prime, and paint. Any suggestions on what you would use for a bunch of nail dimples? I was thinking either topping compound or crawfords spackle.


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## straight_lines (Oct 17, 2007)

I prefer a lightweight for something simple like that. 
http://www.usg.com/beadex-silver-set-lightweight-setting-type-joint-compound.html


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## RH (Sep 7, 2010)

Sharp_Painting said:


> We just started doing more and more of it.I am also curious how this is handled.Does do it your self test kits work?Or you need to send sample to the lab?
> 
> Most of the condos we do was re-modeled in the late 80-90 so its very little chance of the asbestos,but you never know.And as far as I consider sale is always better than sorry.


I've never used one of the self test kits. We've always sent samples to a lab for testing.


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## Damon T (Nov 22, 2008)

straight_lines said:


> I prefer a lightweight for something simple like that.
> http://www.usg.com/beadex-silver-set-lightweight-setting-type-joint-compound.html


I've always thought of topping mud or crawfords as lightweight, and hot mud being much harder to sand. I guess if you pull it tight it's no big deal.


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## mudbone (Dec 26, 2011)

researchhound said:


> I've never used one of the self test kits. We've always sent samples to a lab for testing.


 A lab? Figures.:whistling2:


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## straight_lines (Oct 17, 2007)

Damon T said:


> I've always thought of topping mud or crawfords as lightweight, and hot mud being much harder to sand. I guess if you pull it tight it's no big deal.


No they are easy sand hot mud products. I linked that because its what I use, or the USG equivalent that I can get here. Still use hard setting durabond in the brown bag for some things, it doesn't sand well at all.


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## mudbone (Dec 26, 2011)

cdpainting said:


> Pole sander is what i use


 Polefessional!


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