Popcorn ceilings

[bogey]

Howdy all,
Happy New Year! I hope 2015 is your best year ever. I have lots of new challenges ahead of me for 2015. With that, I have recently purchased a condo and I have about 900 square feet of popcorn ceiling that I want to cover. It likely has asbestos, so I am going to hire someone to cover it with drywall, yes? Can anyone tell me how much I should budget for this (materials and labor)? I'm already having the whole place painted, so the paint may not have to be included.

I'm putting in engineered wood floors (glue down). I budgeted $10.00 sq. ft. installed is that too low, too high?

I'm in escrow now and will close mid to late January. If I could have found that G-spot, I probably wouldn't be buying this condo!

Look forward to hearing from you all.

[Hog's Gone Fishin]

G-spot about 4 inches in. better luck next time.

[LoneWolf]

Why do you think the popcorn ceiling has asbestos?

$10/sq.ft. is an average price for the wood floors.

[TribalElder]

You have mesothelioma

Move Immediately

[bogey]

Originally Posted by LoneWolf

Why do you think the popcorn ceiling has asbestos?

$10/sq.ft. is an average price for the wood floors.

I've been told because it's pre early 1970's there's asbestos.

[Mr. Laz]

The popcorn ceiling will have a little 'sparkle' to it if it has asbestos.


Don't you need to remove it up if it does?

[Brock]

Even if it is asbestos you can scrape it off wet and wear a dust mask just to be safe. Cost near zero.

[Bugeater]

I would make 100% sure it has asbestos before I'd go through the expense of overlaying it. I'd imagine there should be a way to test it but I'm not an expert in the field by any means.

[Mr. Laz]

Originally Posted by Brock

Even if it is asbestos you can scrape it off wet and wear a dust mask just to be safe. Cost near zero.

yea, if you haven't moved into the place yet then it shouldn't be that difficult to remove.

warm water/steam and a big wide scraper

[Brock]

Originally Posted by Baconeater

I would make 100% sure it has asbestos before I'd go through the expense of overlaying it. I'd imagine there should be a way to test it but I'm not an expert in the field by any means.

Yes, there are testing kits at lowes.

[bogey]

Originally Posted by Mr. Laz

The popcorn ceiling will have a little 'sparkle' to it if it has asbestos.


Don't you need to remove it up if it does?

Two different builders have told me it likely has asbestos. If I remove it, I need to hire pros, they say it's legal to cover because in theory your not disturbing the asbestos.

[bogey]

Originally Posted by Mr. Laz

yea, if you haven't moved into the place yet then it shouldn't be that difficult to remove.

warm water/steam and a big wide scraper

I've been told that once they scrape the ceiling, there no telling the shape of the surface underneath. It will still have to be sanded and prepped for painting. The time you spend scraping prepping, compared to covering isn't worth it. Yes, no?

[bogey]

Originally Posted by Brock

Even if it is asbestos you can scrape it off wet and wear a dust mask just to be safe. Cost near zero.

I'm hiring someone to do this. I have a 57 year old back.

[Brock]

Originally Posted by bogey

I'm hiring someone to do this. I have a 57 year old back.

I don't blame you there.

[Bugeater]

Originally Posted by bogey

I've been told that once they scrape the ceiling, there no telling the shape of the surface underneath. It will still have to be sanded and prepped for painting. The time you spend scraping prepping, compared to covering isn't worth it. Yes, no?

Yes, every popcorn ceiling I've removed has needed some sanding and spot skimmed. I'd imagine that's where the asbestos concern lies, you don't want to be exposed to the dust. If you didn't have the the asbestos concerns, scraping/painting would be far less work than overlaying it.

Get it tested somehow, "likely" wouldn't cut it for me.