Popcorn ceiling removal costs so much due to the amount of labor and time it takes to remove and refinish the ceiling. Its not as simple as spraying water on your ceiling and scraping off texture. There is a lot of prep work required when it comes time to remove those unsightly textured ceilings and get them smooth.

Homeowners often overlook asbestos testing. Some older popcorn ceilings may contain asbestos (Pre 1981). If testing confirms asbestos-containing material, we do not perform removal and recommend contacting a licensed asbestos remediation contractor.

Many online cost estimates focus on basic texture removal only. In our experience, achieving a properly finished smooth ceiling often requires extensive skim coating, sanding, priming, repairs, and repainting after the texture is removed. We aim for a level 5 finish.

Preparing the Room Takes Time

First, all small items in the room have to be removed, furniture either has to be repositioned, or preferably, removed entirely. After that, floor to ceiling plastic sheeting to protect the walls, and then drop cloths to cover the floors. Heating vents and air-returns all have to be taped off to help mitigate the spread of dust. Your about to experience the most dust in your home since it was built. We want to keep that contained.

High Ceilings Make Everything More Difficult

If you have high ceilings, this just complicates things, as scaffolding and extension ladders must be used. When dealing with popcorn removal, another factor is any weird angles in the home, such as stairs in a two story foyer – those are always fun to work around.

The outside railing on the stairs, was installed after the ceilings were finished, meaning now we must construct safe scaffolding to reach the ceiling, while not damaging anything along the way.

Extension ladders often become slippery with wet texture which sticks to everything, so the chance of getting very seriously hurt goes up exponentially. If your foot slips forward on an extension ladder rung (easy to do), and you fall, you could lose your ability to walk. A fall from 6′ can be fatal. The danger is very real. Absolutely make sure your contractor carries workers comp on all employees, otherwise your liable and New York will bankrupt the company.

Removing the Texture Is Only the Beginning

Even if you don’t have high ceilings, its very labor intensive and takes time. Figure 2-3+ days per 8′ ceiling. More if there is hidden damage that now must be dealt with such as cracks, failed tape, bumps, valleys, or other damage that was successfully hidden by the texture. Some times these areas can be rectified, sometimes they cant. It is important to have realistic expectations.

Examples of damage successfully hidden
by popcorn ceiling texture.

Sometimes, there is more than one layer of popcorn. This occurs when the ceiling has a problem, that can’t be rectified, so the solution is to hide the damage.

Painted Popcorn Ceilings Are Even Worse

Painted popcorn ceilings are even more work to remove, and there is no guarantee that you wont have problems with the ceiling after the fact in the form of blistering. Often times, we can’t remove the base layer of ceiling texture, necessitating the need to skim coat the entire ceiling, twice or more.

Due to the rough texture of the base layer, more often than not, the ceiling requires a minimum of two passes with skim coating. Then sanding, then priming, then painting.

So for those keeping count, that is 8+ passes per ceiling, per room.
Day one:
1) Scrape
2) Prime
3) Skim 1
Day Two:
4) Skim 2
5) Sand
6) Prime
7) Paint 1
Day Three:
8) Paint 2

Whole House Popcorn Removal Costs

People, especially new homeowners often grossly under-estimate the work involved with popcorn removal, and will often ask what it would cost to do the whole house or an entire floor at once. For starters, we wont do an entire house in one go. We will do a maximum of 3 ceilings in one visit, and that is contingent on if the ceilings are painted.

But because everyone wants numbers, and contractors hate publishing numbers, figure about $14-20+ per square foot, to go from popcorn texture to level 5 smooth ceilings. This is turn-key pricing. From setup, removal, skimming, sanding, priming, painting two coats, and clean up and disposal.

So for a 2,000 sq foot house with out high ceilings (anything over 8′ is considered a high ceiling), $25,000 – $40,000 plus 8.75% tax, to remove the texture, refinish the ceilings, and paint the ceilings. Plus $600+ if your getting a dumpster. Most dumpster people do not like to keep a can on a jobsite for longer than a week, so that can complicate things.

Sounds outrageous right? Figure a 4 bedroom house, 3 bath, living room, dining room, family room, kitchen, front hall, upstairs hall…5 – 7 weeks of work for our company. That is 5–7 weeks of some of the most physically and mentally demanding work in residential trades.

Popcorn removal requires constant overhead labor, extensive setup and cleanup, repetitive sanding, skimming, and cleaning, while maintaining high finish standards throughout the project.

Ranks up there with roofing for labor intensity, with the added bonus of never ending dust, and dirt to contend with daily. And now your asking a painting company, or in our case a painting and ceiling restoration company, to undergo the most grueling, back breaking, over head labor for 1 – 2 months straight, while maintaining high standards of quality? Hard Pass.

The Physical Reality of Popcorn Removal

While we do offer popcorn removal services, and have documented our results over the last 3 years, we set realistic boundaries in order to prevent physical, mental, and professional burn out when it comes to popcorn removal. A 2 day week end, is not enough recovery time after dealing with popcorn removal for 5 straight days, but lets do it non stop for 2 months!

Aside from the physical labor aspects, its also annoying and frustrating. It sticks to your feet, you track it every where. Ladders, drop cloths all get caked in texture that now must be cleaned before the next job. The mess… the mess is unbelievable, your constantly cleaning.

The dust is substantial. Dealing with plastic sheeting that blows around with the air pressure changes in the house, that can occur by just entering and exiting the home. Dry times between skimming, priming, painting.. it feels like it never ends.

Now add any issues that are discovered after removal that now must be rectified in order to properly finish the ceiling, adding more time, more materials, more labor. The bigger the ceiling, the longer it takes, the more it costs in money, time, and physical exertion.

And lets not forget- You are living in this mess for the duration of the project!

I have yet to meet the homeowner who, after receiving estimates to remove popcorn from the entire house went for it, because the monetary cost is substantial.

Stop looking at your ceilings, and put that $50,000 in the stock market instead.