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If you’ve looked up at a ceiling and noticed a textured finish, you’ve likely been under a popcorn ceiling. It was a popular architectural style decades ago, but now people remove them in older homes. This is how much the average popcorn ceiling removal costs and why it might be in your best interest to renovate your ceilings.
Popcorn ceilings are any indoor ceiling with a stucco appearance. It may resemble cottage cheese or painted popcorn as well. Sometimes it’s part of the first floor, but it can also be a feature on every floor of a house.
Many construction companies finished ceilings this way in previous decades because it hides any potential cracks and reduces noise inside homes. Instead of seeing tiny fissures crack your paint as time warped your home’s structural integrity, you’d only ever see the same popcorn effect.
When popcorn ceilings chip with age or get scraped away during renovations, dust releases into the air. The dust can contain asbestos, which causes illnesses like mesothelioma, lung cancer and gastrointestinal cancer.
If your home finished construction before or during the 1980s, it likely has asbestos in its popcorn ceilings. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) banned the material in 1989, so many homes still contain it. When the ceiling chips, the asbestos can linger in the air and become an airborne health threat.
Homes built after 1989 may also have popcorn ceilings, but they may not contain asbestos. Instead, you could want to remove it because the texture is an outdated feature that clashes with your decor or renovations.
Popcorn ceilings can also be challenging to clean. Cobwebs and dust get stuck within the textured surface and may not always come out with a vacuum. There isn’t an option to scrub them away either because pressure only chips the popcorn pieces off.
You may daydream about household renovations you can complete by yourself, like seeding your yard or replacing your cabinetry. Although DIY projects save money, getting rid of a popcorn ceiling requires industrial supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE).
It’s safer if you hire a team to remove the popcorn ceiling you have in mind. Call a few local companies to compare quotes with your current budget.
Popcorn ceiling removal costs vary by state and city. The average homeowner pays between $899-2,858 for removal, but that can decrease or increase depending on the room’s size. Getting local quotes is the best way to find accurate estimates and plan an economically feasible project.
After the room is safe to use again, you can turn it into a home gym or convert it into an art studio if that’s how you’d like to use the space. You won’t have to worry about breathing anything potentially harmful because trained professionals removed all of the popcorn ceiling materials.
Research local contractors to find out what a popcorn ceiling removal costs in your area. A team of experts will quickly remove the outdated and potentially harmful materials so you can use every space in your home without worrying about your health or outdated architectural features.
