Popcorn removal services will vary depending on your budget and what your needs are.
Most popcorn removals are a minimum of $1,000.00 for a basic service depending on the size of the home. If you are wondering what determines the price for your removal, here are a few helpful tips.
- Is the popcorn painted
- What will need to be masked off and protected
- Would type of finish do I want after the popcorn is removed
- Painting the finished ceiling.
When popcorn is painted, it can be very hard to remove, sometimes doubling the cost of the removal process because it can take twice as long to remove the popcorn. We have done many homes and the paint on the popcorn was not a big factor and this made removal still fairly easy. When popcorn is painted with gloss paint or a thick flat finish, this is were problems can arise.
Popcorn removal can be very messy so everything needs to be protected. Walls will need covering unless you want popcorn all over them, as well as the floors. If there is furniture in the house then that will definitely need covering and this usually ads to the cost of removal because more material and man power is needed to complete the task. We recommend moving as much furniture out as possible to make the process easier although it is not necessary, it is the smarter thing to do.
Your next thought will be the type of finish you will want applied to the ceiling afterward
- Knockdown
- Orange Peel
- Slick or smooth finish
Knockdown is usually the option most homeowners prefer since it is the most common type of texture today. As a cost cutter we can spray knockdown on the ceiling without having to skim out joints and in most cases it does come out decent. On occasion we will need to skim out all joints on ceilings depending on how badly they were scarred during removal or how poorly the were finished in the first place.
Orange Peel is not typically put on ceilings but we have done this before in brand new homes and occasionally on homes were popcorn is removed. If this option is chosen, then the ceilings will need have another coat of mud applied to the drywall joints to get a flat finish and take out humps and other tears and cracks.
Smooth finish is the least chosen as it is the most costly. To do this properly, every ceiling joint must be skimmed out and then another coat or two should be put on top of the entire ceiling, otherwise you may see every joint after painting. This can make the ceiling look different in all types of lighting situations.
Finally the painting will need to be done. A few things can happen after the removal process and they include the following.
- paint tears at the tops of walls
- left over popcorn that is embedded into paint on the walls
- staple holes from having to secure the plastic during removal
- a non straight edge from the knockdown
When the masking comes down from removals, sometimes it tears of latex paint from the walls. This happens even if blue tape is used, although it is “not supposed to” do this. Popcorn balls are often painted into the walls from the original paint and those can be hard to get out so there is a cure for that as well which is to place a bead of caulk all the way around the entire room. The only disadvantage to this is it will not look good if you are not painting the walls. The same goes for the pinholes left from staples. They are necessary when tape and plastic get to wet during removal and things start to fall off. Due to plastic on the walls, sometimes the knockdown edge looks a little inconsistent and is best to take the plastic off first to check before painting. For this reason, we usually roll our ceiling paint on and hand paint the edges. This service can take time depending on the how large the ceilings are and how high.
These are just a few of the services that may have to be performed during your removal, and it is always good to know these things ahead of time.
