Properly diagnosing your popcorn ceiling stripper damage is the first important step in deciding how to properly proceed. Determining the source of the damage to your texturized ceiling is the important first step before moving forward. One of the most common sources of damage to texturized ceiling is water damage from above.
– Moisture Damage
If this is the case there are several things to consider. Is the source of the leak been contained resolved? Is the drywall and insulation above the ceiling been properly dried? Moreover, if the moisture has been a longer term problem or a slow leak that wasn’t noticed for a longer period of time there is probably mildew that should be dwelt with prior to repairing the ceiling. Mildew and mold spores can be a serious health concern and should be inspected by a professional and cleaned up respectively.
– Smoke Damage
Another common problem people face with their ceilings is that yellowing effect caused by 2nd hand smoke from years of exposure. This yellow stain will not go away from just spraying your ceiling and there important steps to follow to insure that this stain does not bleed through.
Treatment:
– Spot Repair
If the damage to your textured ceiling is isolated to a small region of the ceiling you can attempt to blend it with the other texture which can be almost impossible but is doable. You can use a small aerosol ceiling texture spray. There are different brands available that give a different effect as well as different nozzle sizes. It’s a good idea to experiment on a piece of cardboard to see if you can get as close as possible to your existing texture. If this is not an option or you can’t find anything to match your existing texture you might have spray and retexture the whole ceiling but first you have to remove the existing texture.
– Removing old texture
If you have to or want to remove all of your old texture you must be prepared for a big messy job. The best and most efficient way to remove the old texture is a multi-step process that I will now describe. You first want to cover all your floors and any remaining furniture in the room to protect them. You will than need to spray the old ceiling texture with some warm water to soften the existing texture making it easy to scrape off. Using a large drywall putty knife you can than began scraping off the old texture. If this proves to be difficult retreat the ceiling with some warm water until the old texture is soft and easy to scrape off. Once all the old texture has been scraped off you can clean up the mess and let the ceiling properly dry before re-texturizing.
– Priming and Prep
Make sure to patch any large scratches and marks in the ceiling that may have been caused from scraping off the old ceiling texture. Once the ceiling is patched and lightly sanded you are now ready to apply a primer coat. This can be either rolled or sprayer on and is important to seal in the old drywall as well as any stains that may still be apparent. Brands such as bullseye, Zinsser and Killz are some popular primer sealers and come in water based formulas.
