Removing 'popcorn' ceiling

Hi all,
My apartment has a 'popcorn' ceiling (like this), in the main living/dining room + the bedroom.

It's a one bedroom in Cammeray, 48 sq meters. of which probably about 39sq is popcorned.

My questions are threefold,

1. Has anyone done this? If so, what were the costs (if professionally done)
to remove/change into a modern looking ceiling?

2. Would it increase the value of the property? I have an inferiority complex relating to the ceiling and every time someone walks in I always feel them staring!

3. Is it a worthwhile investment?!

Thanks in advance.
 
My apartment has a 'popcorn' ceiling
It is called "vermiculite" in Australia. It was popular in the 1960's and phased out during the early 1970's.

1. Has anyone done this? If so, what were the costs (if professionally done)
to remove/change into a modern looking ceiling?
There are only 3 things people do with it:
1. Gyprock over it or put a suspended ceiling of gyprock over it if the ceiling heights allow for it
2. Paint it - with lots and lots of paint with either a long nap roller or spray gun. This seals it and makes it look better too
3. Learn to live with it


2. Would it increase the value of the property? I have an inferiority complex relating to the ceiling and every time someone walks in I always feel them staring!
No really. Some people will not buy because of it, but there are thousands of units out there with it.

3. Is it a worthwhile investment?!
Not in terms of $ value in my opinion. But for you own benefit - sure, why not?
 
would it be a worthwhile investment, i don't know how much were the quotes?

would people know the difference, they would have to see it as it was first,

i would think this stuff would be able to be removed with a long handeled floor scraper, yes very messy indeed, poisonous, i am not sure !!!
you would have to plaster the concrete joints too! this may not look so good.

But another way, is to shoot(ramset) 20 mm batterns to the ceiling, as it is and then plaster over it, this would be faster and cleaner, add the cornices as required, do your doors go to the full ceiling height, if so you may have a problem with these. ie the cornicing... thats my take on it, luck.
 
Hi all,
My apartment has a 'popcorn' ceiling (like this), in the main living/dining room + the bedroom.

It's a one bedroom in Cammeray, 48 sq meters. of which probably about 39sq is popcorned.

My questions are threefold,

1. Has anyone done this? If so, what were the costs (if professionally done)
to remove/change into a modern looking ceiling?

2. Would it increase the value of the property? I have an inferiority complex relating to the ceiling and every time someone walks in I always feel them staring!

3. Is it a worthwhile investment?!

Thanks in advance.

looks like a granosite finish ,which is basically a heavily textured paint applied with a special roller or sprayed on to give a texture finish ,this finish is popular in high rise concrete ceilings as it covers defects in the surface ,so in the end its only a paint and i would try a heat gun on a small section to determine the next step
 
I hate it too. If there were 2 units, one with and one without I would buy the one without. It gets grubby especially if there are smokers.

My hubby gyprocked over his daughters. Just put studs up and put gyproc. Just be careful of ceiling height as it will lower the ceiling (of course). Make sure the height is still legal. It took a while as the had to scrape chanels in the ceiling so it wasn't too low.
 
I had a client last week who pulled out of a sale as it had this type of ceiling and the building inspection mentioned the word asbestos (can't spell).

Hence I would have second thoughts of trying to scrape it off. Having said that I encouraged my sister to buy a unit last yr - it had this type of ceiling and Ithink she was quoted $5k for new false ceiling throughout with downlights for 2br 85m2 unit. However the room height would be really low IMO.

Hope this helps
Jane
 
I painted a vermiculite ceiling once. It was a three bedroom unit and it looked good although it took a lot of paint (100L).

I was told later there may be a real risk of the ceiling collapsing ie the whole vermiculite coming off because of the extra weight of the paint so real caution required.

I would never paint again and would either consider plaster-board or nothing at all. Maybe a clean.
 
I had a client last week who pulled out of a sale as it had this type of ceiling and the building inspection mentioned the word asbestos (can't spell).

Hence I would have second thoughts of trying to scrape it off. Having said that I encouraged my sister to buy a unit last yr - it had this type of ceiling and Ithink she was quoted $5k for new false ceiling throughout with downlights for 2br 85m2 unit. However the room height would be really low IMO.

Hope this helps
Jane

Vermiculite itself is (so far) classed as a safe material. It is used for things such as growing media (along with perlite) for hydroponics.

UNFORTUNATELY it can be CONTAMINATED with asbestos at the mine (apparently tests are now part of material QC, but when those ceilings went in, they probably didn't test).

The Y-man
 
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