Covering popcorn ceiling with sheetrock

[dlminehart]

I have popcorn ceilings that I'm thinking of covering with 1/2" sheetrock, since removing the popcorn would expose me to asbestos. Anyone ever done this? Have any tips to share?

[steve-norrell]

Our contractor did that when we remodeled last year. I think they used 5/8 instead of 1/2. Looks great and no problems have shown up yet.

Good luck, regards, Steve

[whitecobra]

Why would removed just the popcorn expose you to asbestos?

I need to understand this
We routinely remove the popcorn down here in Florida in fact I JUST did my living room about 2 months ago and it looks great

Explain the asbestos situation please

Dr D

[JR]

Why would removed just the popcorn expose you to asbestos?

The popcorn material had asbestos content prior to (I think) about 1975.

[whitecobra]

The actual little balls?
Is this true or another Urban Legend?
I have heard that there is asbestos in almost all ceiling materials but never realized it was higher in the popcorn stuff
I know there is NO safe level of asbestos so if having it in the house is unsafe why trap it?
GET rid of it
Dr Dave

[JR]

Yep, in the texture material itself. The reason you'd leave it in place is that it is more harmful to disturb it. Once the stuff is in place, and particularly if it's painted, it's reasonable to just let it be. Dave's plan to cover it with sheetrock is perfectly reasonable. Asbestos was eventually made illegal, the transition happening in the mid 70's

If you want to take it down, you should hire a specialist in hazmat remodels. The whole house is bagged and the workers wear tyvex suits and full face respirators. The stuff is scraped and bagged and disposed properly.

It is possible to hire unskilled workers to do this at a much reduced rate. With the difference being perhaps less than $1,000 v $3-5,000 it can be very tempting. But it's entirely irresponsible. The potential health hazard due to disturbed asbestos is terrible.

This is absolutely NOT an urban legend. It's very real and if you're going to be remodeling houses older than 30 years you should become familiar with the details.

JR

[steve-norrell]

Interesting about asbestos. Our house was constructed in 1972 or there-abouts. The ceilings have been painted at least four times over the past 30+ years. Nevertheless, our contractor didn't mention asbestos.

The area being remodeled also had faux beams on a cathedral ceiling. I understood that it was cheaper to overlay the popcorn with new dry wall than to remove the popcorn, patch all the damaged spots (including those from removing the faux beams), and then refinish. It would certainly be cheaper than having professional asbestos removers do the job.

Anyway, the city code guys approved and all looks good now.

Regards, Steve

[Hellrazor]

http://realestate.msn.com/Improve/Ar...umentid=273335

^^ That article gives you a good deal of imformation.

[dlminehart]

From what I understand, the little puff balls are usually made of a heat-expanded mineral product similar to mica that ends up being essentially like the vermiculite used in potting soil. Most of it came out of the ground with about 3-8% asbestos content.

And the problem with this stuff is that it's the invisible fibers, the smallest ones that flake off by the thousands when you rupture the surface, that are the most dangerous. They are very light, so they have very little inertia when moving through your lungs airways. As the air twists and turns going deeper into the lungs, heavier particles "spin out" at the turns, hitting and sticking to the sides of the air passages. The lighter particles get deeper, and stop in areas from which foreign bodies are much less likely to be naturally moved outward. Like tiny needles, they embed in tissue, causing irritation and lung disease, including cancer.

Both my neighbors had some immigrant painters casually scraping off the popcorn, dumping it in the garbage, and repainting the rooms just before selling their homes and moving out of state. With the popcorn gone, I assume they didn't even have to include a statement about the possibility of asbestos in the sale agreement.

[kramer katt]

For all the concern around these forums of sawdust in the shop, I would think there would be no question about the hazards of asbestos. Improper removal not only puts the workers at great risk but residual particles spread thru out the house will endanger any occupants.
We have used encapsulation (and actually prefer that method) for similar ceilings and also old asbestos floor tiles in our projects.
Stucco, plaster, and even cement can contain asbestos traces.
There are several mail order labs that can test a sample sent for $20 to $40 each. Do it yourself is a good first step but needs professional follow up.
kk
PS
in SO CAL it is REQUIRED to notify the local air quality board before demolishing any structure or part that may contain asbestos. I believe this is same in most metro areas.

[whitecobra]

Not an issue here in Central Florida
If you own a house that was built back when Asbestos was being used you will more then likely bull doze it rather then renovate it anyway
Being that Disney opened in the early 70s and really didn't start building the central Florida area up until late in the 70's almost all homes are "post concern"
We remove popcorn here ALL the time with no issue of asbestos which is why I was so shocked to begin with when it was mentioned
Dr D

[mschrank]

Since I just dealt with this topic during our remodel, I know a bit about this. The sources cite different years, but it appears that asbestos was banned in ceiling texture (and some other building materials) in 1978. BUT, any remaining stockpiles of asbestos containing materials were allowed to be used....and apparently it took quite a few years to exhaust these supplies. Our house was built in 1977. I had the popcorn texture tested and it came back positive for asbestos.

[BigguyZ]

How do you know if the texture is asbestos or not? I definitely don't have the $$ for prefessional removal. Why wouldn't wetting the surface down and scraping prevent the majority of the material from becoming airborne?

[mschrank]

How do you know if the texture is asbestos or not? I definitely don't have the $$ for prefessional removal. Why wouldn't wetting the surface down and scraping prevent the majority of the material from becoming airborne?

You can't tell by looking, you need to have it tested (cost me about $45.00...there are some home test kits available, but I think you just end up sending a sample off anyway).

Here's a helpful link I found during my research: http://www.naturalhandyman.com/iip/i...opcornoff.html

[BigguyZ]

You can't tell by looking, you need to have it tested (cost me about $45.00...there are some home test kits available, but I think you just end up sending a sample off anyway).

Here's a helpful link I found during my research: http://www.naturalhandyman.com/iip/i...opcornoff.html

Good deal. I may look into this. I think my ceiling was probably done by the previous owner, so I'm probably going to just use my respirator and take the standard precautions.

I'm sure some will think I'm being ignorant on this, but I was thinking about this topic all day yesterday and came to the conclusion that you need to be careful when remodeling, but the hysteria about possible asbestos issues is a biot much to me. This stuff was around for decades and was included in everything short of breakfast cereal. If you are careful with dust- any dust- when doing demo, I think the majority of the safety issues are dealt with. So I guess I'll just roll the dice with this one.