Remove Popcorn Ceilings Before You Paint Your Wichita Home
If you are about to repaint your walls and you have popcorn ceilings, stop for a minute. The order you do these jobs in makes a real difference in mess and money.
Ceilings come first, always
Scraping popcorn is wet, dusty, and messy. Texture lands on everything, and the drywall finishing after it means sanding. Even with good plastic, some of that ends up on the top of your walls. If you paint first, you will likely be touching up or repainting after the ceiling work. Do the ceiling, then paint the walls once.
Do not paint over popcorn to save time
Rolling paint onto popcorn feels like a quick refresh, but it causes trouble later. Paint seals the texture so water cannot soak in, which is how it normally comes off easily. A painted popcorn ceiling takes longer to remove and costs more. We wrote about that in removing a painted popcorn ceiling. Paint also tends to pull loose bits of texture down onto the roller.
The order that works
- Test the texture for asbestos if the house was built before the mid 80s.
- Remove the popcorn and fix any drywall damage.
- Skim coat or apply the new finish, like smooth or a light knockdown. Our finishes page shows the options.
- Prime and paint the ceiling.
- Paint the walls and trim last.
Timing in Wichita
Joint compound dries slower in humid summer weeks and faster in dry winter air with the furnace running. Plan a day or two between finishing and painting so the ceiling is fully dry. Painting too soon can cause flashing, where patches look different from the rest.
Can one crew do both?
Sometimes. Some ceiling contractors will prime and paint the ceiling as part of the job, which leaves you with just the walls. Ask about it when you get your estimate so nothing gets missed between trades.