# Fun with popcorn removal



## saskataper

So I started another popcorn removal job today. 8th floor penthouse condo that had a leaky skylight in the den so condo board is paying for it. The rest of the condo has already been redone flat so I'm just matching that. Thing is it didn't even dawn on me that the ceiling wasn't drywall. It had a couple coats of paint over the popcorn so I went at her with 36grit on the planex and after a bit of sanding I started to see grey, WTF. It was concrete that had been skimmed then textured, so now I guess I'm skimming the whole thing now. Any tips? I've never run into this before, I was thinking one coat with glue in AP so it sticks a little better where i sanded down to concrete then a second just AP.


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## Toontowntaper

Sask try using concrete seal then skimming it with ap that's what they have been doing at the university job I'm at .... Then they textured it looks good ...


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## SlimPickins

Prime the concrete with a sealer, then use whatever mud you want. You want to keep your moisture away from it.


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## Mr.Brightstar

SlimPickins said:


> Prime the concrete with a sealer, then use whatever mud you want. You want to keep your moisture away from it.


I wish they made 50 pound bags of Durabond For this reason.


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## SlimPickins

Mr.Brightstar said:


> I wish they made 50 pound bags of Durabond For this reason.


I'm guessing there's a sarcastic overtone to your post.

They don't carry Durabond here, although we have a host of hot muds.

Even concrete guys hit their sh!t with moose milk before slinging their mud over their own medium. Concrete sucks the moisture right out, right? Which causes adhesion issues, right? No matter what the medium, if you can get a sealer to stick to it, everything after that is cake. 

My motto? When it doubt, prime/seal it.

Okay, that's not really my motto, but it's generally how I conduct my work. My motto is the same as everyone else's........."Looks good from my house!"


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## gazman

Slim, you make me smile.:yes:


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## SlimPickins

gazman said:


> Slim, you make me smile.:yes:


:thumbsup:


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## Mr.Brightstar

SlimPickins said:


> I'm guessing there's a sarcastic overtone to your post.
> 
> They don't carry Durabond here, although we have a host of hot muds.
> 
> Even concrete guys hit their sh!t with moose milk before slinging their mud over their own medium. Concrete sucks the moisture right out, right? Which causes adhesion issues, right? No matter what the medium, if you can get a sealer to stick to it, everything after that is cake.
> 
> My motto? When it doubt, prime/seal it.
> 
> Okay, that's not really my motto, but it's generally how I conduct my work. My motto is the same as everyone else's........."Looks good from my house!"


No Durabond. No wonder you experience cracking with mesh. (Sarcastic)

You definitely want to kill the suction before you put mud on brick or cement. I like plaster weld or gripper. Beats the hell of having to hit it with a fog sprayer for an hour. 

I think you're onto something as far as adding the bonder primer or glue to the mix. We usually apply it to the surface before skimming. Would that cause the mix or hot mud to go off faster?


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## SlimPickins

Mr.Brightstar said:


> No Durabond. No wonder you experience cracking with mesh. (Sarcastic)
> 
> You definitely want to kill the suction before you put mud on brick or cement. I like plaster weld or gripper. Beats the hell of having to hit it with a fog sprayer for an hour.
> 
> I think you're onto something as far as adding the bonder primer or glue to the mix. We usually apply it to the surface before skimming. Would that cause the mix or hot mud to go off faster?


I don't experience cracking with mesh.

My experience shows that there is actually a little more working time with set mud when using glue (proportional to how much glue is used). It's a little frustrating when waiting for it to kick on the wall and it takes longer, but it's a fair trade-off for the ass-kicking results.


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## harvey randall

saskataper said:


> So I started another popcorn removal job today. 8th floor penthouse condo that had a leaky skylight in the den so condo board is paying for it. The rest of the condo has already been redone flat so I'm just matching that. Thing is it didn't even dawn on me that the ceiling wasn't drywall. It had a couple coats of paint over the popcorn so I went at her with 36grit on the planex and after a bit of sanding I started to see grey, WTF. It was concrete that had been skimmed then textured, so now I guess I'm skimming the whole thing now. Any tips? I've never run into this before, I was thinking one coat with glue in AP so it sticks a little better where i sanded down to concrete then a second just AP.


ph the surface with a light acedic acetate-white vinegar- a buck for a quart at the dollar store. let dry then seal-then slave labor the coat after the other two. IF you dont change the ph - nothing will stick for very long. same thing goes for old plaster walls-v cut-clean-vinegaar- yellow mesh(the thinnest) drill holes and inject bad ass glue to reaffirm plaster to lathe, pull back pollymer, 3 minutes on HIGH, pull out stir. let sit for 60 seconds- then eat.


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## Mr.Brightstar

SlimPickins said:


> I don't experience cracking with mesh.
> 
> My experience shows that there is actually a little more working time with set mud when using glue (proportional to how much glue is used). It's a little frustrating when waiting for it to kick on the wall and it takes longer, but it's a fair trade-off for the ass-kicking results.


Interesting, next semigloss wall i come across that gets skimed will be my ginny pig.


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## SlimPickins

Mr.Brightstar said:


> Interesting, next semigloss wall i come across that gets skimed will be my ginny pig.


You can skim over glossy paint, but you really.....REALLY need to let it dry thoroughly before tight skim with topping. I'm speaking from experience here:yes:

Heavy on the glue, of course.


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## saskataper

I love this Planex, started this job yesterday for my wife's aunt, took me less than 2hrs including all the setup and masking. Sanded and taped yesterday afternoon, quick coat this morning and texture this afternoon. 

And that's the payment as well, I figure that's a pretty good deal.


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## Toontowntaper

Very nice job and the payment isn't to bad either.... I will be over in a bit to help you out lol


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## gordie

Nice Sask i like your style cheers:thumbup:


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## harvey randall

*concrete*



saskataper said:


> So I started another popcorn removal job today. 8th floor penthouse condo that had a leaky skylight in the den so condo board is paying for it. The rest of the condo has already been redone flat so I'm just matching that. Thing is it didn't even dawn on me that the ceiling wasn't drywall. It had a couple coats of paint over the popcorn so I went at her with 36grit on the planex and after a bit of sanding I started to see grey, WTF. It was concrete that had been skimmed then textured, so now I guess I'm skimming the whole thing now. Any tips? I've never run into this before, I was thinking one coat with glue in AP so it sticks a little better where i sanded down to concrete then a second just AP.


we were scimming ceilings on cement on the ramada inn on coit and lbj in 92 in dallas. i was just tellen ya this for a reason , but i miss my favorite jobs in bali and guam. do what you know is right.


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## Gary

Just wondering, did you have the popcorn checked for asbestos content, before starting the project?

I always have the popcorn checked if the property is 25 years or older. If it has asbestos, I don't touch it.


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## D A Drywall

Gary what do you do to check for asbestos. Do you send a sample to a lab? Curious because I have a ceiling coming up (down) and was going over the options: res channel and new board, remove and replace board, or scrape and skim. House of course is occupied.


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## saskataper

Yeah send a sample to a lab, I don't touch a ceiling that's pre 90 without testing it


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## Gary

D A Drywall said:


> Gary what do you do to check for asbestos. Do you send a sample to a lab? Curious because I have a ceiling coming up (down) and was going over the options: res channel and new board, remove and replace board, or scrape and skim. House of course is occupied.



I scrape a small bit of the popcorn into a plastic bag, and either mail or drive it over to a local lab. Unless you're in a really small town, there should be a lab in your area that can test your samples for a nominal fee.


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## Bazooka-Joe

man I hearda fun with ponics also fun with hydroponics, but Neva fun with popcorn


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## Williamwick

saskataper said:


> So I started another popcorn removal job today. 8th floor penthouse condo that had a leaky skylight in the den so condo board is paying for it. The rest of the condo has already been redone flat so I'm just matching that. Thing is it didn't even dawn on me that the ceiling wasn't drywall. It had a couple coats of paint over the popcorn so I went at her with 36grit on the planex and after a bit of sanding I started to see grey, WTF. It was concrete that had been skimmed then textured, so now I guess I'm skimming the whole thing now. Any tips? I've never run into this before, I was thinking one coat with glue in AP so it sticks a little better where i sanded down to concrete then a second just AP.


You need to sand the wall at least twice to get perfect finish. I have used drywall compound as well to get perfect plain surface.


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## Tim0282

Mr.Brightstar said:


> I wish they made 50 pound bags of Durabond For this reason.


Vario has a 55 pound bag of fast set. 45 minute. :thumbup:


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## The_Texture_Guy

We would just spray over the cement that had q light finish coat. This is in timeshares in Orlando.


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## Mrdrywall

i would sand it down. thin some bucket mud down. a little thicker than paint and spray a few heavy coats on it.


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## Captain Drywall

*sanding*



saskataper said:


> So I started another popcorn removal job today. 8th floor penthouse condo that had a leaky skylight in the den so condo board is paying for it. The rest of the condo has already been redone flat so I'm just matching that. Thing is it didn't even dawn on me that the ceiling wasn't drywall. It had a couple coats of paint over the popcorn so I went at her with 36grit on the planex and after a bit of sanding I started to see grey, WTF. It was concrete that had been skimmed then textured, so now I guess I'm skimming the whole thing now. Any tips? I've never run into this before, I was thinking one coat with glue in AP so it sticks a little better where i sanded down to concrete then a second just AP.


sanding is always a last resort for anything. any flat paint will soak through if you wet it. In fact a painted acoustic ceiling comes off easier if you soak it and let it set. wet it a couple of times, keep the room sealed so it wont dry out. get it all off before you start any priming or finishing. And for gods sake texture is for decoration not to fix a poor finish job.


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## DN Interiors

I did the texture in two 85 unit hotels in Alberta, concrete slab ceilings, was instructed to fill the concrete seams and imperfections with fiber infused fast set first coat, topping mud second, prime, then texture. Even topping mud that floated out and was directly on the concrete was on there like glue.

But I'm sure mud from every manufacturer is different, I hear tapers online claim that if you coat over a previous coat before it has completely dryed cure, then the next coat will literally "fall off".. Maybe that is the case with their brand of mud, I brought up some boxes of mud from the states, and after the first box I had enough, it was garbage, in every way, I wouldnt have been surprised to see a seam just fall off the wall, that bad.

I use synko lightweight, in the green and yellow boxes, even the green topping mud will adhere to glass and will not come off without a lot of effort.
Although I don't do it to avoid shrinkage, I can coat over over almost wet mud mud with no issues, no pock marks or anything, and never would it " fall off" not in this universe


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## abcoe524

I just finished a popcorn scrape and Respray with knockdown what are you guys charging a square foot just curious I'm charging between a dollar 25 and 2 dollars a square foot depending on how much cover up and if people are living there or not ect.


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## D A Drywall

That seems to be the ball park around here


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## abcoe524

Here's how it came out after i sprayed my knock


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## abcoe524

Hmm can't get the pic to upload


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