Popcorn Ceilings?

[deerminator]

Why the stigma? My wife watches this House Hunters show and then I get to watch my hunting shows (we take turns with the remote) and all these people freak out when they see a popcorn ceiling. It's often a deal breaker if the house has them. Perhaps I'm in the minority but I don't see what's so wrong with them. Mentioned this to a guy at work and he said, you have them don't you? And I was like, yeah, why? He just smiled like he knew better than me.

I asked our builder who originally built our house 5 years ago and who just finished our basement, he seemed confused. He said he has them in his house, which is top of the line and he builds some elaborate, fancy lake homes for people with lots of moolah (not us) with them. He can't see what the big deal is either.

[Hafnutz]

Ain't any big deal to me. If you really don't like em it isn't very hard to scrape off and repaint. I don't think it would be worth the trouble. I think it's another "Yuppie" thing.

[CJH]

Pretty minor, not a big deal to most people. I sold my house in 4 days and it had popcorn ceilings. The hot thing right now is some type of flattened/popcorn/textured thing. (my inlaws have it)

You are a moron if you walk away from a house and that is the only reason.

[chasineyes]

These shows are also what prompt people to "expect" granite, slate floors, heated floors, 500 sq ft master suites!!!$$$

[CAMAN]

Houses build between the 1950's - early '80's the popcorn ceilings contained asbestos so there is pretty good reason to be scared away from those houses. Its not just a scrape away deal.

[echo2010]

Its an Asbestos issue. Most popcorn ceilings before 1980 had it so it can be a costly removal. Many people decide to either lay a thin sheet of drywall or skim some mud over it.

I remember being little and jummping on the bed to knock some off with gold glitter in it

[Esox_Magnum]

That was common with popcorn falling or flaking off over time and being a constan mess. I can't remember the last home I helped build that had it. Few homes I build now have rocked ceilings, but these aren't you average joe homes either. If I was doing my own it would be a knockdown. I just can't stand popcorn, kinda like a Harvest Gold refrigerator.

[LakeDocktor]

I just had my house built and after talking to the texturer, he said most people are going with knockdown ceilings and smooth walls. This is the route we went and couldn't be happier. deerminator, who was you builder if you don't mind me asking?

[solbes]

Ehhh. I have a knockdown ceiling in our upstairs. My mud/taper guy did popcorn in our basement. He said he could do a knockdown, but really didn't want to and would have charged extra. Having both, I really don't see the big deal either. Knockdown is a little better, but I really could care less.

[Drew]

scrap it off with a puddy knife and paint it, looks a lot like orange peal

[jeffreyd]

my inlaws had all of their popcorn scraped off. caused bigger problems than it was worth as the guy that did it go water on the walls and so to match the paint they ended painting everything. i can live with or without them. my wife likes to watch the paint drying shows, since she rules the roost, i just watch sports on my computer. oh well i can and will tell everyone she wears the pants in the family. not afraid,

[deerminator]

It's not an asbestos problem on the show. The people are more concerned with appearance, like someone went to the bathroom on the ceiling. That's basically the way they react to the appearance. I'd rather not comment on our builder. They're in the Willmar area and did a great job. (Don't want to name without talking to them first.) And no one I've ever talked to ever had anything but great things to say about their work. They insist on using top quality materials across the board and build the bones of the house to last. We had friends tell us to go with the cheapest bid we could get, but now we're still more than satasfied five years later and many other people who we know went with cheaper outfits and have lots of issues. The one issue we did have, a leaky seal on one of our custom Marvin windows, happened this year. I called the builder up and he took care of it immediately, five years late. The guys from Marvin were there like that and replaced the triangular window which is taller than me under warranty and never required me to do any paperwork. That's why you don't go on the cheap. I can call the builder tomorrow and he'll be over to address a problem because he stands behind his work.

Back to the ceilings, I think it must just be a matter of personal choice. I never notice it but find it kind of funny how worked up people get.

[MuleShack]

We did the popcorn in most of the rooms when we built 5 years ago. All except the bonus room which is knock down...I guess it doesn't bother me either way as far as looks go.

In our old house (which was also our first house) we also had popcorn ceilings when we built it. we didn't know any better and didn't spray the ceiling. It ended up coloring over time so the ceiling was more of a tan or yellowing instead of white.

In our new house we did our own painting, so I took the sprayer and coated primer over the entire ceiling to keep it from discoloring. This also keeps it from peeling off too.

Knock down seems to be a little shiny if you have a well light room, where as popcorn is just there and not noticeable.

[crothmeier]

its a pain to paint evenly thats for sure.

[Nutty Fisherman]

Just don't look up and you won't see it