Starting at $2/sq ft
Wallpaper and popcorn ceiling removal
Starting at $2 per square foot. Dated wall covering stripped and textured ceilings scraped, both skimmed smooth and sealed ready for paint.
Taking a ceiling down changes a room
Nothing dates a South Florida interior like a textured ceiling, and nothing else you can do to a room changes it as much for the money. Scraped, skimmed, sealed and painted, an eight-foot ceiling reads noticeably higher and the whole room gets brighter, because texture holds shadow and a smooth surface does not.
Testing first, on older houses
If the house was built before about 1980, textured ceiling material can contain asbestos, and the only responsible way to find out is to have it tested rather than assume. We will raise this with you before any scraping starts. It is a short delay and a small cost against the alternative, and no reputable contractor should skip it.
Wallpaper, and what is behind it
Wallpaper in a humid climate is often holding on to more than it should, and what comes off with it varies. Where the paper was hung straight onto unprimed drywall, removal takes some of the paper facing with it and the wall needs skimming rather than just a wipe. We price for what we find and tell you when it has changed, rather than finding out halfway and going quiet about it.
It is a messy job, done properly
Scraping a ceiling puts wet debris on everything below it. Floors get covered wall to wall, cabinetry and fixtures get masked, and the site gets cleared each day rather than at the end of the week. This is the job where protection matters most and where cutting the corner is most obvious afterwards.
What the price depends on
The $2 per square foot is a starting point. Ceiling height, how many coats of paint are sitting on top of the texture, and the condition of the drywall underneath all move it. A ceiling that has been painted three times takes far longer to scrape than one that never was, because the paint holds the texture together.
How the work runs
Step by step, in the order it happens
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Test before disturbing anything
Textured ceiling material applied before the early eighties can contain asbestos, and it must be tested before it is scraped. Testing is inexpensive and it is not a step to skip on a house of that age. If it comes back positive, the work belongs to a certified asbestos abatement contractor rather than to us.
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Empty and seal the room
This is the messiest work in the trade. Furniture out where possible, floors fully covered, doorways sealed and vents closed, because wet scrapings travel and dry scrapings travel further.
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Steam or soak, then scrape
Wallpaper comes off with steam and time rather than force. Texture comes off wet, because scraping it dry produces dust that goes everywhere and is far harder on the board underneath.
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Skim the substrate
What is underneath is almost never finished to a standard anyone intended to be seen. Texture was frequently used to hide poor taping in the first place, and wallpaper adhesive leaves the paper face damaged. Skimming is where most of the time goes.
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Prime, then paint
A sealing primer goes over the skimmed surface. On ceilings it is worth priming the whole plane rather than trying to spot prime, because a ceiling is side lit by every window in the room and flashing is brutally obvious.
What the price includes
- Testing textured ceilings of the right age before any disturbance
- Sealing the room, covering floors and closing vents
- Wet removal rather than dry scraping
- Skimming the substrate to a paintable finish
- Sealing primer and finish coats
What it does not
- Asbestos abatement, which is certified specialist work if a test comes back positive
- Repairing water damage found once the covering comes off
- Replacing board that is too far gone to skim
- Removing wallpaper from surfaces where it was hung directly onto unprimed drywall without size, which sometimes cannot be done without replacing the board
Anything here can still be quoted. It is listed so nothing on the estimate is a surprise later.
What moves the number
- Area, from a starting rate of $2 per square foot
- The rate is a floor. Condition underneath moves it more than area does.
- How many layers
- Two or three layers of wallpaper, each with its own adhesive, is a different job from one.
- What is underneath
- A well taped wall that was simply papered comes up cleanly. Texture over poor taping means a full skim.
- Ceiling or wall
- Ceilings are slower, messier and far less forgiving of an uneven finish.
- Age of the house
- Pre eighties texture needs testing first, which adds a step before anything can be scheduled.
The asbestos question, plainly
Textured ceiling products manufactured before the early nineteen eighties could contain asbestos, and plenty of South Florida housing stock is from exactly that period. Disturbing it dry releases fibres. The responsible sequence is simple: test first, and if it is positive, the material is handled by a certified asbestos abatement contractor rather than by a painting crew. Testing costs very little compared with the alternative, and no reputable contractor will start scraping a ceiling of that age without it. If somebody offers to, that tells you something.
The removal is the quick part
People are usually surprised that scraping is not where the time goes. Getting the covering off is a day of unpleasant work. Making what is underneath into a surface worth painting is several. Texture was often applied precisely because the taping underneath was not good enough to be seen, and wallpaper adhesive frequently tears the paper face of the board when it comes away. Both mean skimming, sanding and priming across the whole plane. A quote that prices removal but is vague about the finish afterwards has priced the easy half.
Questions we get asked
- Does my popcorn ceiling need asbestos testing?
- If the texture was applied before the early nineteen eighties, yes, and it should be tested before anything disturbs it. Testing is inexpensive. If it comes back positive the work belongs to a certified asbestos abatement contractor rather than a painting crew.
- How messy is popcorn ceiling removal?
- It is the messiest work in the trade, which is why the room gets emptied where possible, floors fully covered, doorways sealed and vents closed. Removing it wet rather than dry keeps the dust down substantially.
- What is underneath a popcorn ceiling?
- Usually drywall that was never finished to be seen, because the texture was often there to hide ordinary taping. That is why skimming and priming the whole plane is part of the job rather than an extra.
- Can all wallpaper be removed?
- Nearly all. The difficult case is paper hung directly onto unprimed drywall without size, where the adhesive has bonded to the paper face of the board. That sometimes cannot be removed cleanly and the board has to be replaced.
What the work looks like
Wallpaper & Popcorn Removal in practice
Illustrative photographs of this type of work. Our own completed jobs are on the recent work page.
Get the real number
Send the details and we will come measure, talk through the finish and put a written number in front of you before anything begins.
