Popcorn Ceiling Removal

Had it done but don't remember the cost. Call Alan Stewart & ask. Tell him you got his # from C.. He is one of the most honest & reasonable people I know. I've known him about 13 yrs. Had him working on something else for me 2 weeks ago. ###-###-####

All I can say is no matter the price - pay it! We did this ourself on a 1800 sq ft home and it about killed us.
We are avid DIY folks, but after we finished main rooms, we didn't even mess with the bedrooms - labor intensive and messy!
Do not drywall over it - that is deplorable and may even be a fire hazard and out of code compliance.
find a good person and based on the work it took us I wouldn't be suprised if it costs around $5,000 for the job.

It might be cheaper & faster if you just drywall over it.

It depends a lot on how much of the house is done, how old the paint is (lead paint factor here), what kind of painting needs to be completed, plus differnt areas of the country charge different amounts. And of course, there could be damage under the paint that will have to be repaired. My SIL bought a house in Northern California that had this stuff everywhere. She only had the bedrooms done because it just would have cost too much. I think she said she paid about $1500 for 4 bedrooms--2 of them pretty small. There was quite a bit of cracking in 2 ceilings that had to be repaired. The paint was pretty old also so they took special precautions with any lead, but the painters did a great job and cleaned up everything-no dust anywhere. She did not have to have a cleaner come out. They took about a month to finish.

Google DFW popcorn ceiling removal. We ended up using our regular handy man but the guy we found online sounded really good. He charges $1/sqft including texture and paint or a bit more if it's occupied. Sorry I can find his number right now but it is a great way to add value to a house. The dust is crazy though.

I can't help with cost, but I can tell you what I know. My parents had this done and their ceiling looks uneven now. It is the same with my aunt's house as well. I think when these homes were built, special attention was not paid to make sure the ceilings were level because they were just going to texture over it anyway. If you live in this home, expect to have to move all your furniture elsewhere while this is being done. The contractor that my mother hired to do this didn't inform my mother that she needed to have all of her furniture out of the house beforehand...guess he just assumed she knew that? So he had to come back another day so she could be ready.

I did it several years ago and I honestly don't remember what I paid, but I do remember it was less than I thought it would be. get a few estimates. I did it myself in the master bath. If you take a spray bottle of water and wet down sections of the ceiling it easily comes right off with a long straight edge scraper.

I have a friend who does quite a bit of contracting work give me advice about this because we have this same issue coming up with a move. He said that depending on the age of the house (anything built before 1980, and possibly through the 80's) likely contains asbestos. Before removal it must be tested and if asbestos is found, treated in a special way so it doesn't endanger the health of the person removing it or ultimately, the family living in the house.

Covering the ceiling with another material would only be "deplorable" if it was tested and found to have asbestos and your were trying to cover it to avoid liability. Asbestos is only released if the ceiling is disrupted in some way and doesn't remain intact. For what it's worth, the contractor we ended up going with said that drywall over it looks terrible, as well as plastering. He recommended spraying 2 coats of thick latex paint to "seal" it. Again this is only if it's tested and there's no asbestos. We needed up having ours scraped off. The ease of removal that people talk about is partly true if there's not coats of paint over it already. Then, getting it wet and it practically falling off, though messy, isn't all that hard. But if there is paint on it, anticipate a lot of scraping and texturing to be done.
He also said that though it's relatively easy (but pretty messy) to remove, that is only true if it hasn't been covered with layers of latex paint. If it's been painted, it has to be scraped off, which can be a whole other can of worms. His recommendation was to plaster over it o cover it with a thin sheet of drywall.

We are going to check into both options and compare costs.
Good luck!