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Drywall Service

Popcorn Ceiling Removal

Popcorn ceilings date a home and trap dust. We remove them cleanly with full dust containment, refinish smooth or to a modern texture, and repaint so the rest of your home stays livable through the project.

Popcorn Ceiling Removal

Why Remove a Popcorn Ceiling?

  • It dates the home — sprayed acoustic ceilings read as decades old and are one of the first things buyers notice.
  • It traps dust and cobwebs — the rough surface collects dust and allergens and can't be wiped clean.
  • It's hard to clean or patch — stains and repairs stand out, and matching old popcorn is difficult.
  • It hides stains and damage — water spots and cracks lurk in the texture until they become a bigger problem.
  • Smooth ceilings feel brighter and taller — removing the texture reflects more light and opens the room up.
  • It helps resale — smooth, modern ceilings show better in photos and in person.
Worker in a dust mask and safety glasses removing a popcorn ceiling with a vacuum-attached pole sander, over furniture wrapped in plastic and floors covered with drop cloths

Popcorn Ceiling Removal

What Popcorn Ceiling Removal Involves

  1. Protection & masking — Floors, walls, and fixtures sealed off before we start.
  2. Removal — The texture is removed and the ceiling is prepped.
  3. Repair & skim — Any damage is patched and the surface is skimmed smooth.
  4. Finish — Left smooth (Level 5) or re-textured to your preference.
  5. Paint — Primed and painted for a clean, finished look (via our paint team).
  6. Thorough cleanup — HEPA-filtered tools and dust-minimizing methods throughout.

Popcorn Ceiling Removal

Smooth or Re-Textured — Choosing Your New Ceiling

Once the popcorn is gone, you decide how the ceiling finishes. Both look worlds better than what you started with — the choice comes down to the look you want and the budget.

  • Smooth (Level 5) — the most modern, high-end look; it takes a full skim coat and careful finishing because a flat ceiling shows every imperfection under light.
  • Knockdown or orange peel — a light modern texture that hides minor imperfections, goes faster, and costs less than a full smooth finish.
  • Match the rest of your home — if your other ceilings are already knockdown or orange peel, we can match them so the newly finished room blends in.

Popcorn Ceiling Removal

How We Keep the Dust Contained

Popcorn removal is messy work, but it doesn't have to spread through your house. Containment and a wet-scrape approach are what keep the rest of your home livable while we work.

  • Full containment — floors, walls, and fixtures sealed off with plastic sheeting before anything comes down.
  • Wet-scrape method — the texture is misted with water and left to soak so it scrapes off in sheets instead of clouding the room with dust.
  • HEPA-filtered cleanup — HEPA vacuums and dust-minimizing tools throughout, with a thorough clean at the end of each day.
  • Protection stays up until it's clean — coverings come down only after the debris is bagged and the surfaces are wiped down.

Important Note

A Note on Older Homes

Popcorn ceilings in homes built before the 1980s can contain asbestos. We recommend testing before removal on older homes; if asbestos is present, it must be handled by a licensed abatement specialist first. We're happy to advise on safe sequencing.

Drywall + Paint. Coordinated.

Patches that disappear, not patches you live with.

Most drywall jobs end at the wall — we finish the job by texturing, priming, and repainting through Wild Fox Painting . Two specialty teams, one coordinated handoff — no visible patch. One estimate, one schedule, one point of contact.

How It Works

Related Services

Often paired with

Drywall Installation
New walls and ceilings hung and finished smooth and straight — for additions, remodels, and new builds.
Drywall Repair & Patching
Holes, cracks, water damage, settling, and door-knob dents — repaired so the fix disappears into the wall.
Texture Matching
Knockdown, orange peel, hand-texture and more — matched seamlessly to your existing finish.

Popcorn Ceiling Removal Service Areas

We serve

Castle Rock Castle Pines Parker Lone Tree Highlands Ranch Sedalia Sterling Ranch Roxborough Park Franktown Larkspur Littleton Centennial Greenwood Village Englewood Elizabeth Aurora Arvada Golden Lakewood Boulder Morrison Westminster

FAQ

Common questions about popcorn ceiling removal.

We seal off the floors, walls, and fixtures, scrape the popcorn texture, then skim the ceiling smooth (Level 5) or apply a modern texture like knockdown or orange peel — primed and ready to repaint.

Homes built before the mid-1980s may have asbestos in the popcorn texture. We don't test for or remove asbestos ourselves — we recommend testing first, and if it's present, a licensed asbestos-abatement contractor must remove it before we refinish. Once the ceiling is cleared, we skim it smooth or apply a modern texture and get it paint-ready.

Either — your choice. Smooth (Level 5) is the most modern look; knockdown or orange peel are lower-maintenance and hide minor imperfections well.

It's dusty work, but controlled — we mask off the area, use dust-minimizing methods and HEPA-filtered tools, and clean up thoroughly so the rest of your home stays livable.

Usually not. We contain the work area with plastic, use a wet-scrape method to hold down dust, and clean up daily so the rest of your home stays livable. For a whole-house removal we'll talk through the schedule so it's as low-impact as possible, with flexible scheduling to fit your household.

Yes. Paint seals the texture so it won't absorb water, which means it can't be wet-scraped as easily. In that case we test an area and often skim-coat over the texture to a smooth finish instead — we'll tell you which approach fits your ceiling before we start.

Some minor gouging is normal when texture comes off — that's expected and part of the job. We repair and skim the surface smooth afterward, so the finished ceiling looks better than the popcorn ever did.

We can, but a scraped ceiling isn't a finished one — it needs repair, skimming or re-texturing, and priming before it looks right. Most homeowners have us take it all the way to a smooth or lightly textured, paint-ready ceiling in one project.

Planning a project? Let's talk.

Free, no-pressure estimate. Call, text, or send a few photos.

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