Resurface ceiling with 1/4"?

[John/Charleston]

I'm working in a 1975 townhouse with textured ceilings. An experimental attempt to scrape the texture off resulted in too much damage to the face of the sheetrock. I'm also concerned that the texture might contain asbestos. A sheetrocker says it will be easier to just resurface the ceiling with 1/4" over the 1/2" that's there.

Do I need to worry about the 1/4" sagging? Joists are 16"oc and there's no sag present with the 1/2" now. We could glue between joists but I don't have much faith in that glue on the texture material.

I didn't want to use new 1/2" due to the added weight. The sheetrocker says they do this all the time with 1/4"...

[LIHR50]

Re: Resurface ceiling with 1/4"?

I wouldn't do it. I've only used 1/4" on walls with screws and glue and the walls where nice and flat.

I would wet (dampen) the texture and scrap off. If you're concerned about asbestos (you should) have it tested. I believe it was banned in the late 70's??

Once scraped, re-screw where necessary, skim and finish.

[tomthetoolman40]

Re: Resurface ceiling with 1/4"?

Hi John,
I assume you're referring to a popcorn texture? Typically they do not fully fill the valleys before texturing because the texture fills in.

Two options I have done.
1) 1/4" overlay. Clean the ceiling surface (so the glue will stick) and fill in valleys. Then glue and screw drywall. Never had a callback. (I haven't done it w/o glue because I suspect it will sag between joists over time.)

2) Clean ceiling, removing all loose material and coat with oil base primer. (The primer seals the bare paper and makes it waterproof so the mud doesn't loosen it.) Fill in valleys and other damage, and skim coat entire ceiling. Never had a callback on this one either.

#2 is faster and less expense for materials.

[m beezo]

Re: Resurface ceiling with 1/4"?

concern about the added weight? That for you and holding it overhead and moving it or concern about it being too heavy for the joists to hold it? I have done 1/4 on ceilings but not with too heavy a texture, more of a sand finish. You do realize that the glue is only sticking to the paint or texture and not to the drywall so how good a bond is that? I have to wonder. Yet when I did it I have not heard back with problems and that was years ago.

A couple of things that I do not like about 1/4 inch drywall on ceilings. It is so thin that any screw that gets over driven is almost thru the drywall. So the holding power of the screws seems suspect to me. Plus because of the thinness it will follow any ins and out of the drywall, no matter how flat you think the old surface is this drywall will show it. Plus since it is so flexible I think it is a pain to handle. I find it amazing how much stiffer even 3/8 is by comparison.

As far as glue I wonder how the glues that are now coming out that are in the aresol cans like the foam guns that shoot the insulating foam for window jobs. That might be a good option to shoot on the back of the board. It is thin enough that it might conform to the texture a bit more that some of the other glues out there.

[John/Charleston]

Re: Resurface ceiling with 1/4"?

Thanks for the replies. Yes, it's popcorn texture. From what we tried so far, we've been unable to get the texture off without damaging the paper surface. I've scraped textured ceilings before so I know the routine but this one just isn't happening easily for some reason.

I think I'd want to resurface just for that reason but the chance of asbestos only adds to the issue. From what I understand, MOST textured ceilings from this era have asbestos.

Perhaps the answer is to just use the lightweight 1/2" to resurface?

beezo, our post crossed in the ethernet...
I thought about using 3/8 but I don't think the weight difference is much between that and lightweight 1/2". I agree about the screws being easily driven through... I was counting on the expertise of the sheetrocker to manage that issue. (maybe foolish of me)

[tomthetoolman40]

Re: Resurface ceiling with 1/4"?

John, it's probably been painted (probably multiple times)which makes it more difficult to remove. Were you thinking of overlaying w/o removing the popcorn? If so then I'd use the L.W. 1/2" because the popcorn will smash in as you screw it on, and the screws will definitely pull through the 1/4".

[Happy Home]

Re: Resurface ceiling with 1/4"?

EMSL.com for asbestos testing.

Represent yourself as a co. They'll set you up on the phone. Pay by cc.

Send the sample to the nearest lab. Results in 1-2 days (4 hrs if you want to pay)for about $25.

There's a lab in Charlseton
http://www.emsl.com/index.cfm?nav=La...aboratoryID=30

[John/Charleston]

Re: Resurface ceiling with 1/4"?

Sorry it's taken me so long to get back to this thread. I think I've figured out to just go with 1/2" lightweight sheetrock over the existing rock. It's not much more weight than using 1/4" and will stay flatter and be easier to handle than 1/4. price is not much different as well.

Thanks for the help!

[albertm]

Re: Resurface ceiling with 1/4"?

Some of the homes in my area have the popcorn ceiling made from a type of mortar that will not scrape off. so I have used Toms suggestion to prep and skim ceiling which works out well.
Good Luck
Al

[NW Architect]

Re: Resurface ceiling with 1/4"?

You need to find out if its asbestos. If it is left in place, even covered, it is a condition that has to be disclosed.