Should I remove my acoustic ceiling, or just live with it?
Question by Dex Midnite: Should I remove my acoustic ceiling, or just live with it?
We just purchased a condo with an acoustic ceiling in most rooms. I hate acoustic ceilings, I think they’re gross, and difficult to paint around. We are thinking of removing it before the condo association lays our new carpet, and before we move in. We have about 20 days in which to paint and redo the ceiling if we want to.
Here is what I know:
- I have to get the acoustic tested for asbestos before attempting to remove it.
- I know you have to soak it with water, let it soften, and then scrape the acoustic off.
- I know afterward the ceiling will need to be refinished with drywall mud to correct any flaws, primed with new construction primer and possibly be retextured before painting.
What I’d like to know, is would you say it is worth the work to remove an acoustic ceiling? Will it improve the resale value of my home? How time consuming and difficult is this to do? Would you bother, or just skip it?
Best answer:
Answer by likestosave
Ceilings are not fun at all
but do you want to be sitting in your chair looking up at something that disgusts you
laying in bed looking up at something you find appalling
it is work those types of ceiling are normally covering something else up be prepared to redo the whole ceiling and you never know you might get lucky maybe somebody just wanted that type of ceiling
i took one down to find out it was covering fire damage
What do you think? Answer below!
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Check with your association before starting anything! This is a big and messy project. and without acoustic your place might echo if you have high cealings.
Big Messy Job ..Problem is I do not think you can get it done in 20 days or can you contract to have it done is such a short period.
With regard to asbestos there is good news and bad news… The bad news….Gluing acoustic material to ceilings is an outdated practice so you may in fact encounter asbestos. As you may be aware asbestos is dangerous when it is friable (airborne)and handling ceiling tiles will generate friable material. The good news is many states require an asbestos disclosure to the buyer from the seller on the presence of asbestos.
If you cannot determine if asbestos is present without distubing the tiles, I recommend you NOT remove a sample but have it tested in place by a licensed firm.
unless your condo is really old the chances of it having asbestos is slim.yes using decorative styles of Sheetrock mud work will improve the value .why ?because it requires more time and skill to do.you can swirl it pull it and then
knock it down with a broad blade.pull it with a trowell and not knock it down.their are many ways to make it fancy.can you do it in twenty days yes you can.you can even take paint of your choice and blend it with your sheet rock mud.if you have the time it is well worth doing i would do it.
I did it in two bedrooms – one 10 x 15 and the other 12 x 23. Not as bad as you would think. We didn’t know to wet it at the time, just used a metal trowel and scraped it off. Left kind of a mottled appearance to the ceiling, so I used a textured paint (basically sand in the paint, mixed wall color with white and put it up) to paint the ceiling. No repair work, no asbestos, no hidden damage. We knew the builder used it because it was cheaper, but it really dated the home.
Glad we did it, and it DID help with resale when the time came a year later. Everyone that was looking in our neighborhood immediately noticed the difference.
Looked awesome, did it in less than 2 days. As long as you have the attitude “anything is better than what’s here now”, then maybe you can live with the “textured” paint look too. Who says a ceiling has to be perfectly smooth? As long as I don’t scrape my hand up when changing a light bulb, that’s good enough for me!