How to Texture Ceilings

I’ll always remember going to my maternal grandmother’s house. In the eyes of an eight year old, she had the PERFECT ceilings. She had popcorn ceiling with GLITTER in it. How cool was that? From an early age, I always wondered how to popcorn a ceiling. It’s not as difficult as you think. Here are some steps and tips on how to texture a ceiling. Now you can have your very own popcorn ceiling. I will start with some possible popcorn ceiling issues, then show you how to popcorn a ceiling.

Popcorn Ceiling Possible Issues

Before I start explaining how to popcorn a ceiling or how to texture a ceiling, I would like to share with you some personal experiences on having a popcorn ceiling.

Popcorn Ceiling Issue #1: If you smoke, please rethink having a popcorn ceiling. My mother-in-law smoked and after she passed away, my husband converted her home in to a rental. The popcorn ceiling turned brown from the smoke inside the house. The only way to fix the brown is to repaint the ceiling.

Popcorn Ceiling Issue #2: Painting a popcorn ceiling after it’s older is hard. Eventually, you can not use a roller on a popcorn ceiling because the roller will pull the texture off and create an enormous mess. To paint a popcorn ceiling, I recommend that you use spray paint. In addition, use at least two coats because the popcorn texture will soak up the paint and you will need at least two coats to see a difference once it is dry.

Popcorn Ceiling Issue #3: Popcorn ceilings around humid areas are not a good idea. In a rent house we have a small kitchen that is in a nook with no windows and lower ceilings. We had a tenant that steam cooked a lot of vegetables and eventually the steam caused the popcorn ceiling to flake off. Keep this scenario in mind when you determine if popcorn ceilings are right for you.

How to Popcorn a Ceiling Step #1

The first step in how to texture ceilings is to first clean the surface of your ceiling and allow it to dry completely. This is the easiest step in how to popcorn a ceiling.

How to Popcorn a Ceiling Step #2

The second step of how to texture ceilings is to apply a stain blocking primer to the surface. Make sure to use a rust inhibitive primer if your ceilings are made of metal. Allow the primer to dry completely before moving to the next step of how to texture ceilings.

I personally only use one brand of primer, and that is Kilz. It might be a little more expensive than other options, but Kilz will be your best bet when priming for a popcorn ceiling. You can purchase a 5 gallon bucket of Kilz on Lowes.com for about $49.

How to Popcorn a Ceiling Step #3

The third step of how to texture ceilings is to create your popcorn mix that you will spray on the ceiling. According to Lowe’s you need to mix 1.5 to 2 gallons of water with one 13 pound bag of popcorn ceiling spray. The texture should be similar to thick soup. Runny mixture is not desirable for a popcorn ceiling because excess water will cause cracking and won’t hide flaws in your ceiling as a properly mixed popcorn ceiling mixture.

A great tip from Lowe’s is to add one gallon of latex paint per bag of mix in place of one gallon of water to create a longer lasting popcorn ceiling. This is a great how to popcorn a ceiling tip that might increase the cost of the popcorn ceiling, but will greatly improve final results.

How to Popcorn a Ceiling Step #4

The fourth step of how to texture ceilings is to apply the popcorn ceiling mixture. Cover all your floors, furniture, and windows. Fill a texturing gun with the popcorn ceiling mixture produced in how to texture ceilings step #3. Practice spraying on a piece of cardboard until you are comfortable with your spraying technique.

Spray using a back and forth motion to get an even pattern, and use a trowel to spread texture into corners.

Allow your ceiling to dry 24 hours before moving on to step #5 of how to texture ceilings

How to Popcorn a Ceiling Step #5

Paint your ceiling. The Lowe’s website recommends using a special 9/16″ slit foam roller for painting a popcorn ceiling. However, I recommend that you spray the paint on your ceiling. This doesn’t necessarily mean buying cans of spray paint. There are paint spraying devices that will spread normal paint on to your ceiling. Spraying the paint will be less traumatic for your new popcorn ceiling.

How to popcorn a ceiling is not an easy task. Creating a popcorn ceiling is hard work, but if you like the look of a popcorn ceiling it will really pay off.

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Resources:

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=howTo&p;=Improve/PopcornCeiling.html
PERSONAL EXPERIENCE