Randy’s Painting & Drywall

Emmaus, Lehigh County

Popcorn ceiling removal in Emmaus, PA.

Emmaus built more homes in the 1950s than in any other decade. Ceilings from that boom may be plaster or early drywall, sprayed or smooth, and older texture should be tested first.

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A smooth white kitchen ceiling with recessed lights and a ceiling fan above glass-front wood cabinets.
A finished kitchen ceiling. Mike Galuppo’s photograph, from his Google review.

Popcorn ceiling removal for Emmaus homes

Between 1950 and 1960 the borough's population rose by almost a third, and about 1,060 of today's homes date from that one decade, more than from any other. Add the 1960s and 1970s and some 43 percent of the housing here comes from the years when acoustic texture was sprayed on ceilings, alongside a prewar core of about a quarter.

A 1950s ceiling can be several things: plaster on rock lath, which house plasterers were using almost exclusively by the late 1930s, early drywall, or either one with texture sprayed on then or later. The method follows what is underneath, and the testing follows the date. A sample of anything applied before the mid-1980s goes to a lab before the texture is disturbed, and a positive result makes the removal a job for a certified asbestos abatement contractor.

Emmaus

Rock lath or drywall: the ceilings of the 1950s boom

By the 1960s the borough had reached its present size, after annexing land from Salisbury and Upper Milford townships, and houses now run to the line on every side. That makes its postwar streets a fixed, aging stock: ceilings put up between 1950 and 1979 have had decades to collect repainting, water stains and patches on top of whatever texture they started with.

Over the line, Salisbury Township built more than half of its homes between 1950 and 1979, the same era as the borough's boom, while more than four in ten of Upper Milford's homes date from 1970 to 1999 and a third of Lower Macungie's from the 2000s. Homes from before 1940, about a quarter of the borough, were plastered, and a spray texture in one of them is a later addition that may be covering cracked plaster.

Two painters working a ceiling on poles and a ladder, the kitchen below sealed in clear plastic.
Ceiling work, the room sealed in plastic.

Worth knowing

  1. What's above the texture

    Too much water can damage drywall's paper face, while plaster tolerates misting better but may hide loose areas. Knowing which is overhead sets how wet the texture is made.

  2. Two textures on one ceiling

    A 1950s ceiling patched in a later decade can carry texture of different ages. The sample should include the oldest part, not just the repair.

  3. Where texture met the walls

    Sprayed texture can spill onto the top of the walls. That strip comes off with the ceiling, and the wall edge is repaired so the corner reads crisp under paint.

The work

How the work goes

The same care on every job, in every town. The full guide to popcorn ceiling removal.

A room with its ceiling part-way through a skim coat, a painter working beneath it among tools and buckets.
A ceiling mid skim coat.

  1. The walkthrough

    Randy looks at the ceilings with you, how they were built and how the rooms are lit, and explains what removal and refinishing will involve. You get a written estimate; like the walkthrough, it is complimentary.

  2. Test before anything else

    If the texture may date from before the mid-1980s, a sample has to be taken by an accredited asbestos professional and tested by a lab before the ceiling is touched. If it tests positive, the job belongs to a certified asbestos abatement contractor, not a painter.

  3. Containment

    The room is emptied, floors and walls are sheeted in plastic, and power to the ceiling fixtures is shut off. The texture comes down as wet, heavy debris, and it should stay inside the room it came from.

  4. Wet scraping

    The texture is misted lightly, given time to soften, and scraped off in small sections. Too much water can damage the drywall beneath it, and painted texture resists water, so it needs a slower approach.

  5. Repair and skim

    Gouges, open seams and loose tape are repaired, then the ceiling is skim-coated so it reads flat under side light. Each coat dries before it is sanded, which is where most of the time goes.

  6. Prime and paint

    The finished ceiling is primed so compound and bare paper take paint evenly. It is then painted, usually in a flat finish that keeps minor flaws overhead from catching the light.

Questions

Popcorn ceiling removal, Emmaus.

Our house went up in the borough's 1950s boom. Could its popcorn contain asbestos?

It could, and only a lab can say. Texture from the 1950s is well before the mid-1980s cutoff, so have an accredited professional take a sample before anything is scraped or drilled. If it is positive, a certified asbestos abatement contractor does the removal.

Will the plaster ceiling crack when the texture comes off?

Removing texture doesn't usually crack sound plaster, but it can reveal cracks the texture was covering, and loose areas can come away under the scraper. Those are fastened back and filled before the ceiling is skimmed, primed and painted.

Do you also take down popcorn in Salisbury and Upper Milford?

Yes. Randy serves Emmaus and the townships around it. Salisbury's many houses from the 1950s to the 1970s raise the same testing question as the borough's, and Upper Milford's older homes do too.

More in Emmaus

Other services here.

  1. Level 5 drywall finishA skim coat over the entire surface, for walls that hold up under raking light and dark paint.
  2. Skim coatingRough, patched or uneven walls resurfaced smooth, often after wallpaper comes down.
  3. Plaster repairCracked, loose and failing plaster in older homes, repaired and made sound.
  4. Interior paintingWalls, ceilings, trim, doors and millwork, prepared properly and finished clean.
  5. Exterior paintingSiding, trim, porches, stucco and brick, prepared to stand up to Pennsylvania weather.
  6. Drywall installation & repairNew drywall hung, taped and finished; cracks, holes and water damage repaired invisibly.
  7. Drywall texture matching & removalTexture matched so repairs disappear, applied where you want it, or taken off for a smooth wall.
  8. Wallpaper removalOld wallpaper and wall linings stripped without tearing up the wall beneath.
  9. Wood stainingDecks, porch floors, doors and trim, inside and out, stained by hand.

Consultation

Request a private consultation.

Private walkthrough & written estimate, complimentary. Tell us a little about the house and the rooms, and Randy will be in touch to arrange a time.

Hours
Monday – Friday8:30 AM – 5:30 PMSaturday10 AM – 3 PMSundayClosed
Service area
Easton, Bethlehem, Allentown and the greater Lehigh Valley; Bucks County, Pennsylvania.

Fully insured — proof on request. Residential and commercial.

Randy’sPainting & DrywallReply card
The project
Preferred contact

Walkthrough & written estimate, complimentary.