How Much Does It Cost to Remove a Popcorn Ceiling?

Once the height of fashion, popcorn ceilings can make your home look as if it's stuck in a 1960s time warp. However, these ceilings aren't just unsightly — they can attract dirt and dust and may even contain carcinogenic asbestos fibers.

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With that in mind, it's hardly surprising that many homeowners want to replace their popcorn ceilings to bring their home decor up to date. Before you reach for your ladder, it's worth considering hiring a professional to deal with the mess and disruption for you. Below, we'll outline how much popcorn ceiling removal costs, including prices for asbestos abatement services.

According to data from HomeGuide, the national average cost to remove a popcorn ceiling is around $1,700 (CAD 2,280). Most homeowners spend somewhere in the region of $1,000 to $2,300 (CAD 1,341 to CAD 3,085) on professional removal, or $1 to $2 (CAD 1.34 to CAD 2.68) per square foot.

Your ceiling's size has the greatest bearing on how much popcorn ceiling removal costs. Prices to remove a small popcorn ceiling start from around $300 (CAD 402), while removing large or multiple ceilings could set you back up to $4,800 (CAD 6,478).

These prices only include the cost of removing the popcorn ceiling and assume it doesn't contain asbestos. You'll pay significantly more to refinish the surface after popcorn ceiling removal. Most companies charge between $2 and $2.50 (CAD 2.68 and CAD 3.35) per square foot to remove a popcorn ceiling, refinish and repaint.

How Much Does It Cost to Remove a Popcorn Ceiling Yourself?

DIY popcorn ceiling removal is significantly cheaper than hiring a professional at around 85 cents (CAD 1.14) per square foot. This figure covers the tools and supplies you'll need to scrape the materials from your ceiling and bag them up for disposal.

However, removing a popcorn ceiling yourself is a challenging job because it requires working at height and creates a huge amount of mess. Furthermore, you could put your health at risk if you inadvertently disturb an asbestos ceiling. If you know your ceiling is asbestos-free, and you want to try removing it yourself, try scraping it away with a drywall or utility knife. Removing a ceiling coated in gloss paint is particularly difficult and time-consuming, so it's usually best to hire a pro in this situation.

Never remove a popcorn ceiling with a sander. Sanding the ceiling can release large amounts of dust into the air, which could cause breathing difficulties and lung problems.

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How Much Does Removing a Popcorn Ceiling Cost If It Contains Asbestos?

There's no way of telling whether your ceiling contains asbestos just by looking at it. However, the risk is significant if your home was built before 1986. It's always worth testing your ceiling for asbestos if you're unsure because inhaling asbestos fibers can cause lung cancer and other health issues.

Hardware and online stores sell DIY asbestos testing kits for around $40 (CAD 54), or you could pay a local lab to test a sample. Most labs charge between $70 and $150 (CAD 94 and CAD 200) for asbestos testing and provide faster results than DIY kits.

Your ceiling will test positive if it contains more than 1% asbestos. In this situation, you'll need to hire a professional asbestos abatement contractor to remove or contain the asbestos materials for you. You can often choose between encapsulation or having the material removed and safely disposed of, although your local regulations may require you to remove it.

Asbestos encapsulation is the cheapest option and costs around $2 to $6 (CAD 2.68 to CAD 8) per square foot. The process involves covering an asbestos popcorn ceiling with new drywall or gypsum board to contain the fibers. Removal is significantly more expensive, and your contractor must pay to dispose of the ceiling materials correctly. Most companies charge between $10 and $20 (CAD 13 and CAD 27) per square foot for asbestos popcorn ceiling removal. At a minimum, you should expect to pay between $1,500 and $2,500 (CAD 2,012 and CAD 3,353) to remove an entire ceiling.

All CAD conversions are based on the exchange rate on the date of publication.