Finishing ceiling drywall after asbestos popcorn removal?

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jsblock11

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Hi all, I had an asbestos abatement company remove popcorn ceiling from a recently purchased home, and I'm planning out how to skim, texture and paint the ceiling from this point. I haven't done much drywall work of this scope so I'm considering whether to DIY or hire it out.

My main question is if I DIY this, is sanding really necessary between coats of joint compound I'd apply? The popcorn was removed and several layers of fiberlock were applied, but I'm still nervous about sanding the ceiling at all. Here and there you can see what seems to be tiny spots of some of the popcorn material still there under the clear fiberlock that was applied.

Wondering what I might end up with if I DIY this and either not sand at all, or very lightly sand it only after the final layer of compound is applied. Is there a texture or other technique I could use that would hide this less than smooth finish from lack of sanding?

I should clarify I'm not going for a smooth finish as the end product. Orange peel would be the plan, for the ceiling and the walls to match. My plan for DIY would be this:

- Apply a few layers of joint compound to skim coat (would like to avoid sanding ceiling)
- Spray an orange peel texture (I do have a compressor already and would get the gun)
- Paint

We're replacing the carpet, trim, windows, everything in the 3 bedrooms and hallway I'd be doing this in, so I'd tape everything off but not worried about the mess too much.
 
Welcome.
does the "fiber-block" have any note on the container stating who, what, when or where the product can be finished/coated over?
 
Yes, the product is Fiberlock Fiberset PM and is a surface sealant for microscopic residual asbestos fibers. According to all 3 asbestos abatement contractors I interviewed, as well as both general contractors I've met with, it can be skim coated and textured over and is a popular product for doing exactly this.

The product data sheet itself does not indicate the who/what/when/where can apply a finish over the top of it.
 
Thanks. What you then should do is entertain some estimates for skim-coating, and compare them to the cost of a rolling scaffold, hawk, pool trowel, 6" drywall tool, and a helper, pizza included, for the estimated duration.
 
They want $12,000 to skim coat walls and ceilings for 1800 sqft. That seems pretty high, which is why I'm considering DIY. At least maybe for the downstairs. Not sure I'd need a scaffold, ceilings are pretty low. No helper though, I'd plan on doing this solo.
 
I will tell you what I have done over the years with good success and never really saw to many other people do it like this, so take it the idea and try it if it sounds like something you want to try.



I learned from an old friend about 40 years ago that Drywall compound, the premixed stuff that comes in a 5 gallon bucket can be mixed with latex paint. It does several things to the compound. First being it thins the mixture and can be made thin enough if you want to be applied more like what is commonly called texture paint. The second thing is that it makes the coating somewhat tougher also depending on how much thinning is done. Third it can be a way to tint the compound if something other than white is used and if white is used it makes a good ceiling surface when done with or without finish painting.



I did my mothers house many years ago to her ceilings and thinned it with about 4 parts compound 1 part paint and the mixture could be spread on easy with a 12” drywall knife and then I used a 12” wallpaper brush to add an overlapping swirl pattern. I would start in one corner and ran the pattern random across the room. As the area that was wet got wider I had to work faster as it works best to swirl into a wet edge. I was young and fast and did it solo, but today I would welcome a helper.



I swirled all the ceilings in my last house with this method and it had 100 year old horse hair plaster that had to be repaired first. I used a thinned material to skim coat and sand all the walls also. I use a mesh drywall sanding cloth with a pad sander that takes a broom handle. I have even used the long aluminum handle from a concrete float.



In this house I did every ceiling and wall. The ceilings had lots of problems so I added all new drywall over the old cracked plaster taped the seams skim coated and sanded joints and screws and then roller painted it all with a thick compound/paint mixture thin enough to roll but much thicker than paint. I don’t know the exact ratio but maybe 1:1.



$12k is a lot of money and for sure this is a DIY project you can teach yourself. I remember not being sure if I could do this 40+ years ago and my friend loaned me some tools and I bought a tub of compound and a gallon of the cheapest latex white paint I could find and I started on a bedroom closet and then the bedroom ceilings and by the time I hit the living room I was a pro.



In this new old house one of the bedrooms the ceiling had wallpaper on it and it didn’t need recovered in new drywall but when I removed the wallpaper there was a thin layer I couldn’t get off. I just went right over it with the roll on mixture and it covered it great.
 
Ceilings are not a great place to learn drywall work. Unlike walls they don't have furniture, wall hangings, windows and doors to break up large spaces. Ceiling lights tend to highlight flaws. That said, I've done smooth ceilings DIY since my mid-20s. I've certainly gotten better at it over the following decades.

I'd be tempted to get several quotes on any job that expensive. Around here there are dozens if not hundreds of small painting and drywall contractors that do this kind of work.

Another option, if the ceilings are fairly smooth after the popcorn removal is wall paper under-liner. This is a heavy paper that is applied like wallpaper, but is paintable. You can use it to smooth over paneling or even cinder block walls to prepare for a smoother paint job.
 
Do NOT put on "several" coats of drywall compound. If you follow Buds advice you may be able to get the look you want by going over the wet paint/compound mixture with a coarse roller as you apply it while still wet.
 
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Do NOY put on "several" coats of drywall compound. If you follow Buds advice you may be able to get the look you want by going over the wet paint/compound mixture with a coarse roller as you apply it while still wet.
It seems every five years or so the idea of what a “moderen” ceiling should look like comes along. When I first was getting into this my friend was doing his single man-cave house and was slathering on compound/paint mixture and had a sponge attached to a board attached to a broom handle and he would stick it to the ceiling and pull down stalactites. I thought it was as ugly as sin then and still do but it was the thing then. They were doing something similar to the walls only after making the points they were knocking them down. To me it looked like a dust catcher.



I have always like smooth white ceilings except in my home theater I painted them flat black. For me a slight texture is second best and when the ceiling isn’t quite perfect it hides a multitude of imperfections. I think popcorn had its place as being cheap and easy and covered bad drywall work. Most of these homes and apartments built 30 years ago had drywall attached to ceilings 24” OC and looked bad without texture like popcorn.



In my house the ceiling I’m most proud of is the living room that I went over the old plaster with .5 drywall tapped and mudded and sanded and then given a paint job with a thickened paint/compound mix that was thick but still able to be rolled on.



I used the same mix on the wall in my home theater that is used as the projection screen surface I gave it 2 coats sanding each and then painted it with a screen paint I came up with. It is as flat as flat can be and made an amazing movie screen.



It is pretty hard in the long run to beat plain old flat.
 
If you have Facebook, this Reel shows a guy doing a skim coat on a ceiling. I want that wide skim coat knife. Oh well, it looks like I can't share it from FB to here. If you have FB do a search for Level5 Tools. Here is an intro on YouTube, I haven't found the particular video that was on FB. They used a roller to roll compound across the whole ceiling and then used a wide Level 5 knife to smooth it out. Very slick.



 
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