{"id":17506,"date":"2020-05-20T05:00:49","date_gmt":"2020-05-20T09:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sincerelymariedesigns.com\/?p=17506"},"modified":"2020-05-20T09:25:01","modified_gmt":"2020-05-20T13:25:01","slug":"planking-ceilings-vs-scraping","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sincerelymariedesigns.com\/planking-ceilings-vs-scraping\/","title":{"rendered":"Planking Ceilings vs. Scraping"},"content":{"rendered":"

We’ve planked and we’ve scraped our texture ceilings. Today we’re discussing planking vs. scraping textured ceilings! We’re sharing our list of pros and cons for both options. <\/em><\/h3>\n

It has been quite the last two months friends! Josh and I successfully scraped and painted all of the upstairs ceilings. What was once grungy textured ceilings are now bright and smooth. I’m kicking myself that we waited so long but to be honest we had planned on planking the ceilings upstairs just as we did downstairs. It wasn’t until boredom from the quarantine kicked in that we decided to give scraping a try. <\/p>\n

If you remember the story of me trying to scrap our kitchen ceiling a number of years ago you might remember the disaster that turned out to be! It was a mess with a capital M! After that I had decided that scraping wasn’t worth it. I’m so glad we decided to give it another go because we really found our groove this time. By the time we finished the 6th ceiling we had learned exactly what to do and what not to do. Today I want to go over exactly what we did and our thoughts on planking a ceiling vs. scraping them, the pros and the cons to both. <\/p>\n

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Let’s talk scraping first. Here is a photo I took this week of our master bedroom with the pretty new ceilings. I apologize for the shadows. We’ve been getting quite a bit of rain lately, so not too much natural light to work with. Below is a before photo of our master bedroom. It’s a little hard to make out the texture on the ceiling but you get the picture. <\/p>\n

Before<\/p>\n

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The texture looks much more subdued in this photo but trust me it was not. It was dirty and did not reflect natural lighting at all. <\/p>\n

After scraping and applying a fresh coat of paint, it’s clean and bright! <\/p>\n

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This post contains affiliate links. You can read my full disclosure here<\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n

Here’s how we did it:<\/p>\n

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  1. We removed the furniture from the room and taped plastic drop cloths to the walls and the floor. We also covered our light fixtures and fans with plastic as well. DON’T skip drop cloths! The process is extremely messy. 
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  2. We used a pump sprayer<\/strong><\/a> to spray the ceilings in small 8’x4′ parts until the water began to drip off the ceiling slightly. If you do not have a pump sprayer you can use a hand held spray bottle (It does work, it just gives your hand muscles a workout!). Wait 5 minutes and then using a flat, metal scraper<\/strong><\/a> at about a 25 or 30 degree angle, apply slight pressure and scrap off the texture or popcorn. Watch the corners of the scraper to make sure you do not gage the ceiling. Once you begin scraping you’ll notice seams in the sheetrock. Don’t scrap with too much pressure that you start to rip the seam tape. You want your seams to remain in tact and to be smooth to prevent heavy mudding and sanding before you paint. Note* You may need to spray an area a second time if the texture or popcorn does not come off easily. If you have to push hard it needs more water!<\/li>\n
  3. Look for dents or nail holes that need to be patched with joint compound and do that once the ceiling is no longer damp. Be sure to check out our seams. Sand them and smooth them out with a little joint compound if needed. Let that dry for 24 hours and then come back and sand smooth using a pole sander<\/strong><\/a>. ( I came across THIS<\/strong><\/a> after we finished our ceilings. I have not used it but it looks like a great tool for this project!) This past is very dusty but also very important. You want a smooth ceiling when you’re finished! \"\"<\/li>\n
  4. Once your ceiling is sanded double check that it is smooth and that you do not need to re-mud anywhere. Once that is done you’re ready to roll on your ceiling paint! We applied two coats of Valspar’s ceiling paint with a quality roller for good coverage. <\/li>\n
  5. Lastly, install crown molding of your chose if you do not have any already and sit back and enjoy your fresh ceilings! <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    NOTE* – We did not worry to much about the edges of the ceiling being perfect because we knew we wanted to install crown molding in all of the rooms that did not already have it. If you are not installed crown molding before to be careful scraping along the edges of the room. You can easily rip the corner tape and that means more mud work before you sand. <\/p>\n

    Let’s talk pros and cons to scraping as we see them!<\/p>\n

    Pro’s –<\/p>\n