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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
popcorn ceiling removal
has anyone ever paid to have the "popcorn ceiling" removed from their home? DH and I are looking at buying a place in Walnut Creek, but it still has that wretched ceiling...we are trying to price out how much having it removed would cost...
I know that whether or not the ceiling has asbestos makes a HUGE difference...but let's just assume for this post that there is no asbestos, and we just need to remove the ceiling. The home is ~1550 sf.
TIA!
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Re: popcorn ceiling removal
When we bought our house, it still had popcorn ceilings and we had it removed before we moved in. For our ceilings, it cost $1800 for approx. 900 square feet of ceiling. We'd be happy to pass along the guy's name who did if you're interested in getting a quote. Our friends just used him, too.
when was the house built ? i'd rather be safe than sorry and go on the assumption that the popcorn ceiling DOES contain asbestos.
You can purchase an inexpensive kit from Home Depot (or another home improvement store) that will allow you to test for asbestos. That's what we did when we bought our house. You send the sample in to a lab (all the supplies/envelope/etc. is included), and in a week or two they send you a report. You can make it a contingency in your offer -- or part of your inspection contingency, so that you can back out if it has asbestos and you don't want to hassle with it.
Since our ceilings did have asbestos, we used an asbestos abatement company to remove around 1200+ square feet of asbestos (our house is over 1800 square feet, but one room already had a scraped ceiling, and rooms like bathrooms and the kitchen didn't have popcorn ceilings). We also had them seal up asbestos that was found in some of our heating ducts. I think we paid about $2300 for everything.
This was the company we used. http://www.alliance-enviro.com We were very pleased with them, and the quality of their work. They cleaned up perfectly, and were in and out in two days.
It's a townhome--I think built in the mid-70's. so it is possible for asbestos...is asbestos testing a contingency? If not, I think we'll build it in and if it tests positive might opt out. We don't NEED a house now, and I'd rather not deal with that big of an issue...
thanks to everyone for the suggestion--Beezo, I may be PM-ing you soon
Or not so soon--it's a short sale, so maybe in a long time 
Sounds good! Let me know when/if you do. Our house is a townhome, too. We were able to get the guy in before we moved in which meant less prep on our part. Good luck!
Anything can be a contingency. You just have to get the seller to agree to it in the offer. But, such testing can also be considered part of the general inspection contingency clause. Typically inspection contingencies let you back out for any reason related to not being happy with something you found while inspecting the house -- learning the house has asbestos would be included in that.
If you want to be sneaky about it, you could go to tour the house again and scrape a couple of small samples from inside a closet (you need only a tiny bit for them to test) and then wait for the results before you make an offer. If you decide to just offer and then test, be sure to test right away because it can take up to two weeks for the results to come back, and you'll want the results before the contingency period is up (typically 14 days after the offer is accepted).
Since it's a townhome, does it have an HOA? You may be able to find out through the HOA or a property management company or even someone within the complex whether the ceilings have asbestos. If anyone in the complex has had them scraped, they may have had it tested too. And I'd also suggest asking the seller directly if they know if their ceilings, or the ceilings of anyone else in the community, have ever been tested for and/or are known to contain asbestos. If they know, they are legally required to tell you.
sadly they were still using asbestos in popcorn ceiling texture back then although they were starting to phase it out. i would honestly do what dani suggested, scrape a bit off of an inconspicuous spot and have it tested and take it from there. it's a short sale, its not going anywhere anytime soon.
If there's not asbestos, it's pretty easy to take down a popcorn ceiling yourself. We did it at my MIL's house. We sprayed it with water and then it scraped/peeled right off. The water helps with the dust factor, too. The big pieces, we just tossed in the trash and then vacuumed the floor after.
We actually didn't even think of asbestos when we took hers down. I hope we're going to be OK!!