Remove dated acoustic texture and replace it with a clean smooth finish or modern texture — and get ceilings that actually add to the value of your home.
Popcorn ceiling texture — also called acoustic or cottage cheese ceiling — was standard in Texas homes built from the 1950s through the 1990s. Homeowners today consistently want it gone. It looks dated, it collects dust and cobwebs, it's almost impossible to paint cleanly, and it makes ceilings feel lower. Removing it and replacing it with a smooth or lightly textured ceiling is one of the best cosmetic upgrades you can make to an older home in DFW or Houston.
The process is more involved than most homeowners expect. The ceiling must be wetted, scraped, and then skim-coated to restore a flat surface — because the drywall underneath was never finished to a paintable standard (it was covered with texture from day one). Done poorly, you end up with a wavy, visible ceiling that looks worse than the popcorn did. Done right, you get a clean, flat ceiling that reads as a premium finish.
One important note: homes built before 1978 may have popcorn texture that contains asbestos. We do not test or remediate asbestos — that requires a licensed environmental contractor. If your home pre-dates 1978, we'll advise you to have a sample tested before we proceed. For homes built after 1978, we can typically proceed directly to removal and refinishing.
We don't just scrape and paint — we skim coat to a flat, professional surface before any finish work.
Full liability coverage on every project — including protection for your floors and furnishings during removal.
We'll tell you when testing is warranted and won't proceed on pre-1978 homes without addressing the question first.
Written estimate within 1 business day including room count and square footage pricing.
Serving homeowners and remodelers across Dallas-Fort Worth and Greater Houston.
If your home was built before 1978, there is a possibility that your popcorn ceiling texture contains asbestos. Asbestos was commonly used as a fire-retardant additive in ceiling texture products until it was restricted in the late 1970s. The only way to know for certain is to have a sample tested by a certified lab. We strongly recommend testing before proceeding with any removal in pre-1978 homes. If asbestos is present, removal must be done by a licensed asbestos abatement contractor — not a drywall crew. We can refer you to appropriate resources.
Once the texture is removed, the underlying drywall typically reveals tape lines, fastener heads, and surface imperfections — because the drywall was originally finished only to Level 2 or 3 (sufficient to be covered by texture, not sufficient for a smooth painted finish). The ceiling needs to be skim-coated to bring it to Level 4 or 5 before painting. Skipping this step results in a visibly uneven ceiling. We include skim coating as part of every popcorn ceiling removal job.
Technically yes, but it's difficult to do cleanly and doesn't modernize the ceiling. Popcorn texture is highly absorbent and will soak up enormous amounts of paint, making brush and roller painting messy and wasteful. Spray painting is the usual approach. More importantly, paint doesn't remove the texture — it just refreshes it. If the goal is a clean, modern ceiling, removal and skim coating is the right path. If you just want to refresh the color, we can advise on the best approach.
A typical room (roughly 150–200 sq ft of ceiling) can be scraped and skim-coated in 1–2 days, with an additional day for the skim coat to cure and a final sanding pass before priming. Larger projects (whole-house removal) can take 3–5 days depending on the number of rooms and the condition of the ceiling underneath. We'll give you a specific timeline in your estimate.
The most popular choice is a smooth (Level 5) finish — it photographs well, looks clean and modern, and is by far the easiest to repaint in the future. Some homeowners prefer a light knock-down or orange peel texture, which hides minor imperfections better than a flat smooth finish. We'll show you what each option looks like and let you choose. If you're selling the home, smooth is almost always the right call from a buyer-appeal standpoint.