How to get a landlord to remove popcorn ceilings with asbestos
Dealing with old popcorn ceilings raises health concerns about asbestos exposure, especially for people who work from home and have pets. Renters often wonder if they have legal ground to ask management for removal, while others weigh the massive mess of scraping against the cost of covering it up with new wallboard.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1sleeping in the living roomDid this help you?
- 2taking ill-fitted wardrobe doors off the ceilingDid this help you?
- 3encapsulating or painting over the popcorn ceiling with a heavy duty primerDid this help you?
- 4using an air purifier and humidifierDid this help you?
- 5getting contractor bids to scrape and re-skin or cover with new wallboardDid this help you?
- 6consulting realtors about the cost payback for home improvementsDid this help you?
- 7Leaving the popcorn ceilings alone and painting over them every few yearsDid this help you?
- 8Living with the texture and ignoring it since it is rarely noticed day-to-dayDid this help you?
- 9Cleaning dust and cobwebs using a vacuum with a horse hair brush attachmentDid this help you?
- 10spray foamed the cracks in our ceilingDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“My husband and I just bought our first house and we are doing a lot of remodeling. [...] The house was built in the mid 80s and has popcorn cielings. I didnt care at all at first but now suddenly in wondering if we should scrape it off or cover it up. However, we are already super stressed with everything we have going on.”source ↗
“I dont LIKE popcorn ceilings, and would prefer not to have it. But I also dont DISLIKE it enough to tackle that enormous project.”source ↗
“I think this is kinda how i feel but i just know if we ever want to do it now would be the best time (bc we have no furniture inside) so had to ask for more opinions lol”source ↗
“My question is: do I have any ground to stand on to ask management to take these popcorn ceilings out? I really love this job and would love to keep doing it but I am worried about possible health implications as I do a lot of work from home and have pets.”source ↗
“Any suggestions on which one to use? Is putting up new wallboard worth the extra $500 between the first two bids?”source ↗
“Scraping popcorn is one of those jobs that sounds way easier than it actually is, especially if that stuff has been painted over before. The mess alone makes me lean toward just covering it up with new wallboard for the extra 500.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
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- 2How to remove old flooring stuck under kitchen cabinets
- 5Should I remove popcorn ceilings before or after moving in?