I might get kicked off GW for saying this, but I don't have a problem with popcorn (also known as "acoustic") ceilings. I've painted mine a couple of times without problems. When we replaced carpet with hardwood, the echo took some getting used to - I hate to think how much more it would echo if the ceilings were flat.

As for your question - asbestos was banned in 1978, but that doesn't mean your home's builder didn't buy it in 1977. I would have it checked.

We had a dining room and a living room ceiling with popcorn in our home. We tested it and it did contain asbestos. We chose to have a new ceiling put in the living room-- it cost only $300 for new drywall when we were getting new mud in the walls. We did this mainly for looks as the asbestos was not a problem as it had been painted and was not crumbling or anything. In the dining room we simply covered the popcorn with those beautiful old style decorative ceiling tiles, as our home is an older home. Either is a solution if you're mainly concerned with looks.

Bea- If you know that all the popcorn texture was applied at the same time, testing one ceiling should be adequate. If the test is positive, and the material is not coming loose, it could be painted to seal it. What I can tell you -- as someone who dealt with asbestos removal work for many years -- is that you should either pay to have professionals remove it or leave it alone. You can remove it yourself, but it is difficult to do it properly. I've seen far too many homeowner removals that contaminated whole houses because the owner didn't want to pay the price of removal.

To get educated on this, go to the link below, and type 'popcorn' into their search box. Then read their excellent pamphlet on what's involved in removing such ceilings.

Here is a link that might be useful: Remove popcorn ceiIings

>>I might get kicked off GW for saying this, but I don't have a problem with popcorn (also known as "acoustic") ceilings. I've painted mine a couple of times without problems. When we replaced carpet with hardwood, the echo took some getting used to - I hate to think how much more it would echo if the ceilings were flat.

She's a witch!!!

Thank you all. If the ceiling does end up having asbestos, at what level is it safe to scrape or cover it up ourselves? I was under the impression that you do not want to cover up the ceiling because you will then have to nail into the asbestos thereby causing more problems...

Our ceiling tiles were applied with a tile adhesive, so the ceiling was not disturbed. Moreover, both our dining and living ceilings had been painted, which seals the asbestos in and makes scraping by a homeowner both nearly impossible and very dangerous. The new Sheetrock was out up by sheet rockers, but we were not concerned about the drilling into the old ceiling. First, because the asbestos had already been painted so it would not be easily disturbed by then pressing on it. And second, the drilling is done when the sheet is already in place, so if any does come out from the paint it will stay between the old and new ceiling. We chose not to cut down the old asbestos ceiling though, so it made the ceiling just a touch lower. Obviously it's still possible a very small amount of asbestos was released into the air, but after researching we felt comfortable with this solution considering our circumstances.

Bea- If it has asbestos in it, there it's no safe level for you to scrape this yourselves, unless you exercise a lot of safety precautions and buy special protective gear. You can't just put on a dust mask, scrape it, and vacuum up the mess. Please go to the link I provided above and spend a few minutes reading about this from a reliable environmental agency. If you rely entirely on the well-intentioned advice of non-professionals posting in this forum concerning asbestos management and removal, you may end up finding out after the fact that you've created a health risk for your family that could have been avoided.

According to the EPA, painting does not seal the asbestos in.

And, by the way, using up old stocks of pre-1978 asbestos plaster was not prohibited, so homes with popcorn ceilings done in the 1980s may still be contaminated.

The danger of this insidious material is that it takes decades for a relatively small exposure to show up. And when it does, it's irreversible, untreatable, agonizing and fatal. Witness the deaths from mesothelioma last fall of character actor Ed Lauter and other celebrities who had exposures in their youth.

I don't hate popcorn ceilings either, unless I'm playing with balloons....

Sorry-- I should have worded that differently. By 'seals it in' I meant that the ceiling does not crumble or drop chunks down when bumped, etc as unpainted ones can.

Thanks everyone for the feedback, the ceilings came back free of asbestos, the scraping and/or dry walling begins!!

-B.

Good news!

That's great. But just make sure you wear good quality respiratory protection anyway.