Ceiling repair
Ceiling repair
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Finishing in Frederick & Central MD
Popcorn ceiling removal
Scraping a popcorn ceiling is a Saturday. Testing it first, containing the mess, and skimming the ceiling flat enough that nobody can tell what used to be there is the job you are actually buying.
Licensed & insuredFree written estimatesFrederick-based crewClean-site guarantee
Quick answer
How much does popcorn ceiling removal cost in Maryland?
Two to four dollars fifty per square foot, including containment, wet scraping, a full skim coat and primer — so a typical 12 by 14 bedroom ceiling is $420 to $900. Asbestos sampling on a pre-1980 ceiling adds $85 to $180 per sample and is not optional. Painting afterwards is $0.70 to $1.40 per square foot. The reason quotes vary so widely is the skim: a scrape-only price is cheaper and leaves you with a ceiling that still shows where the texture was.
The work
What popcorn ceilings actually involves.
Popcorn, or acoustic, ceilings went on millions of American houses between the late fifties and the mid eighties, and almost every client who asks us to remove one wants the same thing: a flat, modern ceiling with no trace of the texture and no two-week disruption. That is a straightforward job on a sound ceiling, and it is three separate skills — containment, removal, and a skim coat good enough to survive the raking light that a flat ceiling invites.
The first question is always the age of the house, and it is not a formality. Acoustic texture applied before 1980 may contain asbestos, and scraping it dry is the single worst thing anyone can do with it. Any ceiling from that era gets sampled and laboratory tested before a scraper touches it — no exceptions, no eyeballing it, no assuming. If it comes back positive, the work is abatement and it goes to a licensed abatement contractor, not to us. We will tell you that plainly and help you find one.
On a clear ceiling, the sequence is containment first — floors and walls sheeted, doorways sealed, air handled — then the texture misted and scraped wet, which keeps the dust down and the mess inside the room. Then the real work: a skim coat over the whole ceiling, because scraping leaves a surface with the old texture's shadow in it and thirty years of paint lines. One skim, sanded and primed, is what makes a removed popcorn ceiling look like a ceiling that never had it.
Pre-1980 ceilings laboratory tested first, always
Misted and scraped wet, not dry
Full skim coat so no shadow of the texture remains
What popcorn ceilings costs in Maryland
Priced per square foot of ceiling, including containment, scrape, skim and primer. Asbestos testing is a separate, small, non-negotiable line. Abatement, if needed, is not our work.
- Popcorn ceiling removal
- $2.00 – $4.50 per square foot
- Typical 12 x 14 bedroom ceiling
- $420 – $900
- Asbestos sample and lab test
- $85 – $180 per sample
- Level 5 skim instead of standard
- +$0.50 – $1.20 per square foot
- Ceiling painted after skim
- $0.70 – $1.40 per square foot
- Repairs found during removal, per area
- $120 – $380
Ranges, not quotes. Real numbers come from a walkthrough — access, condition, height and finish level move a price more than square footage does. Estimates are free and in writing.
Get your numberFull popcorn ceilings cost guide for MarylandPrefer to just talk?
Call and describe the job. You’ll get a straight answer on whether it’s something we do and roughly what it runs.
(301) 524-1729
Self-performed
Popcorn ceiling removal
What’s included
Everything the popcorn ceilings scope actually covers.
Written into the estimate, not assumed. If something on your job is not on this list, it gets priced and named before anyone starts.
Asbestos testing before anything is disturbed
01Any ceiling that could predate 1980 gets sampled and laboratory tested first. A positive result means licensed abatement, which is not us, and we will say so and point you to someone who does it.
The room contained properly
02Floors and walls sheeted, doorways sealed, fixtures dropped and bagged. Scraping is wet work and it goes everywhere that is not covered, so the covering is most of the preparation.
Misted and scraped wet
03Texture dampened and taken off with a wide blade rather than attacked dry. It keeps the airborne dust down and it takes the texture off cleanly instead of tearing the paper face of the board.
A full skim over the whole ceiling
04Not just the rough spots. Scraping leaves the shadow of the old texture and decades of paint edges, and only a skim coat across the entire plane gives you a ceiling that reads as flat.
Sanded, primed and ready
05Vacuum-assisted sanding, then primer, because a newly skimmed ceiling drinks paint unevenly. We paint it as part of the job if you want it finished rather than handed over.
Repairs done while it is open
06Cracks, old fixture holes and loose board sorted during the skim rather than left under it. This is the cheapest moment in the ceiling's life to fix those, because the crew is already there.
On the job
Finishing work across Frederick & Central MD.
What the trade looks like at each stage. Photos of our own recent jobs come out at the walkthrough, on the actual house.
Straight answers
Popcorn ceilings questions
Not covered here? Call and ask — you’ll get a real answer, not a “depends on the job”.
If the texture was applied before 1980, it might, and the only way to know is a laboratory test on a sample — age, appearance and the previous owner's word are all worthless here. We sample and test any ceiling of that era before a scraper touches it. If it comes back positive the work is licensed asbestos abatement, which we do not do, and we will tell you that and help you find a contractor who does. Scraping an untested old ceiling is the one shortcut on this job that can genuinely harm you.
On a tested-clear ceiling, physically yes, and plenty of people do. Two things usually go differently than expected: the mess, which is wet, heavy and travels through the house unless the room is properly contained, and the finish, because a scraped ceiling is not a flat ceiling — it carries the shadow of the texture and every old paint edge, and it needs a full skim coat to look right. Most of the calls we get are from people who scraped it and then wanted the skim done properly.
A single room is usually two to three days: a day for containment and scraping, then skim coats with drying time between, then sanding and primer. You can stay in the house — the room is sealed and we work out of one entry — but you will not be using that room, and a whole-floor job means planning around it. We work room by room on occupied houses for exactly that reason.
Same crew, same visit
The rest of the finishing work.
Most finishing jobs are two or three of these at once, which is why they are priced and scheduled together rather than as separate call-outs.
From the field
Read up before you book.
Longer answers than a quote page has room for — how the work fails, what putting it right actually involves, and when waiting is the honest call.
Sources worth your time
Check us, and check the work
None of these are ours. They are the offices and standards bodies that set the rules we work to, so you can verify what we say rather than take it.
EPA asbestos in the home
What asbestos is, where it turns up in older houses, and why a pre-1980 textured ceiling gets tested rather than scraped.
OpenEPA indoor air quality
Damp drywall, mould and construction dust are air-quality problems as much as cosmetic ones. Plain guidance from the EPA on both.
OpenMaryland Home Improvement Commission
Check any Maryland contractor's licence before you sign. Ours is on file with the Commission.
Open
Talk to the people doing the work
Get a straight number for the whole job.
Tell us what needs doing. We’ll walk it with you, sequence every trade it touches, put the price in writing, and leave you to decide.
Get a quote
Let’s price your project.
Two short steps. No obligation, no pressure — just a clear number and a straight answer about what the job involves.
Tick as many as you like. Most jobs are two or three of them at once, and I sort out the detail when I come and look. Nobody gets turned away for choosing the wrong box.
