Cottage Cheese: Fix It, Paint Over It Or Trash It
Q: What can I do to make my cottage cheese ceiling look better?
It is dirty and looks terrible from old water stains.
A: First, let me tell you that acoustic ceilings (also called popcorn ceilings) may contain asbestos if they predate 1978. The only way to know is to have a sample analyzed by a testing lab. Thoroughly wet an inconspicuous area with a spray bottle (to prevent fibers from being released), scrape off a sample and put it in a closed container. Some labs provide the container they prefer.
If your ceiling contains asbestos and you want to remove it, only an asbestos removal firm or you as the homeowner may do so legally. Contact Puget Sound Air Pollution Control Agency 206-343-8800 to get an asbestos packet and information on obtaining a removal permit.
The actual removal is a breeze. But if you want a smooth ceiling, you can't just paint the surface you just scraped.
Cottage cheese ceilings originally required only two coats of drywall mud (spackle) underneath. Their very coarse texture hides irregularities that would look hideous on a conventional ceiling. So if you want a smooth look, you will need at least two additional coats of mud and two sandings. For a textured look, you may be able to get away with one coat and one sanding.
Also, older drywall ceilings often have barely perceptible dips between rafters that are difficult to hide. Unless you have a high tolerance for imperfection, I would suggest hiring a professional. Drywall taping, as it's called in the industry, is a true art form and good practitioners are magicians.
If you want to keep your cottage cheese ceiling, you can paint it with excellent results. Don't even consider rolling it. If there was ever a job for a spray rig, this is it. Beg, borrow or steal a sprayer. You'd think you were dumping paint into the Grand Canyon the way these ceilings eat paint off rollers. The ceiling material falls off onto your roller and gets in the paint pan. Roller marks are tough to hide on popcorn, too. Yuck. Trust me here.
Cottage cheese ceilings have mercifully gone out of fashion, but they can still be patched and redone if desired. Other options include using dropped or false ceilings or putting drywall directly over the top (or would that be directly below?) if its in really bad shape.
No one I know who has scraped their popcorn ceiling has regretted it. In every case they have subtracted several years' worth of subjective age from the home - and added to the value. Now, if we could just get some equity for losing bell bottoms, lava lamps and Barry Manilow albums . . .
Q: How do I know - before it leaks - that it's time to replace my roof?
A: Composition shingle roofs loose their granulation, get brittle, crack, bubble and peel up at their edges. When you look down and see tar exposed on a shingle where granulation is supposed to be, that particular shingle is toast.
Built-up tar and torch down roofs are on their way out when they get a generally deteriorated appearance and there is widespread bubbling. Water between layers causes the bubbles and UV rays from the sun damage the surface. Older roofs use pebbles as protection against UV damage and as ballast. The bubbles can sometimes get pretty big; people walking on the roof surface can pop the bubbles and you have an instant leak. Cedar roofs slowly turn back to nature and use your home as their personal compost bin. As they deteriorate (from the beginning actually), they start to lose their natural oils, get brittle and split. When their life is over they get soggy.
Taking a roof years beyond its realistic life with creative patching will keep you awake nights and likely get you familiar with the aforementioned drywall magician when he fixes your soggy ceiling. Ask The Expert answers readers' questions every Saturday. Send questions to Ask The Expert, Seattle Times, P.O. Box 70, Seattle, WA 98111, or call 206-464-8514 to leave your questions on Ask The Expert's recorded line. E-mail address is dhay@seattletimes.com
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