Let’s talk ceilings.

Popcorn ceilings. Stippled ceilings. Stomped ceilings. Textured ceilings. Smooth ceilings. When I first dived into the world of ceiling texture I didn’t realize there were several different names for it (the kind you have matters for removal). I learned that I have stippled ceilings aka stomped ceilings. Below is a picture comparing popcorn versus stippled/stomped.

A water leak from the sky light in my bathroom started this whole process. Once the leak was repaired I was left with a nasty looking stain. The whole ceiling was looking a little dingy to me anyways because it’s 20+ years old, so I thought I would just put a fresh coat of white paint on the ceiling…. But every night when I showered and looked up at the textured ceiling I was so unhappy with it. I decided I wanted to be completely happy with it so I decided to go for a smooth ceiling!

My objective with this post is to give you an overview of all the steps involved in removing a textured ceiling and making it smooth. I am by no means an expert and I probably won’t use all of the correct terms. I had to watch so many different videos and google so many different supplies/tools, that I wanted to put all of my notes into one place to hopefully make it easier for the next DIY’er. And for my fellow DIY ladies, this is 100% a project you can do by yourself. I will say, this was a small room and I will share later in the post what I would do differently if I ever do this again or if it were a larger room.

I made a video that coincides with this whole process. It may be helpful to read the post then watch the video or vice versa. The video is on my Instagram here or on my YouTube. I’m also including my actual checklist from my phone notes at the bottom of the page. It may make your hardware trips easier to have a list and a visual.

Let’s get to it.

Step 1. You need to flatten out the ridges/swirls/sharp points.. whatever you want to call it.
I did this by sanding the whole ceiling with my orbital sander. I can not find now which exact grit I used for this step but I do know it was either 80 or 120. I would say this step is easy, just make sure you’re not staying in one spot too long or pressing too hard so that you don’t damage the sheetrock underneath (if you start seeing brown you’ve reached the sheetrock and gone too far). I shared in my video how DUSTY this part was. Hindsight I would definitely recommend attaching your sander to a shop vacuum hose, or using a special drywall sanding tool that vacuums while it sands. Close off the room from the rest of the house, open a window if you can, and protect your lungs!

Step 2. You may get to skip this step.
I did knick and sand too far in a few places so I needed to apply a primer to those spots before I moved on to the skim coating step. I also needed to apply the same primer to my water stains. I used this Zinsser BIN Primer. I only did one coat of this but I did press into the drywall spots to ensure coverage. I applied it with a small roller.

Step 3. Skim coating! The main event.
This is what is going to make your ceiling smooth. You apply drywall mud aka joint compound and “smooth” it out across the ceiling. Sand. Then repeat however many times necessary to achieve your level of “smoothness”. Now let’s break that down.
I bought this exact premixed joint compound in a 4.5 gallon bucket. That was more than enough for a 5×10 room, but I also decided to smooth out my textured walls so I needed it. With the premixed bucket, you may need to add a little bit of water to thin it, then use a drill mixer to stir it to the correct consistency (pudding like). I went the premixed route because I just simply thought it would be easier for me than getting the powder form to the correct consistency. The powder route is going to be a little cheaper.
(for my ladies, carrying and opening that bucket was the hardest part of the whole process for me. The premixed bucket ways about 60lbs so I had to have help carrying it inside.)

Side note: If you’re needing to patch any holes or repair any joints/corners, you’ll have to look into mesh tape or joint tape and do that step before your first whole skim coat. I recommend Vancouver Carpenter on Youtube if you need tutorials.

I don’t think there’s an easy way to write out how I applied the joint compound, so I think my video will make more sense. I followed Vancouver Carpenter’s technique of dunking my roller (3/4″ nap) in the bucket and then rolling the compound onto the ceiling. I worked in small sections because you want to smooth it out before it dries. I would smooth it out with a taping knife or knockdown knife. The taping knives come in a variety of lengths, and the longer knives make it easier to smooth out bigger portions. In most of the videos I watched they used 10-12 in. knives but I felt for my size that the 10 in. was the easiest for me to work with. The bathroom has a 12 ft. vaulted ceiling with some areas hard to reach (countertop in the way) so attaching the knockdown knife to a pole worked well in some areas too.
It’s not going to look perfect as the first coat dries, but you will sand it before applying a second coat. With that being said, you still want to try to smooth it out as best you can with the taping knife because sanding can only do so much.. and if you can get away with applying less coats that’s even better. I ended up applying two coats. I personally moved quicker on my first coat than my second, because on the second I was really trying to make it smooth so that I wouldn’t have to do it again!

I’m going to include sanding in step 3. To sand in between joint compound coats I used an 80 grit sanding sponge and a 120 grit sanding pole. I think 80 is a little bit more rough than what the typical professional uses, but the 80 worked really well for me in the spots I did a rough job in. And remember, the better sanding job you do then the better your next round of joint compound is going to look.

Apply your next round of joint compound.

Sand again.

Two coats was enough for my liking. I’m really really pleased with how it looks.

Step 4. Prime.
You now need to prime over your joint compound before you paint. Once you start rolling on that primer you’re finally going to see the light at the end of the tunnel! I used Zinsser Bulls Eye 123 Primer. Painting is pretty self explanatory, but I used a 3/8″ nap roller and worked short side to short side. You do this so that you can keep a “wet edge” going so that you won’t have visible lines of where you’ve started and stopped once it’s dried. You can see in the video of what I mean short side to short side. I cleaned up the edges of the ceiling with a brush.

Step 5. Paint!!
I used the same method for the paint that I used for the primer. The biggest tip I took away from the professionals was keeping that wet edge – when rolling from section to section cover a little bit of the previous section and that’s going to keep those “lines” from showing up once the paint is dry. Once again, I recommend watching the professionals do it on YouTube. Below is my after picture.

WHEW. It’s a labor of love kind of project but just think about how much cheaper it was for you to do this, AND your ceiling looks brand new.

Let’s break down the cost.
Obviously if you have a bigger area you will probably spend a little more on joint compound and paint. You may also have more or less of the supplies on hand already – I already had a ladder and an electric sander.

My total cost for removing the ceiling texture and making it smooth was $269 plus the repair category. What’s crazy is that my biggest expense was a shop vac! At least I have one on hand now. I’m so happy with how it turned out. It’s not an expensive project, but it was a lot to learn and took a fair amount of time.

My biggest takeaway is controlling the dust better next time. Even though I closed off the bathroom, dust still managed to escape to my closet and bedroom. I would love to try a drywall sander if I do this in any more rooms. Another tip is to cover your floors or countertops (if you’re not replacing those) because when I was rolling on the joint compound big chunks fell down and I later had to clean those up.

If you followed along on Instagram, you know that I decided to demo my bathtub surround and I’m going to install tile. Be on the lookout for blog posts covering that!