Macungie, Lehigh County
Drywall texture matching & removal in Macungie, PA.
Macungie's biggest building decade was the 1980s, and the mid-1980s are where the testing rule for old texture ends. In houses from those years, when the texture went on decides what happens first.
Drywall texture matching & removal for Macungie homes
The 1980s added more homes to the borough than any other decade, roughly a third of what stands today. That decade runs straight through the line that matters most for texture work: material applied before the mid-1980s may contain asbestos, since stock made before the 1977 ban kept being used for some years. A ceiling sprayed in 1982 and one sprayed in 1989 can look identical, and only the first is plainly inside the window.
When the date is known, the plan follows from it. When it isn't, or a ceiling was resprayed over an older one, a sample is tested before the surface is cut or sanded, and a positive result goes to a certified asbestos abatement contractor. After that the work is the same in either kind of house: match the pattern so a repair disappears, or skim it away for a smooth wall.
Macungie
Phase by phase, across the testing line
Ancient Oaks, two miles northwest along Route 100, lays the timeline out in one place. The original subdivision went up from 1961 to 1971, Ancient Oaks West began in 1972 with single-family houses and townhomes, and Ancient Oaks South was built from 1985 to 1989. The first phase predates the cutoff entirely; the later ones run up to it and across it, which is where a test settles what a build date cannot.
Lower Macungie's newest houses are a different case. About a third of the township's homes went up between 2000 and 2009, when two-story great rooms were close to standard, and any texture original to them came long after the cutoff. There the issue is light. Texture hides the flaws a tall wall under big windows would otherwise show, so once it comes off, the skim beneath has to stand up to that light from floor to ceiling.
Worth knowing
Date the texture, not the house
A 1970s ceiling sprayed again in the 1990s still has the older layer under it. If the work will disturb that layer, it is tested.
Skim or new board
On a heavily textured wall, hanging new board can be simpler than skimming the pattern away. The walkthrough weighs board against skim before anything starts.
Main Street's older houses
About one home in six in the borough predates 1940. Those walls are plaster and are repaired as plaster; texture on one was added later, if at all.
The work
How the work goes
The same care on every job, in every town. The full guide to drywall texture matching & removal.
Read the wall
The texture is studied in side light: its pattern, its height, how it was applied. Then Randy talks through the choices with you: match it, change it, or take it off. The walkthrough and written estimate are complimentary.
Test older texture first
Texture or compound from before the mid-1980s should have a sample tested before anyone sands or scrapes it. If it tests positive, removal is work for a certified asbestos abatement contractor.
Repair and prime
The patch is finished flat and primed before texture goes on, so the new texture absorbs and dries the same over fresh compound as over old paint. Primer also keeps the patch from flashing through the paint later.
Match it, or bury it
To match, mix and pressure are tried on a scrap until the pattern dries the same, then texture is applied and feathered past the repair. To remove, the wall is skimmed in thin coats until the pattern is gone.
Prime and paint the whole wall
Primer evens out new and old surfaces. The whole wall is painted, corner to corner, so the sheen reads as one.
Questions
Drywall texture matching & removal, Macungie.
Our Macungie house was built in the mid-1980s. Does its texture need testing?
If you can't be sure the texture went on after the mid-1980s, yes. Houses from the borough's biggest building decade sit right at the cutoff, and the joint compound under a texture counts as well as the texture itself. A sample is tested before anything is sanded, scraped or cut; a positive result means removal by a certified asbestos abatement contractor.
Can a textured great room in Lower Macungie be skimmed smooth?
Yes. The walls are filled in thin coats from scaffold until the pattern is gone, sanded and primed, and checked under the light from the tall windows before paint. Because the texture was covering the board, the skim has to be finished well enough for that light, and at the walkthrough Randy will talk through whether a full Level 5 standard is worth it there.
Do you work in Ancient Oaks, Wescosville and Alburtis?
Yes. Randy serves the borough and Lower Macungie Township around it, including Ancient Oaks, Wescosville, East Texas and Alburtis, as well as Upper Milford. Most houses in the township date from 1980 or later, so each texture is dated, or tested, before it is touched.
More in Macungie
Other services here.
- Level 5 drywall finishA skim coat over the entire surface, for walls that hold up under raking light and dark paint.
- Skim coatingRough, patched or uneven walls resurfaced smooth, often after wallpaper comes down.
- Plaster repairCracked, loose and failing plaster in older homes, repaired and made sound.
- Interior paintingWalls, ceilings, trim, doors and millwork, prepared properly and finished clean.
- Exterior paintingSiding, trim, porches, stucco and brick, prepared to stand up to Pennsylvania weather.
- Drywall installation & repairNew drywall hung, taped and finished; cracks, holes and water damage repaired invisibly.
- Popcorn ceiling removalOld acoustic texture taken down and the ceiling finished smooth.
- Wallpaper removalOld wallpaper and wall linings stripped without tearing up the wall beneath.
- Wood stainingDecks, porch floors, doors and trim, inside and out, stained by hand.
Nearby
Drywall texture matching & removal nearby.
Consultation
Request a private consultation.
Private walkthrough & written estimate, complimentary. Tell us a little about the house and the rooms, and Randy will be in touch to arrange a time.
- Hours
- Monday – Friday8:30 AM – 5:30 PMSaturday10 AM – 3 PMSundayClosed
- Service area
- Easton, Bethlehem, Allentown and the greater Lehigh Valley; Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
Fully insured — proof on request. Residential and commercial.