Randy’s Painting & Drywall

Allentown, Lehigh County

Popcorn ceiling removal in Allentown, PA.

About a third of Allentown's homes were built from 1950 through 1979, when sprayed ceilings were routine. The rowhouse core is older and plastered, and it asks different questions.

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A room with its ceiling part-way through a skim coat, a painter working beneath it among tools and buckets.
A ceiling mid skim coat.

Popcorn ceiling removal for Allentown homes

A date line splits the housing here. Four in ten homes predate 1940, the rowhouses and twins of the three historic districts among them, and their ceilings were plastered. Roughly 16,800 others went up between 1950 and 1979, the stretch of years when builders sprayed acoustic texture overhead instead of finishing a ceiling smooth.

Those postwar ceilings are the likeliest to be popcorn, and they need care first. Texture sprayed before the mid-1980s can carry asbestos, which can't be seen, so a lab result comes before any scraping, sanding or drilling for a light. When the result is positive, the removal belongs to a certified asbestos abatement contractor; when it is clear, the texture comes down wet and the ceiling is skimmed, primed and painted.

Allentown

Rowhouse plaster, and 16,800 homes from 1950 to 1979

Old Allentown, the Old Fairgrounds and West Park filled in between the 1850s and 1930, so ceilings in those districts were plaster from the start. A textured ceiling in one of their rowhouses was sprayed on during some later remodel, and scraping it off can expose the cracks, patches and seams it had been hiding. Sagging plaster found underneath usually means broken keys, and it can often be fastened back rather than pulled down.

The postwar homes sit outside those districts, and the pattern carries past the city line: more than half of Salisbury Township's homes were built between 1950 and 1979, and about six in ten of South Whitehall's between 1950 and 1989. With only about one city home in nine built since 1990, most ceilings here are either old plaster or drywall that has been overhead for decades, and each needs its own repairs once the texture is gone.

A smooth white kitchen ceiling with recessed lights and a ceiling fan above glass-front wood cabinets.
A finished kitchen ceiling. Mike Galuppo’s photograph, from his Google review.

Worth knowing

  1. Wood floors under wet work

    Where a rowhouse still has its old wood floors, they go under plastic and a firm walking layer, because wet texture and standing water are hard on them.

  2. Old district plaster overhead

    In the three historic districts, a sprayed ceiling sits on plaster that may be well over a century old. Plan for repairs once it is bare, not just a coat of paint.

  3. Stains from old leaks

    Brown marks left by an old roof or pipe leak bleed through new paint. The bared ceiling gets a stain-blocking primer over them before the finish coats.

The work

How the work goes

The same care on every job, in every town. The full guide to popcorn ceiling removal.

Two painters working a ceiling on poles and a ladder, the kitchen below sealed in clear plastic.
Ceiling work, the room sealed in plastic.

  1. The walkthrough

    Randy looks at the ceilings with you, how they were built and how the rooms are lit, and explains what removal and refinishing will involve. You get a written estimate; like the walkthrough, it is complimentary.

  2. Test before anything else

    If the texture may date from before the mid-1980s, a sample has to be taken by an accredited asbestos professional and tested by a lab before the ceiling is touched. If it tests positive, the job belongs to a certified asbestos abatement contractor, not a painter.

  3. Containment

    The room is emptied, floors and walls are sheeted in plastic, and power to the ceiling fixtures is shut off. The texture comes down as wet, heavy debris, and it should stay inside the room it came from.

  4. Wet scraping

    The texture is misted lightly, given time to soften, and scraped off in small sections. Too much water can damage the drywall beneath it, and painted texture resists water, so it needs a slower approach.

  5. Repair and skim

    Gouges, open seams and loose tape are repaired, then the ceiling is skim-coated so it reads flat under side light. Each coat dries before it is sanded, which is where most of the time goes.

  6. Prime and paint

    The finished ceiling is primed so compound and bare paper take paint evenly. It is then painted, usually in a flat finish that keeps minor flaws overhead from catching the light.

Questions

Popcorn ceiling removal, Allentown.

Our Old Fairgrounds twin has a popcorn ceiling. Is there plaster under it?

Very likely. Those blocks went up between 1888 and 1910, when ceilings were plastered, so the texture is a later addition unless the ceiling was replaced at some point. Have it tested before it is disturbed; if it comes back clear, the plaster under it is repaired and skimmed before paint.

How can we tell whether a textured ceiling is plaster or drywall?

The age of the house is the first clue: Allentown homes built before about 1940 were plastered, and those from the 1950s on are more often drywall. An existing light fixture or attic hatch can show the edge of the ceiling without touching the texture, and the walkthrough is the time to look.

We're renovating our rowhouse one room at a time. When should the ceilings be done?

Each ceiling before the walls and floors of its room, since scraping is wet and heavy work. It helps to have every textured ceiling in the house sampled in one round at the start, so the results shape the whole plan rather than one room at a time.

More in Allentown

Other services here.

  1. Level 5 drywall finishA skim coat over the entire surface, for walls that hold up under raking light and dark paint.
  2. Skim coatingRough, patched or uneven walls resurfaced smooth, often after wallpaper comes down.
  3. Plaster repairCracked, loose and failing plaster in older homes, repaired and made sound.
  4. Interior paintingWalls, ceilings, trim, doors and millwork, prepared properly and finished clean.
  5. Exterior paintingSiding, trim, porches, stucco and brick, prepared to stand up to Pennsylvania weather.
  6. Drywall installation & repairNew drywall hung, taped and finished; cracks, holes and water damage repaired invisibly.
  7. Drywall texture matching & removalTexture matched so repairs disappear, applied where you want it, or taken off for a smooth wall.
  8. Wallpaper removalOld wallpaper and wall linings stripped without tearing up the wall beneath.
  9. Wood stainingDecks, porch floors, doors and trim, inside and out, stained by hand.

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.

Randy’sPainting & DrywallReply card
The project
Preferred contact

Walkthrough & written estimate, complimentary.