Hellertown, Northampton County
Popcorn ceiling removal in Hellertown, PA.
More than half of Hellertown's homes were built between 1940 and 1979. Their ceilings run from plaster to sprayed texture, and any older texture should be tested before it comes down.
Popcorn ceiling removal for Hellertown homes
The borough's biggest building era is the one popcorn ceilings belong to. About 37 percent of its homes went up from 1940 to 1959 and another 20 percent from 1960 to 1979, so more than half of the houses here date from the decades of sprayed acoustic ceilings or the years just before them.
Age alone doesn't say what is overhead, though. A Cape from the early 1950s may have plaster on rock lath, plain drywall, or texture sprayed on then or later, while a 1960s or 1970s house is more likely to still have its original texture. Anything sprayed before the mid-1980s is tested before it is disturbed, and when asbestos turns up, a certified asbestos abatement contractor removes it, not a painter.
Hellertown
Durham Terrace Capes and the 1960s houses after them
Mountainview began in 1940 and filled in through the 1940s and 1950s, and Durham Terrace added 154 story-and-a-half Cape Cods between 1951 and 1954, single-family homes for workers at the nearby steel plant. In those Capes the upstairs bedrooms sit under the roof, so a textured ceiling there may run down the slopes to short knee walls and across a flat strip at the top. Scraping works the same on a slope; the skim coat that follows has to keep every one of those angles crisp.
The houses of the 1960s and 1970s, about one in five in the borough, are the most predictable case, and Lower Saucon Township around it follows suit, with a quarter of its homes from those two decades. Main Street's older houses, from about 1800 into the early 1900s, were plastered, so any spray texture on them came later. In the township's newer half, built since 1980, sprayed ceilings are less common.
Worth knowing
Small rooms empty out
The upstairs of a Durham Terrace Cape is two small bedrooms. Everything comes out before the plastic goes up, because there is no room to work around furniture under a sloped ceiling.
Knee walls and slopes
Where texture runs down a slope, the plastic has to cover the knee walls and anything built into them, and the skim must meet the flat ceiling in one clean line.
The township's 1960s and 1970s houses
A quarter of the township's homes come from those two decades. Ceilings original to them predate the mid-1980s cutoff, so they are sampled before any scraping.
The work
How the work goes
The same care on every job, in every town. The full guide to popcorn ceiling removal.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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, Hellertown.
Do the Capes in Durham Terrace have popcorn ceilings?
Some may, but the build date doesn't settle it. They went up between 1951 and 1954, early in the years when sprayed texture spread, and ceilings of that time could be plaster on rock lath or drywall, with texture added then or later. A look at the walkthrough and, where texture is present, a lab test are how you find out.
Can the upstairs ceilings be done while we keep living downstairs?
Usually, once the texture has tested clear. The rooms being worked on are emptied and sealed in plastic, the stair and hall are protected, and the wet debris stays upstairs until it is bagged and carried out.
Do you remove popcorn ceilings in Leithsville and the rest of the township?
Yes. Randy serves Hellertown and the township around it, including Leithsville, Seidersville and Wassergass. Its 1960s and 1970s houses are where textured ceilings are most likely, and the newer homes built since 1980 less so.
More in Hellertown
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.
- Drywall texture matching & removalTexture matched so repairs disappear, applied where you want it, or taken off for a smooth wall.
- 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
Popcorn ceiling 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.