Asbestos Popcorn Ceiling Removal
At Raleigh Asbestos Removal Pros, we look at a lot of these ceilings. Popcorn texture is dated looking, but the bigger issue for older homes in the Triangle is what’s mixed into it.
If your ceiling was sprayed on before the late 1970s, there’s a real chance it contains asbestos fibers. We test before we touch anything, because guessing about asbestos is how people get hurt.
Wake County has a lot of housing stock from exactly the era when this texture was common. Here’s a breakdown of homes by decade built, based on U.S. Census figures:
| Decade Built | Homes in Raleigh | Asbestos Risk |
|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 8,893 | High |
| 1960s | 12,054 | High |
| 1970s | 21,881 | Elevated |
| 1980s | 32,838 | Possible, worth checking |
That’s more than 42,000 homes built before 1980 alone, and the actual number at risk runs higher. Manufacture of asbestos ceiling texture was banned in 1978, but distributors kept selling existing stock.
Contractors were still spraying material made by companies like USG and Kaiser Gypsum well into the early 1980s. Kaiser Gypsum’s own bankruptcy filings confirm their textured ceiling products contained asbestos from the early 1950s through 1976.
So a home built in 1983 isn’t automatically safe just because it falls after the ban.
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How We Test and Remove It
Testing is simple. We take a small sample from an inconspicuous spot, bag it, and send it to an accredited lab. Results usually come back within a few business days. If asbestos is confirmed, here’s what removal looks like:
- Seal the room with poly sheeting and set up negative air pressure so fibers don’t spread to the rest of your house.
- Wet the ceiling texture before scraping. Dry scraping is how fibers become airborne, and we don’t do it.
- Bag the debris in labeled asbestos waste containers as we go, not at the end of the job.
- HEPA vacuum every surface in the containment area, including window sills and light fixtures.
- Transport waste to a landfill permitted to accept asbestos containing material.
Once the ceiling is clear, we run a final air sample before taking the containment down. You get documentation showing the space passed clearance testing, which matters if you’re selling the home or pulling a renovation permit later.
What Affects the Cost
Every popcorn ceiling job is different. Square footage matters most, but so does how many layers of paint are on top of the texture, whether there’s insulation above the ceiling that also needs testing, and how easily we can access the space. A single bedroom runs faster and cheaper than a whole house with vaulted ceilings and crown molding to work around.
If you’re not sure whether your ceiling needs testing, reach out. We’ll walk you through it honestly, even if that means telling you the texture is probably fine and you don’t need us at all.