I'll Tell You A Pop-Secret

I have met the enemy and his name is popcorn ceiling. For the last several days, I have been scraping the popcorn texture off the ceilings. It is not a hard project, but it is super messy, hard on the neck and back, and has given me a claw like Jerry Seinfeld when he had to sign all of those 13 cent checks.

A few things I have learned:

1. I think the mask and goggles look is a good one for me (notice the bits of ceiling in my hair).

2. You will be covered in a layer (or 6) of dust.

3. It is a good idea to wear shoes while climbing a metal ladder. Those rungs are hard on just socked feet.

4. If you answer the door in a mask with ceiling bits in your hair, the Jehovah's Witnesses do not linger very long.

5. Invest in a good squirt bottle. I was just using a recycled cleaner bottle at first. The trigger didn't work very well. It took twice as many squirts to cover 1/2 of the area that the good bottle did. This will help the claw scenario mentioned above.

6. This could be my imagination, but I put a little fabric softener in the water. I think it helped, but it could just be wishful thinking. If it doesn't do anything for the ceiling, it does wonders for you. Even as you are covered in dust, when you spray right over your head you are sprinkled with a fine mist that makes you smell like a fresh mountain spring.

7. There are few things as uncomfortable as ceiling crumbles stuck in your bra.

8. Van Halen is good ceiling scraping music. Sting is not (but really, I can't think of a good reason to ever listen to Sting).

Here are some tips that I learned after I was almost finished. If you attempt this project, maybe these will help you:

1. Apparently Home Depot sells a tool that has a scraper on one end and a bag on the other...thereby eliminating the mess. DOH!! I made an enormous mess. (Irv...I was never even on aisle 3. That is a movie quote that I'm sure only my sister will get, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity) Even if you cover the entire area with a plastic tarp, there will still be pieces everywhere. And then you will step in it and track it even further.

2. Instead of using a squirt bottle to wet the ceiling, use a paint roller dipped in water and rolled on. Great tip. Hope I never have to use that (or any of these other tips) ever again.