That 70's room goes out to home owners with a great space, small budget, and paneling galore. The 70's era is notorious for low, and dark rooms. If you have a pop corn ceiling, there isn't an easy way around the work, prepping, and scrapping. Also, there is good paneling, and bad paneling. Good is real quality wood, bad is fake compressed board paneling. We will be taking the bad, and the good to create a wonderful new space. Beauty is in the eyes of the person with the keys.
Joanie's Tips first tip is how to remove your pop corn ceiling. First remove everything not nailed down from the room. Completely plastic over entrance areas to the room, and cover the entire floor with painters tarps. Second you will need to rent or borrow scaffolding. Scaffolding is better than a ladder because you have better, more equal angles. Also, stabili
ty will prevent errors while working on your project.
Joanie's Tips second tip is to take a sample of the pop corn, or have a professional sample, and test for asbestos. You can purchase kits, and instructions online. This procedure can be dangerous if asbestos is found, and can not be skipped. Anyone in the room should where a mask while working, due to the nature of the material.
Joanie's Tips third tip is to wet the ceiling with water, allowing the moisture to penetrate the pop corn for easier removal. Using a hand pole sander, and heavy grit sandpaper will be needed for the majority of the process. Keep plastic bags handy on ladders, and scaffolding for easy access waste disposal. During this process be careful not to damage the dry wall by pushing to hard to break the plaster free.
Joanie's Tips fourth tip is to do your dry wall patch, not many people can scrape an entire ceiling without any damage. Re-texturing can be complicated, to get a completely smooth product. There are only three options. The first is, keep doing it, till you get it right. Two is hire a professional, you have saved a substantial amount of money getting your ceiling to the ready for re-texturing stage. No matter who re-textures make sure you prime, and put two coats minimum, white ceiling paint on. Third is after cleaning up, and patching, use ready to go ceiling tiles. Ceiling tiles cost more than standard dry wall; however, they are easier to install. Dry walling is possible with a lot of support, and having the cuts correct. Measure and have the cuts done by the home improvement store. Dry wall is approximately five dollars a sheet, and ceiling tiles at least five times as much.
*Your project will require a minimum of four people, for 5-6 days. Scrapping 1-2, re-texturing 1 day, priming 1 day, and painting 1 day.
Project Part Two: Joanie's Tips first tip for non attractive paneling is to paint. If you have a large budget you have dry wall as an option. You may want to demo the paneling, and get everything ready for the drywallers to save yourself some money.
First tape everything off, including all electrical outlets, and door frames. Taping is the most important part of painting. Second place paint tarps over your flooring, and plastic all entrance ways to the room. If you are spraying, much more detail will be required for preparation, because of over spray.
Third is prime before paint, and make sure to research the best primers for covering paneling. I have a powder room I did, and you can't even see the lines in between the paneling. It is worth going slow, and being meticulous for this aspect of your project. Now you are ready for two coats of paint constructed for paneling surfaces. Your ceiling is white, and a contrast is always rich looking. Joanie's Tips favorite is Bentwood by Sherman Williams, a light butterscotch hue that compliments, and brightens. The top picture shows white paneling, split with wainscoting, and light leaf stencil. This picture shows how to take a room from the 70's, to french country elegant. The sky's the limit, have fun with your room transformation!
