Popcorn Ceiling Removal & Ceiling Repair in Florida
Yes, that ceiling can go. Our own crews scrape the dated texture, keep the mess inside the plastic, finish the ceiling smooth or in knockdown, and paint it, so the room finally looks as new as the rest of the house.
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- One Year Warranty
- Price Guaranteed in Writing
“The Handyman Company did a great job from beginning to end on the backsplash in my kitchen. Their communication was excellent, they showed up when they said they would and their workmanship was incredible. I had talked to a few companies prior and it was like pulling teeth trying to get those guys to follow up. The Handyman Company is run like a company is supposed to be run. I have already booked them for another job on my house and would recommend them to anyone looking for any type of work on their house.”
“Hi Brian, stop by and he was very helpful in solving my door problem thanks for your service”
“On time, price as quoted and went the extra mile. Easy and efficient. Would use the service again.”
“I needed several openings around outdoor lights sealed. They did an excellent job and it was reasonably priced. Very happy with their work!”
“Great service and the repair was done to my satisfaction.”
“Very prompt, helpful and thorough. It’s not cheap, but you get quality work”
“David Becerra and his crew are highly skilled and very hard working people. They are diligent, trustworthy and very competitive in terms of pricing. I recommend them.”
“I have had the same handyman once before, and did the most incredible work at my home. I cannot thank you enough for work that was provided.”
“This company has excellent employees, very professional and respectful. I will call them again.”
“We are working with Noah Brooks on multiple projects. He is resourceful and very expert in a variety of specialties. Noah is our go to…”
What We Handle
Popcorn Removal & Smooth Finish
Scrape, skim coat, sand, and finish flat. A perfectly smooth finish is the hardest one to pull off overhead, and the smooth surface is the one that most changes the room.
Knockdown Retexture
The modern Florida standard. After the scrape we spray and knock down a fresh texture that matches the rest of the house.
Ceiling Crack & Sag Repair
Settling cracks, failing seams, and drywall pulling off the joists get repaired properly, not just mudded over to reopen next year. Minor repairs like nail pops ride along in the same visit, and sections too far gone get new drywall.
Water-Stain Ceiling Repair
Once the leak that caused the stain is fixed, we cut out the damaged material, rebuild the ceiling, and finish it so the stain is gone for good.
Paint & Finish
A new ceiling deserves fresh paint, and painting it while the room is already masked saves you a second round of furniture moving.
Removing Popcorn Ceilings, Whole House at Once
Many customers do the entire house at once, bedrooms, hallways, even the bathroom, often before move-in or new flooring, while the mess costs nothing extra to make. One push, and it is over.
Miserable Work, Kept Inside the Plastic
Yes, we can take it down, and it changes the room more than any other single job. Nothing dates a room like a popcorn ceiling. The texture grabs shadows, collects dust that never quite comes off, and makes a freshly painted room still feel like the decade it was built in. Once it is gone, the flat ceiling reads bright, the room looks taller, cleaning gets easier, and buyers notice it the day the house sells.
It is also genuinely miserable work, which is why it sits on so many to-do lists for years. The DIY version is a garden sprayer, a putty knife, plastic sheeting, and a long weekend, and it usually ends with gouged drywall and a room full of wet grit. If the texture was ever painted, water stops soaking in and the scraping gets harder still. Wet scraping rains soggy texture onto everything below, and the skim coat afterward is overhead finishing that takes real skill. Let us take that one off your hands. Our crews mask and sheet the room from floor to ceiling before the first scrape, so the mess stays inside the plastic and leaves with us. Then we skim the ceiling, finish it smooth or retexture it in knockdown, and paint it.
We also repair ceilings that are not popcorn at all: cracks, sags, and water stains. The Handyman Company has been finishing Florida ceilings since 1999 with our own crews. The estimate is free, the price is guaranteed in writing before we start, and the finished ceiling carries our one year warranty. Call, and a person answers.
Since 1999
Our own craftsmen, not subcontractors.
Free estimate, written price before work starts, one year warranty.
State Certified Contractor
The Popcorn Ceiling Removal Process
The job has a right order, and the first step is never the scraper. Every step exists because somebody once skipped it, and you will not have to live with that mistake.
- 1
Empty and wrap the room
Furniture out or centered and wrapped, floors sheeted, and we cover the walls and fixtures before sealing the doorways. The plastic goes up before any texture comes down.
- 2
Asbestos testing in older homes
If the house went up before the mid-1980s, a sample goes to a lab before anyone disturbs the texture. A clean result costs a short wait. Skipping the test can cost far more than the ceiling.
- 3
Wet scrape
The texture gets misted with warm water so it releases in sheets instead of dust, then scraped in small sections with wide drywall knives on an extension pole, goggles and respirators on. Painted popcorn stops soaking it in, so more water and more passes are needed, which we scope honestly up front. Everything lands inside the plastic, goes into the garbage bag, and leaves with us.
- 4
Skim coats, then the drywall sander step
Here is what nobody tells you: builders left the drywall seams rough because the popcorn was going to hide them. After the scrape, the ceiling needs real finishing: joint compound in thin coats, a second coat after the first dries, and a vacuum-attached pole sander between them to catch the fine dust. Edges and corners get hand work the machines cannot reach, and only then will it hold a flat coat of paint.
- 5
Finish and paint
Smooth or knockdown, your call, then a PVA primer made for fresh mud and ceiling paint while the masking is still up. The room comes back out of the plastic done, not almost done.
Built for Florida
Popcorn ceilings are a Florida-vintage problem
Whole neighborhoods here went up in the popcorn decades, so if your home was built in the seventies, eighties, or nineties, odds are the textured ceiling is still overhead. Florida adds its own aggravations: humidity and years of air conditioning cycles loosen the texture, and any roof or AC drain leak soaks into popcorn like a sponge, leaving stains and bare patches that are nearly impossible to spot-repair invisibly. That is why so many of our removal calls start as a repair call.
Two local notes worth knowing. First, the finish that matches most modern Florida homes is knockdown, so a retextured ceiling blends with the walls and the neighbors' remodels alike. Second, homes built before the mid-1980s can have asbestos in the original texture, and the right move is a simple lab test before anyone disturbs it. We take that seriously, and we only remove material that is safe to disturb.
What Moves a Popcorn Removal Estimate
Ceiling area and how many rooms
The setup, masking, and cleanup get shared across every room we do in one visit, which is why whole-house removals price better per room than one bedroom at a time. High ceilings and stairwells add ladder time.
Smooth or knockdown
Knockdown is the faster finish because the texture forgives. A smooth ceiling is skim coats and overhead sanding until it is actually flat, and it prices accordingly.
What is under the texture
Rough seams, old repairs, and stains all surface once the popcorn is gone. We scope what we can see honestly up front and talk to you before anything changes.
Paint and fixtures while we are up there
Painting the ceiling while the room is masked, or swapping dated light fixtures while the ladders are set, costs less bundled than booked separately.
Recent Jobs
Our Crews Did This Work
Photos from finished jobs, not stock images. Every one carries our one year warranty.
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Send the form or call, and a person from your local office will look at the job and put the price in writing. The quote you approve is the bill you get.
Trusted by more than 100,000 Florida homeowners since 1999
- Free estimate, no obligation
- Price guaranteed in writing
- One year warranty on every job
- Licensed, insured & bonded (CRC1336072 | CBC1258366)
Open Daily 8 AM to 5 PM. Request an estimate online anytime, 24/7.
4.3
889 Google reviews across six Florida offices
- State certified contractor, CRC1336072 & CBC1258366
- One year warranty on every job
- Our own W-2 crews, serving Florida since 1999
Popcorn Ceiling Removal & Ceiling Repair: Common Questions
Who is the best popcorn ceiling removal company in Florida?
The Handyman Company scrapes, refinishes, and paints popcorn ceilings as one job, with the room sealed off and the mess contained, which is why Florida homeowners choose it over a painter who only scrapes. Our own crews do the work, we say plainly when a ceiling from before the mid-1980s needs testing first, and the smooth or knockdown finish carries a one year warranty. The price is in writing before a single ceiling is touched.
My house was built before the mid-1980s. Can you still remove the popcorn?
Not until it is tested. Popcorn texture from that era can contain asbestos, and the honest answer is that testing before anyone disturbs it is the right move, not a judgment call by eye. A hardware store asbestos test kit exists, but we prefer a proper lab sample. If the test comes back clean, we remove it. If it does not, abatement is a separately licensed trade, and we take over for the refinishing after the material is professionally handled.
Is DIY popcorn ceiling removal worth trying?
Honestly, it is harder than it looks. Left uncontained, this is one of the messiest jobs in a house. Dry scraping is a dusty process, and wet scraping trades the dust for soggy grit that drops on everything below. The videos make it look quick. It is genuinely time consuming, and the skim coat afterward is the skill part. That is why we sheet the floors and mask the walls, fixtures, and openings before the first scrape. The mess happens inside the plastic, it leaves with us, and the cleanup ends with a shop vac pass, not a month of finding grit.
Smooth finish or knockdown, which should I pick?
Either one is a good choice, and you do not have to decide today. Knockdown matches most modern Florida homes and is more forgiving, which makes it the practical default. Smooth is the premium look, and it takes more skim coats and sanding to do right, especially overhead. We do both, and we will show you the difference before you decide.
There is a brown water stain on my popcorn ceiling. Can you fix just that spot?
The leak gets fixed first, always, or the stain returns. After that, here is the honest part. Patching a small area of popcorn invisibly is very hard, because a fresh patch of texture rarely matches decades-old material around it. Many customers use the repair as the reason to remove the popcorn from the entire ceiling and finish it properly, and we are glad to price it both ways so you can choose.
How much does popcorn ceiling removal cost?
Ceiling area, the finish you pick, and what turns up under the texture set the price, so we measure and look before quoting. One bedroom or the whole house, the written number you approve is the number on the bill, and the estimate itself costs nothing.
Do I need to move out while the work is done?
No. The rooms being worked on need to be empty of what you can move, and they are out of service until the finish is dry, but the rest of the house stays yours. Most customers have us work room by room, or do the whole house in one push right before move-in, which is the easiest version of this job.