Ceiling popcorn question

[chitwood]

The ceilings in our house are covered with that popcorn stuff, and my wife wants to strip it off and repaint the ceilings. Friends of ours did this and took the stuff in to get tested and it contained asbestos (our house was built in 1967). Any idea on the chances that the popcorn contains asbestos and how to proceed? I assume that if we so desire, we take a sample in for testing, and if it contains asbestos, we're looking at a large sum of money to remove it from the ceiling (hiring someone, breathing apparatus, etc.)?

 

[Luke Duke]

A little absestos never killed anyone...um, nevermind.

 

[BigWill]

a house that old probably has a 50/50 chance of having asbestos in the acoustic.

Out here (San Diego) there are labs that let you take a sample, a couple of tablespoons, and take it to them for testing. For fifty bucks, they tell you in an hour or so. Most contractors charge about a buck a foot to scrape popcorn, that goes up to about 2.50 per foot if it contains asbestos.

 

[BigWill]

BTW: you can't just repaint. You will need to retape and retexture prior to painting.

 

[tropheus]

and it is a very messy project, even without the asbestos.