cottage cheese nightmares

I don't understand why they call it a "popcorn" ceiling. When that stuff gets wet, it is DEFINITELY cottage cheese. I had an entire day to study this, so I am certain.

But the good news...the "cottage cheese" from my dining room and living room ceilings are gone! AND I did it in one day, ahead of schedule, which means I get a weekend. ;)

Granted, this was my second attempt at getting the stuff off, and I sorta scored just this morning or it may have gone badly. I dropped Gemma off at doggie daycare since I didn't want her running around the house while I made a mess. Robert, the owner of the daycare, also owns a construction company. (I swear, I don't know what he doesn't do.) I told him I would come back for Gemma either today or tomorrow, depending on how long it took me to remove the crap from the ceilings. He went on his soapbox about what to do and recommended the greatest tool ever to complete this task...a floor scraper, of all things!

 

Do you hear the angels singing? It cost $25.

I draped plastic on every wall and then on the floor. YouTube (which makes this stuff look way easier than it actually is) recommended 2-mil plastic. I went with 0.31-mil plastic so I could reduce plastic waste, OF COURSE! It also came in a 12' x 400' box for $25 which was plenty to cover both rooms, and it draped on the walls nicely (secured by basic masking tape). However, I had to be very careful not to tear it. I even went through this entire removal process barefoot to prevent tears. It worked great; but if I ever do this again (hopefully not), I would get a dropcloth for the floor and cover it  with 0.31-mil plastic.

Before. How very "Dexter", eh? Wonder what the neighbors thought.

After. Not pretty, but it will work. The drywaller comes in next week.

The carnage. Stunning how heavy this was...and it is the small room!

Here are photos of the living room...

I was actually more interesting to look at in this process, how messy it got. You'd think I just stepped out of a mud wrestling ring. Unfortunately, friends and family are avoiding me like the plague right now (I think they fear I may ask them to help? ;), so no real opportunity to get shots of me in action. Lucky for me, I suppose...