# Popcorn ceiling has been removed, white powder on sills?



## daz59 (May 19, 2007)

Hi,

We have just bought our first house, we move in in two weeks time.
The owner told us the old textured ceiling had been removed a month or so ago (house is empty owner lives in another city) new carpet was put in before this was done, the removal was done by a painter, I called the painter just to confirm how he did it all, he said he placed plastic on the floor taped it to the walls, wet the ceiling before scraping it off.
I just had a look through the window of the house today and every room that the popcorn was removed from is this white powder on the window sills, would this just be plaster or could it be part of the textured roof? Im sure I could faintly see something sparkly in the powder. 
Should I be worried about this?

Thanks
Darren


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## slickshift (Aug 25, 2005)

Hello
Welcome
Congratulations



daz59 said:


> the old textured ceiling had been removed a month or so ago


OK...cool


daz59 said:


> new carpet was put in before this was done


OK...not so cool, It's a messy job, I'd rather do it before carpet install, but it's not a big deal really


daz59 said:


> I called the painter just to confirm how he did it all, he said he placed plastic on the floor taped it to the walls, wet the ceiling before scraping it off.


Yeah, that's right


daz59 said:


> I just had a look through the window of the house today and every room that the popcorn was removed from is this white powder on the window sills, would this just be plaster or could it be part of the textured roof?


Well, plaster is one thing, textured ceiling another
I suspect it's dust from the texture removal or the re-taping that followed
It's unfortunate the painter didn't vacuum it up, but it is normal to see that after such a procedure

After texture removal, if often necessary re-(drywall) tape and/or add joint compound to the ceiling to smooth it out
They are often left very rough when they are to be textured, as the texture hides a lot of imperfections

With the texture removed, the rough ceiling must be patched

Sanding the patches smooth leaves a lot of dust



daz59 said:


> Im sure I could faintly see something sparkly in the powder.
> Should I be worried about this?


Nope

I suppose if the texture is from the early '70s or earlier, there is a small possibility of it containing asbestos
But I would highly doubt that an asbestos remover would leave dust behind
The whole deal with asbestos removal is to keep it wet so there is no dust

I don't see anything pointing to it being anything but normal


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## daz59 (May 19, 2007)

Hi,

Thanks for your reply.



slickshift said:


> Well, plaster is one thing, textured ceiling another
> I suspect it's dust from the texture removal or the re-taping that followed
> It's unfortunate the painter didn't vacuum it up, but it is normal to see that after such a procedure


If it is from the texture ceiling and the ceiling contained asbestos then isn’t there a chance the powder contains asbestos?

The owner laid the carpet then decided to have the texture removed, it is a pity it wasn’t the other way around.
The owner started painting the ceiling in the master bedroom when decided to have the texture removed, I guess that wouldn’t have helped the remover. As it would have been hard to wet.

House was built in 1954 extended in 1983 two of the rooms with the texture ceilings were extended, its possible that the texture was only sprayed through the house when the extensions were done.

Asbestos was still imported into New Zealand until mid 1980’s so I guess its still possible the texture contained asbestos?

Thanks
Darren


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## slickshift (Aug 25, 2005)

Asbestos was still being used in the '80s here in the U.S. too
But not for popcorn ceilings in private homes

You'll need a local resource for info on what was used for what and when in your local area of New Zealand
Around here, it's be years too late

I've worked with asbestos before, as far as I know, you can't see it per say...not like that

If it bothers you, then have a professional service clean the place before you move in

In the meantime, I'll ask a professional asbestos sprayer if you could see in in removed popcorn dust


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## daz59 (May 19, 2007)

slickshift said:


> In the meantime, I'll ask a professional asbestos sprayer if you could see in in removed popcorn dust


Thanks

I was thinking before we move in wetting all of the dust and wiping it up then hire one of those rug doctors, you know the water carpet cleaning things you hire from the super market. 
I don’t think cleaners could do a better job than that?

Thanks
Darren


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## slickshift (Aug 25, 2005)

Well, basically that's what he said to do if you are worried about it
He also doesn't remember being able to see it
But he says if you are worried then wet it, wipe it, dispose of it, and then forget about it


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## daz59 (May 19, 2007)

Does joint compound or plaster have fibers in it? Had another look though the house today, there is definitely some sort of fibers on the window sills, they are about 2mm long and about as wide as hair, they look clear and can only really see them with a torch, from what I can find you are right you cant see asbestos fibers, they are 300-1200 times thinner than hair.
Also the powder from the textured ceiling, is it white or brown?


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## slickshift (Aug 25, 2005)

daz59 said:


> Does joint compound or plaster have fibers in it?


Plaster can, yes
Older stuff can even have horse hair in it

J/C...if there is some with fiber, I'm not familiar with it
It's possible though


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## daz59 (May 19, 2007)

Hi,

Here is a couple of pictures, I found some gold glitter in a couple of the lumps.

http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w248/daz599/abovebathroomsmall2.jpg 

http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w248/daz599/abovebathroomsmall.jpg


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## slickshift (Aug 25, 2005)

daz59 said:


> Here is a couple of pictures...


...ew

I'd say the white stuff is popcorn
The rest looks like cat hair
?


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## daz59 (May 19, 2007)

I sent four samples off to be tested two of the carpet using Sellotape and two of the sills, 3 samples have asbestos in them the one that didn’t is one of the carpet samples.


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## slickshift (Aug 25, 2005)

Oooph....
I hope the painter that removed the popcorn took precautions


Again, if you wet it you can remove it if you want to DIY it
It's the dust that's a hazard-wet it's not
Use "safe room" policies (respirator, gloves, old cloths to be removed when you leave the room, double bag the trash, etc...)

Or, obviously, the safest way is to call in a pro


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## daz59 (May 19, 2007)

We will be getting a pro in at the painters expense.
the carpet is what will be hard to clean the pro said it may have to be pulled up.


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## daz59 (May 19, 2007)

OSH have been involved they are looking at prosecuting the painter, brand new carpet is being pulled up and the house fully cleaned. Its going to cost around $8,000 for the carpet and house cleaning.


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## slickshift (Aug 25, 2005)

Holy Moly
Thanks for the update


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## AtlanticWBConst. (May 12, 2006)

-Wow. A good lesson for everyone regarding asbestos and precautions....


More information regarding the different building materials asbestos was used in, and the time period it's use was finally stopped:

http://www.epa.gov/asbestos/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asbestos


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## daz59 (May 19, 2007)

Yeah, it was all through the carpet, two pros came in yesterday and both said the carpet had to go, lucky we hadn’t started to move in yet or other stuff would have to go. The bill will be closer to $10,000


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## daz59 (May 19, 2007)

Place has been cleaned now, have moved most of ours stuff in.
Pros didn’t do that great a job still little bits of white dust here and there and some on the walls, I went over the place a couple of times and cleaned the place, wet wiped the walls and floors, then vacuumed the walls and floor with a hepa filter vacuum.


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## ratherbefishin' (Jun 16, 2007)

I read some years back that although it was banned in 1978 in the US, warehoused stuff was grandfathered in and still used in some areas until 1986. When I have to remove popcorn (rare occasions and small jobs for me, fortunately) I usually just assume it has asbestos and deal with it accordingly. Better safe than sorry!


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## slickshift (Aug 25, 2005)

daz59 said:


> Place has been cleaned now, have moved most of ours stuff in.
> Pros didn’t do that great a job still little bits of white dust here and there and some on the walls, I went over the place a couple of times and cleaned the place, wet wiped the walls and floors, then vacuumed the walls and floor with a hepa filter vacuum.


Thanks for the update daz
Glad you guys are finally in


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