plastering over popcorn ceiling?

[cindyh]

Rather than going thru the massive trouble of removing the popcorn from my ceiling, i had another idea....can i spread plaster (the same stuff you use over drywall) over it to fill it in and create a textured look?

 

[paintycait]

given that we don't have popcorn here in UK, I reckon you might be in the wrong place..unless some of the US folk speak up here.
Cait

 

[cindyh]

I'm sorry! I didn't realize.

 

[Zampa]

Out interest, what is popcorn?

I go on an american forum and ive found im clueless about the questions or points raised as i dont know what most of the materials and tools are..

Its like being a clueless apprentice all over again..

 

[masona]

Here , sounds like a lumpy ceiling finish.

 

[Zampa]

Actually, it sounds like artex doesnt it.

 

[paintycait]

Actually, it sounds like artex doesnt it.

Nope, it's like little bits of expanded foam on your ceiling...kind of like the stuff that blown vinyl is made from - styrene, or you can get it in another version which is like kitty litter mixed in the paint - looks like sandtex but more sparcely spread sand bits and much bigger..... even worse than artex. You apply it with a hopper style texture spray gun. It's grim. Older versions of it contain asbestos.
Zampa, this is one of the very few things they have in the US that is different from here. Most other stuff is the same under a different name. They don't have lining paper like ours, they have liner but it's not a soft paper like ours; they haven't got knotting fluid...but you can buy 3-4lb amber shellac flakes and make it...just no-one does, it's hard to get a few other things there...trad stuff that we can take for granted.
Another thing that's different, they have 5 gallon tubs of paint (U.S. gallons) and they have a grid thing that sits in a fiver that you roll the roller over, we have skuttles..you can't buy a skuttle there. Ooh, a nice thing, they have roller tray liners. I seldom use a roller tray but when I do it would be nice to have a liner.
It's all basic differences though...all the traditional skills/tools/materials are the same just, like here, many don't know/follow/use them.
Cait

 

[Zampa]

Cheers for the info there cait...that second stuff you mentioned sound very much like the old polytex stuff...oh how i hate that!!!.....so do they use Zinseer white shellac as knotting then?

Ive just realised what you mean about 'popcorn' its a mix of small balls like the stuff that comes off of packaging only bigger and paint, I remember seeing it on one of my my 'decorating wanders' while we were on holiday over there.

I wonder if the lining 'paper they have is actually the polyester acrylic stuff that is slowly finding its way as a backing for a lot of papers here...

Im surprised about the trays/scuttles thing..but liners for paint trays is a great idea...we did have liners for paint kettles here for a while but when people realised they actually cost more than the kettles in the fist place they didnt bother..i normally give mine a couple of coats of of gloss first to make it easier to peel out once its built up...you could always use either cling film or tin foil as a liner (yes I read take a break!!)..I normally use trays for paint anyway...ive never fancied a scuttle...and before this thread turns into a series of 'carry on jokes'..im off!

 

[paintycait]

so do they use Zinseer white shellac as knotting then?

I wonder if the lining 'paper they have is actually the polyester acrylic stuff that is slowly finding its way as a backing for a lot of papers here...

Yes they use Zinsser products, there's also an amber shellac produced by Zinsser but it's not the same as our knotting fluid...but then again, a bit like here, most of the trade just ignore the knots and plough on with primer undercoat and b~~~~~r the consequences...as long as looks OK when they walk out the door. They have a number of shellac based products that we don't have...but nothing as effective as knotting solution for their pine...seems bizarre but then again, they have almost lost the art of french polishing (as we know it)...so perhaps there is a very small market for the shellac based products and only Zinsser have identified a market.
The liner they use is funny, slightly shiny, like smooth vinyl without the priniting on it...possibly the same thing you mention but I don't do much papering these days so I'm not sure.
C