A textured ceiling that has never been touched can sit there for decades without releasing fibres. The risk shows up the moment someone scrapes, sands, or disturbs it without knowing what is in it. Testing first, before any repaint or reno, is what keeps that risk from ever becoming a real one.
Only the room being worked on gets sealed off, so the rest of your home stays usable while ceiling removal is underway.
Textured popcorn ceilings were standard through the 1970s and into the mid-1980s across Ottawa.
Scraping a popcorn ceiling without testing first is exactly how fibres get released into the air.
Once material is cleared, we can arrange a smooth ceiling finish so the room is ready for paint.
We sample the ceiling material and send it to an accredited lab before any removal work.
The room is sealed off so fibres can't spread to the rest of the home.
The textured coating is removed using controlled wet methods and HEPA filtration.
The ceiling is left ready for a smooth finish, and the area is cleared for normal use.
No scraping starts until a sample confirms what we are dealing with.
Controlled wet methods and HEPA filtration limit fibre release.
We can leave the ceiling ready for paint once cleared.
Removed material goes to an approved facility.
Ottawa pricing for asbestos-containing popcorn ceiling removal runs higher than a standard (non-asbestos) scrape, because of the containment and disposal work involved.
$6 – $15 per sq ft
Covers containment, controlled removal, and approved disposal
Actual pricing depends on ceiling area and access
$2 – $3 per sq ft
Optional smooth ceiling installation after asbestos-containing material is cleared
You can't tell by looking. About 45% of the popcorn ceilings we've tested in Ottawa that were installed before 1986 came back positive, and the closer the home is to 1986, the higher the odds – but testing a sample is the only way to know for your specific ceiling.
We don't recommend it. Disturbing asbestos-containing material without testing and proper containment is how fibres become airborne, which is both a health risk and, for anything beyond minor disturbance, a regulatory issue under Ontario Regulation 278/05.
Yes, if you choose the optional new ceiling finish. Once the asbestos-containing material is cleared, we can leave the ceiling with a smooth finish ready for paint.