LESLIE: Gregory from Alabama has a question about a popcorn ceiling. What can we do for you?
GREGORY: Yes, well in my utility room I’ve got a washer, dryer, water heater and a furnace. And the popcorn ceiling around the light fixture is kind of peeling and falling off for two or three inches around that fixture.
TOM: Okay. Sounds like there’s … might be a moisture or some other reason that you’re getting an adhesion issue there.
LESLIE: (overlapping) Because, usually, the popcorn doesn’t react with the heat.
TOM: Yeah, there could be moisture or some other reason …
GREGORY: Be moisture up in the attic or moisture from in that room?
TOM: Yeah, well, the attic’s right above this?
GREGORY: Yes.
TOM: Well, see, what happens is the hole in the ceiling acts as a moisture chimney. And the moisture that’s in the room vents … wants to vent and get up into the attic space. So think of that light fixture as sort of an intake duct.
GREGORY: Uh-huh.
TOM: And so that’s probably what’s happening. And what you might have to do, here, is scrape away some of that popcorn and do some spot priming in that area. And then, you’ll have to use some of the repair material that’s available at home centers to sort of touch up …
GREGORY: (inaudible) I got (inaudible) before. Use some … use some Kilz or something like that?
TOM: Yeah, exactly. But get … go a little bit wider than what you think you need and go ahead and put some Kilz on there because that’s going to help you get that adhesion back again and get that sticking power. If you try to put on the popcorn ceiling repair before that, you might find that it falls off again. So you really need to sort of neutralize that spot and get it working properly. Okay?
GREGORY: Alright.
TOM: Greg, thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: Usually, people want to get rid of their popcorn ceiling. He wants his back.
TOM: (overlapping) I know. He wants to put it back. He wants to put it back. I want my popcorn back!
LESLIE: Mm-hmm. I like it and I miss it!
TOM: Well, you know, if it’s only one spot like that (laughing) then I could certainly see his point. But you know, those high-hat light fixtures, if they’re on the second floor or there’s an attic above them – remember, that’s a place where you’re getting a lot of heat and a lot of moisture that escapes. And in fact, one time I actually had a house that developed mold in the attic. And we were trying to figure out how is it possible that the mold …
LESLIE: Was it strictly in the spot above the high-hat fixture?
TOM: Well, what happened was we were trying to figure out how the heck did mold grow in insulation because insulation’s not organic.
LESLIE: Well, right.
TOM: And it turned out that all the dust from the house was getting pulled through the insulation and it was entering it through the high-hat light fixtures. The insulation was filtering it and the mold was feeding on the dust.
LESLIE: Aw.
TOM: So, you do … you do get a lot of moisture and a lot of dust that goes through those high-hat light fixtures and I’m not surprised he’s having that problem. But, hopefully, he’s on the road to recovering his cherished popcorn ceiling once again.
If you, on the other hand, would like to get rid of your popcorn ceiling, we can help you with that, too. Call us right now at 1-888-MONEY-PIT.
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