If not ever painted, the stuff scrapes off very easily when dampened. It's a huge mess, but so is covering it over with rock. Someone is sure to try and $care you with the word "asbestos".

I will bring up the word 'asbestos' because it is necessary. Anyone with any real knowledge about home remodeling knows the chances of encountering asbestos and lead when removing materials.

Even the article I linked contains the following:

"If the popcorn was added before 1979, get it tested for asbestos by either wetting down a small area with a sponge and scraping off a little to place in a small bag, or by having a professional come out and test it."

It is not impossible to DIY asbestos bearing popcorn, but it is smart to find out and use safe practices.

Here is a link that might be useful: DIY popcorn removal

I second handymac's position. I used to work in environmental engineering, and handled more than one panic call from people who -- through lack of knowledge -- did a dry removal, had second thoughts, got testing done, and found out they had contaminated their homes. Now some people will always argue that the risk is overblown, or that those pesky environmentalists just like to scare people, or that only those who had years of industrial exposure to asbestos are at risk...but I think that is an irresponsible view when dealing with destructive removal of a potentially highly contaminated material in your home.

An asbestos-containing popcorn ceiling in good shape, and particularly when it has a coating of paint over it, poses no risk. But it's another story if you decide to dry scrape it and release visible (and invisible) clouds of dust particles, and then, perhaps further contaminate things by having the furnace running or by vacuuming with a standard vacuum (the microscopic particles pass through standard filters and get airborne again).

Do yourself and your family a favor: Get it tested, and then decide how to approach it if it's a problem.

This post was edited by kudzu9 on Mon, Jan 19, 15 at 17:33

I had the popcorn ceilings tested and of course they had asbestos even tho it was a negligible amount. I saw a popcorn ceiling that was covered up and it was impossible to tell that the popcorn was under it. I saved much $$, and a lot of mess and it looked as if it was the original ceiling. Glad I had it covered up.

Used to remove these ceiling in So. Calif until I found out how dangerous it was. If you call an asbestos removal company, it will be a huge deal with plastic everywhere and workers all wearing protective suits. All material removed will have to be placed in special containers and taken to a hazardous dump site. You will spend many thousands of dollars.
I found that it was smarter to use an oil or synthetic solvent based paint (it would seal the dirt in better but stink like hell), or use a water based sealer with an airless paint sprayer to lock and seal everything onto the ceiling. If the sealing is stained with water or cigarette smoke, it takes a quality sealer to "lock it in place".
Using a paint roller on a popcorn ceiling is usually a waste of time unless popcorn is well affixed and texture is not too high. If it is a deep texture, a paint roller is a waste of time. Water stains and cigarette smoke stains also bleed back through unless the paint gets into and down into all the cracks. If the popcorn is lose, it also "loads up" the paint roller with texture and painting becomes less effective.
One the painted ceiling was dry, I could either apply taping mud with a trowel or a roller (custom texture) followed by a coat of sealer and finish paint.
In these cases, any/all asbestos fibers would be locked in place unless someone took a cutting tool to the ceiling (saw, drill, etc.).
Hope this old contractors experience helps a little. DO NOT scrape off as I used to. The risks and liability are not worth it.
Jim in So Calif