Now, the swirl pattern is usually done by mudding the ceiling and taking a trowel or other object and just manually swiping it over the wet compound and letting it dry. It was originally done to cover imperfections on old plaster ceilings, and it 'caught on' and most new homes here had them and still do.....done on drywall. I think contractors like to do them, because it takes the work away from having to do a very even skim coat and sanding it to make a perfect surface for paint. I have sanded the swirls down on those dudes in one house I owned. I actually like to work plaster and drywall finish and have been in the process of finishing off walls in my old house over the years my husband had slapped wallpaper on, because he was time constrained to move in and it was the easiest finish to put up and cover minor imperfections on the plaster. My God, the rooms were so 'busy' with all the different patterns, it got to me. I have never had a popcorn ceiling, but they look like nightmares as far as collecting dirt and grime in the crevices. I think most of them are blown on with a special applicator. If you do sand the ceilings or walls to remove swirl texturing, you would want to know the composition of the wall as to lead or other dangerous material in the plaster or finish..... and proceed accordingly, and also want to use very good respiratory protection.

Hello Blanco1, are you going to have to replace the ceiling or just the plaster finish? I had a similar problem except i had to replace the sheetrock ceiling and then replaster the ceiling. To get those swirl mark's you can use any tool that makes the desired swirls you like, and how "rough" or "smooth" of an apperance you are after. sponge's, paint roller's , finishing trowels all can give you a swirl effect. What we did was take a piece of sheet rock that was left after fixing the ceiling, and we expieremented on it using plaster and every tool we could get our hands on to make it look like we desired. we ended up sticking with a regular sponge and then to smooth it out we let it dry and ran over it with a trowel knocking some of the texture down. Good luck with your project and dont forget to look online for some tip's and pictures if you get in a bind. Chris

I've never used hot mud, but I'd apply the texture in the final skim coat (I'm very neat when I work w/ mud :) Practice creating the pattern on a separate piece first, so you know how to achieve the match. A brush or comb (something with teeth) is most commonly used to make that swirl pattern.

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