You want to be careful how many coats you put on an acoustic,(popcorn) ceiling. Most dont recommend going beyond one painting. Your best bet would be to spray on a light coat nothing too heavy. Unless you have staining, priming shouldn't be necessary in this case contrary to paint applications that almost always should be primed on a re-paint. You just dont want the extra coat,( primer) on an acoustic lid.

Hi PP. Sorry to hear about your dilemma. We had to have our drywall texture tested when we remodeled our kitchen, as part of the permit process. We were raising the ceiling, and the rule in our county (or maybe it's a state rule?) is that if 100 sq ft of drywall (or flooring, or whatever) was being removed, it had to be tested. I'm not sure if testing would be required for just removal of popcorn texture. Ours came back positive, unfortunately, surprising everyone. The asbestos was in the drywall texture and joint compound at 2-3 % levels (less than 1% would not have required mitigating). We don't have popcorn ceilings, though. We decided to have all the kitchen ceiling and wall drywall removed by licensed company. Our kitchen is 11x12 ft and the cost was $3000. House built in 1975. The removal process was pretty involved with plastic barriers (2 sets, I think), with chambers for the workers to go through, and negative pressure, air quality testing afterwards, and lots more. And the material had to be put in special hazardous waste bags and brought to a special facility, as snookums said. I know when we remodeled (summer 2010) the testing law was just being implemented in our state (I think the state passed a law, but it was up to each county to roll out the testing requirement when they wanted). I'm in Colorado - Denver area. We would rather not know, for the disclosure reason you mentioned, mostly, but also because I wonder if I exposed my kids to it over the years, and also I wonder about future remodeling and the added cost of mitigation. We REALLY wish we didn't know... I haven't told any neighbors. The asbestos phase-out was right around the time your house was built, but you probably already know that. I would look into the option snookums suggested of just dry walling over it, unless you're concerned about lowering the ceiling height. I think it's the best of both worlds because you don't have to have it testing (I'm assuming you wouldn't need it tested in this case) and no health risk/exposure, either. Good luck.

Ah! I'm so glad to read that others cut their losses and did teardowns. When we bought the old ranch we planned to remodel we did so primarily because we wanted to live in this particular neighborhood, on this particular street. (We knew we liked it; later discovered that realtors advertise homes here "on coveted, 'XYZ' Road".) As we talked to GCs, consensus was that remodeling would be an open-end cost. Nobody knows for sure what lies beneath or behind existing walls, and you have to go slowly and carefully. It can be more costly than new construction, and you don't end up with an all-new house. With a teardown, the bulldozer takes it all down in half a day. Our new next-door neighbor, an appraiser, provided the clincher: tear down for your own comfort and for future value! (He was right, but he also had a vested interest. He sold his lot and old ranch for a teardown two years after we bought -- for 150% of what we paid.) marys1000 -- We did save the basement and a chimney. As far as our city was concerned, this was an 'extensive remodel', not an official teardown. Today I think they'd skip that and call it what it is: a teardown. They've instituted hefty teardown permits which we escaped. This has worked out so well for us. We love our tight, new house with large rooms, wide doorways, 9-foot ceilings, new mechanicals -- plus our location and mature landscaping. The few remaining old ranches that have sold for teardowns have brought much more than we paid. Only downside is that our taxes rise as the big, new homes rise. We wanted and built 'small', but GCs want to maximize profits, so build 'big' on these acre-plus lots 3 minutes from the center of town. Fortunately the city has tight limits on just how big.

I would be skeptical about skim coating and expecting a flat finish. A skilled sheetrock or stucco guy could be able to do this, but I would worry about it delaminating over time and then ending up with a really big mess. If this were a regular sheetrock and wood ceiling, the idea of putting 1/4" sheetrock over it would be a good choice, but I have no idea on how you would properly attach it to your concrete-asbestos-painted ceiling. Bottomline is that I would leave it alone or pay an asbestos abatement firm to remove this material safely. Last point: Not all popcorn ceiling contain asbestos. Has this one been tested to confirm that?