Wet-scrape removal with full dust containment, then the finish you choose: smooth skim coat, light knockdown or prime and paint. Serving Charleston, Berkeley and Dorchester counties.
Get a Free Quote
Charleston County has roughly 97,650 housing units built between 1960 and 1999, and the 1980s is the single biggest pre-2000 build decade in every tri-county market. That is the popcorn era. Builders sprayed acoustic texture because it was fast, cheap and hid drywall seams.
Drive through the 1960s and 70s ranches of West Ashley, the Park Circle cottages in North Charleston or the Snee Farm subdivisions in Mount Pleasant and you will find thousands of ceilings that have never been touched. On the beaches it is even more concentrated: about 72% of homes on Isle of Palms and Kiawah Island date from the popcorn decades.
Those ceilings are now 40 to 60 years old. They yellow, collect dust, crumble when you brush them and make a room feel lower and darker than it is.
Popcorn is more than a style problem.
Buyers notice popcorn as soon as they walk in. A HomeLight agent put it plainly: in a pricier home the ceiling "needs to get done." Charleston MLS listings even flag "Ceiling - Smooth" as a selling feature on 1960s and 70s resales.
Texture conceals cracks, nail pops and old water stains from roof leaks or AC condensate lines. You cannot see what is going on until it is scraped, which is why we fold ceiling drywall repair into every removal.
You cannot wipe it, you cannot paint it well, and in Lowcountry humidity it absorbs moisture and stains. Repainting popcorn just makes it heavier and harder to remove later.
One crew, one estimate, one finished ceiling. Here is what is included and what you choose.
Not sure which finish suits your house? We will show you samples on the estimate and explain the cost difference.
The short version. The full process page walks through each day on the job.
We measure each ceiling, note vaulted areas and painted texture, and ask when the house was built. For pre-1990 ceilings we arrange a lab test before any scraping.
Furniture goes to the center of the room or out of it. Floors, walls, cabinets, fans and vents are covered. Doorways are sealed so the rest of the house stays clean.
We mist the texture with water, let it soak and scrape it off in sheets onto the plastic. Wet removal keeps airborne dust to a minimum.
Once the drywall is bare we fix nail pops, tape loose seams and patch any gouges or old water damage.
Skim coat and sand for smooth, or spray and knock down for texture. We let each coat dry fully, which matters in our humidity.
Two coats on a primed ceiling, plastic comes down, the room is vacuumed and wiped, and you do a walkthrough with us. If you are not happy with the finish, we come back and fix it.
Typical ranges, not quotes. Scrape-only removal on an unpainted, standard-height ceiling runs about $1–$2 per square foot. Removal plus skim coat, primer and paint, the full smooth finish, runs about $3–$6.50 per square foot, based on Fixr, Angi/HomeAdvisor and Thumbtack data.
In room terms, a single bedroom of around 200 square feet typically lands at $400–$1,300 complete and a 330 square foot living room at $650–$2,100. Most whole projects fall between $900 and $3,000.
Two things move the number most: painted texture (about +50%) and vaulted or high ceilings (about +50%), which are common in 1980s Charleston living rooms. See the full price table and calculator on our cost guide, or request a written estimate.
Interior cosmetic finish work like texture removal, skim coat and paint generally does not need a building permit in South Carolina under the IRC finish-work exemption. We confirm with the local jurisdiction if the scope grows. Condo regimes and HOAs may set work hours and contractor requirements; see our condo and HOA page.
Charleston, Berkeley and Dorchester counties, from the peninsula to the beaches and up to Summerville and Moncks Corner.
See all service areas.
Short answers to the questions Charleston homeowners ask most. More on the full FAQ page.
A single bedroom is usually a one-day job. A living room with a vaulted ceiling or a whole one-story ranch typically takes two to four days once you add skim coating, drying time and paint. Charleston humidity slows drying, so we build that into the schedule rather than rushing a finish that will show flaws later.
Scraping wet popcorn texture produces a lot of sludge, but almost none of it should land on your floors or furniture. We cover floors and walls in plastic, tape off vents and doorways, bag debris as we go and vacuum and wipe down the room before we leave. You should not have to clean up after us.
If your home was built before 1990 and the ceiling has never been tested, yes. SCDES says ceilings installed before 1980 are the most likely to contain asbestos, and a lab test is the only way to know. If the result is positive we refer you to an SCDES-licensed abatement contractor; we never remove asbestos-containing material ourselves.
Yes, but it takes longer. Paint seals the texture so water cannot soak in, which means more scoring, more scraping and sometimes a thin skim over the whole surface. Expect roughly a 50% surcharge on the removal portion of a painted ceiling, based on HomeLight's cost data. We will tell you which rooms are painted during the estimate.
Generally no. Scraping texture, skim coating and painting are cosmetic finish work, which the International Residential Code exempts from building permits, and Charleston, Berkeley and Dorchester counties follow that code. We confirm with the local office if anything else is in scope, and condo regimes or HOAs may have their own work-hour and contractor rules.
Free, no-pressure quotes across the Charleston tri-county area.
