Remove Wall Texture, Smooth Walls

Two ways to get there

A textured wall becomes a smooth one by skim coating over the texture or by scraping and sanding it off first. Skim coating is usually the cleaner route: a thin coat goes on over what's already there, building up to a flat, even surface without disturbing the layer underneath. Scraping removes the texture itself before any new compound goes on, and how straightforward that is depends heavily on the material — a light orange peel comes off differently than a heavy knockdown pattern or a popcorn ceiling. Scraping also tends to take longer overhead than on a wall, since ceiling texture was often put on in thicker passes to begin with. We look at photos of the texture first and tell you which route actually fits the wall or ceiling in front of us, rather than defaulting to one method for every job.

What to expect

Removing texture on any real scale means treating the whole room, not just one wall: furniture gets moved clear, and floors, trim and anything nearby get covered before scraping, sanding or coating starts. When texture gets scraped, it's misted with water first, which softens it and keeps the dust down. Dust is still part of the job either way — plastic sheeting and a sealed-off work area keep most of it contained, though a full-room project always raises more dust than a small patch would. Once the surface is flat, it gets primed, and painting the finished room is available afterward if that's what you want. Ceilings get the same two options as the walls around them, scraped or skim-coated the same way, once the room clears the screens below. A remodel that's opening up a wall or two anyway is often the easiest time to take on the rest of the room's texture in the same visit.

The year-built screen

Every texture removal job starts with one question: when was the home built. Homes from before 1980 don't make it onto the schedule, because spray and hand-applied textures from that era can contain materials that carry a real asbestos risk, and that's exactly the kind of material scraping or sanding can disturb. That question matters more here than almost anywhere else on this site, since removing or reworking old texture is precisely the activity that risk lives in. We'd rather screen a job out before it starts than find something concerning once a wall is already open. Tell us the year along with your photos, and we'll know from that first look whether the project is one we can take on.

Popcorn ceilings

In Highlands Ranch, Sterling Ranch, Stonegate, The Pinery and Roxborough Park, and in Ken Caryl, Dakota Ridge and Genesee, on homes built in 1990 or later, we remove popcorn ceilings, and every one of those jobs starts with an asbestos test before any scraping begins. That test result comes back before a tool touches the ceiling, so the work only moves forward once the material has actually been checked, not assumed safe because of the build year alone. Tell us where the home is and the year it was built along with your photos, and we'll confirm whether a popcorn ceiling project is one we're able to take on.

Getting started

Texture removal is priced from photos, the year your home was built, and for popcorn ceilings, where the home is. For a whole room or a whole house, we'll walk the space with you and can skim or scrape a sample section first, so you see the result before the rest of the project gets scheduled. Remodelers coordinating texture removal around other trades can send the same photos and build year, and we'll work the scheduling around the rest of the project. A written scope covers what's being done and the price before anything is booked. What moves the number from there — room size, ceiling height, the texture itself, and how many coats or passes it takes to get flat — is covered in the cost guide. If a single wall just needs evening out rather than a full texture change, skim coating on its own may be the simpler project; if the texture around one repair just needs to match the rest of the wall rather than come off entirely, see texture matching instead; and if the goal is the specific standard behind a true smooth finish, see Level 5 smooth finish.