Foam Ceiling Tiles to the Rescue

When I started renovating the Happy Jack cabin, one of the first things I wanted to do was remove the outdated popcorn ceilings that are in every room. That plan was quickly changed to removing the popcorn in the main living spaces only. And then after a week of struggling to do even one room, I just simply gave up. I discovered that the popcorn had been painted over, which creates a nightmare for removal. I managed to finish the first room, the living room, but seriously needed a different solution.

I started doing Google searches for “how to cover up popcorn ceilings,” and low and behold – foam ceiling tiles. What? Yep. Styrofoam like the cups. I watched several videos on how it works and said, I can do that. I found the foam tiles on Amazon. Isn’t everything available on Amazon? The tiles aren’t cheap, but did I mention removing painted popcorn ceilings is nearly impossible? I was willing to pay anything! And I did. $540 just for the main living areas, which is just a little over half the house.

They are super easy to install. The most difficult part is climbing up and down the ladder to stick the tiles on the ceiling. Every tile is a trip up and then down the ladder, so I literally climbed up the ladder 100+ times. By the time I’m done, it will be 180 times, as that is the total number of tiles I purchased. Isn’t math wonderful? Oh, I almost forgot. The second step after you’ve glued the tiles to the ceiling, right over the popcorn to be clear, is to caulk the cracks if there are any. More trips up and down the ladder. I had lots of gaps to fill in the laundry room, as that was the first room I did, and you could tell. You can see the before and after photos below. This is also before caulking. The living room was much better and less caulking required.

The tiles are easy to work with. You can use a sharp knife or exacto knife to trim or cut holes. You can use AcrylPro Ceramic Tile Adhesive or Titebond 2706 GREENchoice Acoustical Ceiling Tile Adhesive. They both worked the same. I also used DAP Alex Painter’s All-Purpose Acrylic Latex Caulk.

I finished the living room and laundry room, so this week I’ll finish up the kitchen and fireplace room. The ceiling space is identical to the living room, but I’ll have the cabinets to work around on that side. After that I’ll paint the ceiling white. I’m making progress.