Learn how to plank a popcorn ceiling the easy way with this planked ceiling tutorial.
When we moved into our 1920’s home, every ceiling in our house was covered with texture. We fixed this problem easily and inexpensively, starting with our girls’ room.
Learn how to plank a popcorn ceiling the easy way with planked plywood.
How to plank a popcorn ceiling video tutorial
Old house ownership comes with many benefits. Crown molding, five panel doors with glass door knobs, original heart pine flooring, to name a few.
But, it also comes with a few drawbacks. Squeaky floors, outdated electrical and plumbing, and, the dreaded, dealing with renovations done through some less fashionable time periods. Linoleum floors, blue carpet, and my favorite, textured ceilings.
Please tell me, when were popcorn ceilings cool? Apparently they were so desirable that, at some point, someone took the effort to cover every ceiling in our house with the stuff. And since, I’m guessing, it wasn’t hip in the 1920’s, someone probably added the lovely texture in less romantic times, like the 80’s, for example.
We decided to cover up this ugly trend, starting with our girls’ room.
We covered this ceiling with the exact same process as we did for the shiplap wall in the master bedroom makeover.
The Supplies
- Four sheets 4′ by 8′ sanded plywood at 11/32″ thickness, cut into 6″ strips
- Air compressor and nail gun
- 1 and 3/8″ 18 gague nails
- Nickel for a spacer
- White Paint
We started by purchasing four sheets of 4′ by 8′ sanded plywood at 11/32″ thickness from Lowe’s.
We had them cut it into 6″ strips.
The workers will do this for 25 cents per cut. In my opinion, the convenience of this is totally worth a little added cost.
The Process
We basically planked this ceiling the exact same way we planked our shiplap wall in the master bedroom.
Since our ceiling measured 156″ by 104″, we ran the planks parallel between the door and window (long ways), as opposed to perpendicular to the door. On each line we had a short board that was 60″ and a long board that was 96″. We alternated them, so every other board was a long board and a short board.
Since we were working on the ceiling, we decided to paint the board prior to putting them up. It was so much easier than reaching up with all that paint.
We used a Bostitch air compressor and nail gun and 1 and 3/8 inch 18 gauge nails to nail the plywood planks into the ceiling. It made for a very speedy job.
Between each row, we used a nickel for a spacer. This created just a small line between the planks to make them more visible, yet not allow any of the popcorn texture to show through.
I suggest having 10 nickels on hand. We just kept losing them!
After every few rows, we measured from the start of the planks to the current plank we were working on, to see if they came out evenly. This helped to ensure nothing was getting too far off. On our shiplap wall we used a level, but we couldn’t do that when working on the ceiling.
To go around the light fixture, we notched the boards, to allow enough room for the wires to hang down.
When we reached the last row, on other side of the room with the planks, we had to cut them thinner to make them fit.
Wouldn’t it be great if we lived in a perfect world where ceilings were perfectly divisible by six, and no modifications would be needed to squeeze the last planks in? Unfortunately, that isn’t what we found.
Why didn’t we scrape the popcorn ceilings?
The main reason we didn’t scrape the popcorn ceiling is the asbestos risk. According to the EPA, asbestos was banned in 1977. Since our home was built well before that, I am not willing to take the risk of my family breathing in asbestos. This is why most of the ceilings in our home remain untouched, and probably always will. I could test them all for asbestos, and maybe will eventually, but right now that isn’t a high priority.
The second reason is I love the added farmhouse style. The planked ceiling looks adorable in my farmhouse girls’ room. I hope to add it to the boys’ room next!
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Jordan | A Blue Nest
Lisa, I love how this turned out!! I’ve been wanting to do something similar to cover the 80s plaster look our ceilings have going on.
Lisa
Thank you so much, Jordan!
Carlos Pinales
Do you think this type of style fits in with a rough style texture? I just got my house textured but it’s more on the rough side. Not so much of a flat slick look. I want to do this but I don’t know if it would look good with the texture I got at my house
Tammy
How lovely and thanks for the information! Just love your home, We just started our ceilings beginning with the laundry room! It’s so pricey to have the entire house popcorn ceilings removed. Plus the mess it causes! I have a question, how is the best way to run the boards, I’ve seen so many IG pics where it’s done either way. Was wondering if there’s a certain required way. ?
Lisa
I don’t know if there is a certain way, as a rule. We just ran the boards the way that made the most sense for the length. We would have had to use a lot more boards. if we ran them the other way.
Marilyn Solie
I believe the reason textured ceilings became so popular is because they hid the hairline cracks that sometimes appear in ceilings. They also created quieter acoustics. I love your ceiling hack it looks incredible.
Lisa
Oh, wow! That is very interesting. I thought it was just for aesthetics.
Jeanie
You don’t mention using furring strips or making sure you nailed your plywood strips into studs. Can you address this, pease?
Thx.
Lisa
We didn’t pay any attention to that at all. It seems to hole up great!
Karen
I was thinking the same thing…like they’d need to go perpendicular to the studs so you could secure them.
Ed
Plaster walls have thousands of small boards that hold the plaster up. Almost impossible to blindly miss with a nail gun. In a newer house you’d need to worry about finding studs with a stud finder
Steven
Thanks Lisa for writing a great article. I appreciate your works. It’s an amazing and unique idea, I will try to make it. Thanks in advance
Jennifer @ Town and Country Living
Oh, I have a popcorn ceiling. This might come in handy!!
Janette
Can you give us the price estimate for the size room you did? I am curious what the price difference would be in having it scraped and doing this. Love your idea.
Thanks for sharing.
Lisa
Around $100 I would say.
Ashley
Looks great! I have been trying to find a way to redo my ceilings instead of scraping and making a HUGE mess. What color white did you use? Or is it just a standard white?
Keilee
When did u paint the plywood… Before or after you hung it? Did you leave the crown molding or take it off and rehang it? Did u use any type of glue or adhesive? Sorry 1 more question. Did you use a stud finder to know where to nail it? It looks great! Can’t wait to try it in my bedroom!
Lisa
Oh my goodness, I can’t believe I forgot to mention when we painted it! We actually painted it before we hung it! Also, we didn’t bother taking down the crown molding. Thanks for bringing up these questions. I will add them to the post!
Kim
What paint did you use? Mine seems to keep turning yellow even after 3 coats?
Sara
If you did this project again would you use glue? Or are all the boards holding well? I’m thinking of doing my great room which is a living dining kitchen combo. Fairly large!
Lisa
They all seem to be holding really well. I feel like the texture wouldn’t allow the glue to stick very well.
Faye reed
Love the porch.I have a porch like yours but I don’t have the overhang my porch is opening don’t want it close in, my gable covers to the middle. I just want to set on my porch without flys,and bugs,and tx heat bean ing on me
Haydee
What a great idea, thanks for the details & pics.
Gail
I love that ceiling look! You’ve got a great house and such a talent to making it all look how you want. Having a vision helps…you can avoid the random look that characterizes my house! ?
Shari
I love this look! I know some others have asked but I’m just trying to clarify. Are you saying you just nailed the boards into the dry wall and did not make sure they were going into the studs? That would certainly make the job much easier but I’m concerned the drywall would not hold the boards for very long.
Lisa
That’s what we did!
Lisa
You ceiling looks great, nice job. I’m doing this in my kitchen right now. I’m using tongue and groove boards. I primed a few boards first but noticed they cupped so stopped, will prime when installed. This turned out to be a big project, my kitchen is big 12 x 22ft, new addition settled now ceiling lower than old construction. A challenge to say the least.
Teressa
If I may address the concern of finding the studs…since this house was built in the 20’s, the walls and ceiling are both solid wood throughout the home. So there is no need to find the stud.
Taryn
How did you get your planks to look distressed? Did you sand them after painting them white?
Lisa
No we didn’t. I’m not really sure how that happened. We did paint them first, so they had a lot of handling and nailing after being painted. Plus they sat painted in the basement a while before we actually put them up, so that could be why they look like that!
Kellie
Lisa, what color did you use for the ceiling?
Lisa
Just plain white right out of the can! 🙂
Louise
First of all I will say WOW! Great job. Did you have to nail in the studs under thst popcorn ceiling or you nailed here and there making sure the plank was solid enough? Thinking of doing similar ceiling in our basement to cover those ugly ceilings that are not even popcorn but worse, kind of some floral design. yuk! Thanks.
Lisa Mc
Wow! I love this idea! Thank you so much for the detailed instructions. Really helps! We just bought a ranch style home with a basement. The mail level all has popcorn ceilings and I will be using your idea to cover them all. What a lifesaver! I bought a nail gun that is battery operated and has been working great on some weathered grey shiplap that we got from Lowe’s. I think the white shiplap will compliment it nicely. At least better than popcorn. 😉
Kelli
How high are your ceilings? I’m wondering if this will look good with the average 8 foot.
Bonnie
LoVE it but we’re you all concerned that over time popcorn pieces would slough off and periodically fall through the cracks like a fine but unwanted snow? That’s the only thing I can’t wrap my head around? Thank you!
Amanda Warfield
I’m super curious — have y’all done more rooms in your home with this? All of them? We recently bought our first home, and it too is popcorn ceilings everywhere. I’d prefer just a smooth white ceiling throughout the home, as we are working on more of a modern farmhouse feel … but the cost for a professional to do it is absurd. Not to mention that it’s likely full of asbestos, so us doing it is not an option I want to pursue. But I’m also conflicted on how I feel about planked ceilings. I enjoy the look, and think it’s great as a focal point in some rooms, but I’m not sure how I would feel about it throughout. So I was just curious what y’all ended up doing and what your feelings on it is this many years later.
Giselle
Looks fantastic. Did you have to make any other modifications for light fixtures, aside from making the opening? Can the fixtures simply reattached or do I need some sort of extension?
Benjamin
Hello! My wife and I just moved into a 1950’s house and the popcorn ceilings are a concern of ours because of the asbestos like you mentioned. I am mainly curious about durability. It has been three years almost. How have they held up??
Melissa
Hi Lisa! Do you think an electric nail gun would do the job, is an air compressor nail gun required? Thank you!