Popcorn ceiling removal cost in Toronto and the GTA
Updated · Our figures come straight from our own quoting engine · Dylan, owner
Removing a popcorn ceiling properly (scraped, skimmed flat, primed and repainted) costs $5–$10 per square foot of ceiling in Toronto and the GTA, going by published prices. Ours is $6 per square foot for the same finished result, and we price it on a phone call rather than online.
Published prices for this work appear to disagree by a factor of five. They mostly do not: they are quoting different jobs under the same name, and telling them apart is the single most useful thing on this page.
Scraping is not the job
Scraping the texture off is perhaps a third of the work. What follows is what actually makes a ceiling look finished: filling and skimming it flat, sanding, priming, and two finish coats. One GTA specialist publishes those as three separate line items at similar prices, which is the clearest evidence you will find that the cheap quotes and the expensive ones are not competing. When you compare, compare what is included: a scrape-only price against an all-in price is not a comparison at all.
| What it covers | Published GTA range | Our quote |
|---|---|---|
| Scraping only, per square footper square foot: scraping only, no skim coat, no paint | Published GTA range$2–$4 | Our quote$6 / sq ft |
| Scrape, skim, prime and repaint, per square footper square foot: scrape, skim, prime and repaint | Published GTA range$5–$10 | Our quote$6 / sq ft |
Our figure appears on both rows because we only do the second one. There is no scrape-only price to give, because a ceiling left scraped is not a finished ceiling, and we would be back to do the rest of it anyway.
What a room costs
Two GTA firms publish a per-room minimum for this work, which tells you something about how it is normally sold: as a job you commit to a room at a time rather than by the foot. Ours is priced on the actual ceiling area, so a small room costs what a small room costs.
| What it covers | Published GTA range | Our quote |
|---|---|---|
| One average roomthe smallest single-room popcorn job two GTA firms publish taking | Published GTA range$1,600–$2,000 | Our quote$900 |
Doing several rooms in one visit is where this gets noticeably cheaper per room, because the containment and the dust control are set up once.
Asbestos testing, and why it is not optional
Textured ceilings in Ontario homes built before about 1990 can contain asbestos, and the rules about it are stricter than most homeowners expect. The Ministry of Labour's own guidance states that the lowest tier of controls cannot be used on asbestos-containing plaster and hard finishes at all, so a positive test does not mean being a bit more careful, it means a different class of work with notification, containment and clearance testing. Testing first is cheap by comparison and it is the only way to know which job you are buying.
| What it covers | Published GTA range | Our quote |
|---|---|---|
| Testing before the work startsa professional attending, taking three to five samples and reporting | Published GTA range$250–$850 | Our quote$250 / test |
Be careful with what you read about the thresholds. One GTA restoration company's published guide states the lowest-tier limit as one square foot; the Ministry's guidance says one square metre, which is nearly eleven times larger. If a contractor is working from the wrong number, that is worth knowing before they start.
Every figure on this page is before HST, ours and the published ranges alike, which is how almost every painter in Ontario quotes. Thirteen per cent goes on at invoice time.
Questions about what this costs
How much mess does this actually make?
Less than its reputation, and it depends entirely on method. Scraping dry makes the mess everybody imagines. Done properly the ceiling is misted first so the texture comes off in wet clumps rather than as dust, floors and openings are sealed, and the sanding afterwards is the part that needs real dust control. The honest answer is that the room is unusable while it happens and the rest of the house should not notice.
Can you just cover it over instead of scraping?
Boarding over a textured ceiling is a real option and sometimes the right one, particularly where a test has come back positive, because leaving asbestos undisturbed and sealing it in is a recognised approach and a considerably less involved job than removing it. What it costs you is ceiling height and a fixed edge detail everywhere the new board meets a wall. For a sound ceiling in a normal room, scraping gives a better result.
How flat will the ceiling be afterwards?
Flat enough that side light does not find it, which is a higher standard than it sounds and is where most of the labour goes. A ceiling that has had texture on it has never been finished underneath (the texture was there to hide the joints), so getting it smooth means skimming the whole surface rather than patching. That is why the skim coat is a bigger part of the price than the scraping is.
Do light fixtures and vents have to come down?
Fixtures come down, vents and detectors get masked or removed depending on what they are. It is worth taking the opportunity to change any fitting you have been meaning to replace, because the ceiling is already open and the alternative is cutting into a fresh finish later.
We are a Richmond Hill crew and we work across York Region and North York. The ranges on this page cover the wider GTA, because painting costs do not stop at a municipal boundary. If you are outside where we work, though, we will tell you so rather than drive somewhere we cannot serve properly. Ask anyway if you are close; we answer honestly.
Get a price on the phone
Our online quote does not cover this work, so we price it with you on a call. Tell us about the job and we will give you a number. Nothing is booked until you say so.