Do you need to do a popcorn ceiling patch because of a hole in the ceiling? Whether something hit the ceiling and caused a ceiling hole or you moved a light and need to patch a hole in the ceiling, learn how to patch a popcorn ceiling hole in just a few steps today!
We were replacing lighting which exposed a hole in the ceiling
As we started on our kitchen makeover, we decided to remove an old ceiling fan and replace it with a more modern semi-flush-mount light. The fan had a larger base that attached to the ceiling (see below) and when we took it down, we found that we had a hole in the ceiling that needed to be fixed.
This project was many years ago and, at this point, we had spackled drywall but never done any type of hole patching. Going in to this project, we knew that our popcorn ceiling was positive for asbestos. Learn how to test for asbestos yourself as well as more information about asbestos in general if you have popcorn ceilings! So, we knew that we needed to be careful with patching the popcorn ceiling but needed to get the project done. Let me show you what we did!
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Popcorn Ceiling Patch How To
*Some of these steps will be similar if you don't have popcorn and you are just needing to know how to patch a hole in the ceiling.
Supplies needed for patching popcorn ceiling
- Fibatape
- Light weight Spackle
- Sanding pad
- Zinnser Popcorn Ceiling Patch or Homax Popcorn Ceiling patch
- Paint Brush
- Kilz Stain Blocker Paint
- Painter's Tape
- Plastic Sheeting
How to patch popcorn ceiling
- Grab your ceiling repair patch and place it over the hole.
- Spackle lightly over the patch and let dry.
- Lightly sand the spackled area.
- Brush on the popcorn ceiling texture (this will look like cottage cheese).
- Let popcorn ceiling dry.
- Drape plastic to protect area and then spray on stain blocker paint.
- Let dry.
That's it! It's not an ideal situation to have popcorn ceilings because they look dated. We've been lucky enough to be able to have our asbestos abated in the spaces that we've renovated so we are slowly getting rid of them but if you don't have that option and you need to patch a hole in the ceiling... this works!
Let me show you a bit of this process with photos so you can see the progression of the popcorn ceiling patch.
Steps for Patching Popcorn Ceiling
Place ceiling repair patch on the hole and sparkle
After that is dry, sand and then you move on to the popcorn texture part of the tutorial. It seems like Homax Popcorn Patch is the most popcorn ceiling patch but our store was out of that so we picked up Zinsser Popcorn Ceiling Patch. You can typically buy this type of thing in spray can (which we've tried since then and don't recommend as much) or a bucket (which you'd brush on).
Brush ceiling texture on to ceiling
Luke brushed it on and it immediately started looking like cottage cheese. It was pretty impressive.
Let the ceiling texture dry and then you are ready to do the final step.
Cover area with plastic and spray stain blocker
Here's a progression of these steps on the ceiling:
After letting the paint dry for a few hours, we installed our light.
If you've lived with popcorn ceilings, you know they change in in color as they age. At some point ours could have been painted by previous homeowners. Your results will vary based on these factors. For our job, this was a win for us because the hole in the ceiling was patched and the brushed on popcorn texture and color was a close match!
Since this project, we've definitely improved our kitchen quite a bit! See our kitchen renovation for all the details and sources.
How to patch popcorn ceiling hole
Do you need to do a popcorn ceiling patch because of a hole in the ceiling? Whether something hit the ceiling and caused a ceiling hole or you moved a light and need to patch a hole in the ceiling, learn how to patch a popcorn ceiling hole in just a few steps today!
Materials
- Fibatape ceiling patch
- Spackle
- Zinnser Popcorn Ceiling Patch or Homax Popcorn Ceiling Patch
- Kilz Stain Blocker Paint
- Painter's Tape
- Plastic Sheeting
Tools
- Sanding pad
- Paint brush
Instructions
- Grab your ceiling repair patch and place it over the hole.
- Spackle lightly over the patch and let dry.
- Lightly sand the spackled area.
- Brush on the popcorn ceiling texture (this will look like cottage cheese).
- Let popcorn ceiling dry.
- Drape plastic to protect area and then spray on stain blocker paint.
- Let dry.
Notes
If you’ve lived with popcorn ceilings, you know they age in color as well as at some point, could have been painted by previous homeowners. Your results will vary based on these factors. For our job, this was a win for us because the hole in the ceiling was patched and the brushed on popcorn texture and color was a close match!
Marybeth
Looks great! The light is gorgeous. I can't wait to see more!
Ashley Mayes
Thanks Marybeth! I finally found the light at a great price, so I had to pull the trigger!
Charlotte W
What a great light! I think it ties in really nicely with the counter tops too. Love the progress that's coming along, is that a sneak peak of a new color on the bar area too?
Ashley Mayes
Thanks! The countertops aren't my favorite, but are in good shape so we have to keep them. Luke and I were talking about how we hope we are making the right decisions to tie everything together! It's hard! Yep, your right on the bar area. We are going dark with the bottoms.
Emily
I love that light. I just switched all of my lighting and door knobs to oil rubbed bronze but this copper light is gorgeous you have!
Ashley Mayes
Thanks Emily! Wow, what a job to switch all the lighting and door knobs. I'm a bit jealous! We have shiny (ugly) gold knobs on all of our doors. Sometime, I hope to be able to make the changes. I bet you love yours!
Yvonne @ Sunnyside Up=Stairs
What a great looking light! 🙂 I'm on the hunt for lighting for my mom's kitchen, so this is so timely for me!
Ashley Mayes
Thanks Yvonne! Oh, make sure to check out : http://www.lampsplusopenbox.com That's where we got our light and they have amazing deals!
Yvonne @ Sunnyside Up=Stairs
Thank you for sharing the link with me, Ashley. I got excited about some of the deals I found, although when I went to checkout, the shipping and processing fee cost more than the light I chose. :/ Oh, the downfall of living on an island surrounded by miles of ocean.
Ashley Mayes
Oh, bummer!
Julia@Cuckoo4Design
I love the light too and you patched the area perfectly.
Ashley Mayes
Thanks Julia.
Leigh Anne
I love the light! Can't wait to see what else you guys do in this kitchen. Those bar stools are awesome. Where are they from?
Ashley Mayes
Thanks Leigh Anne! I snagged the barstools on clearance at Marshalls.
sherry
how do you affix canopy to ceiling?
Ashley Mayes
You just screw it up on the bolt (they twist until they lock in).