cleaning up a ugly ceiling.

[dee dee]

Hey..had a question about the ceiling in my mobile home..
I am renting but I can do any repairs I want.
I am not sure how old the trailer is,I.d say 80,s maybe.
The ceiling is the popcorn looking stuff, The people that lived here before us were pigs and on top of that they smoked , a lot.
The ceiling is so dirty, it is some kind of yellow/brown color,
I have valuted ceilings throughout the home.
I was wondering what can I do with this mess, can I paint it..if so with what.?
I have tried to sweep the worst of it ,with a real big mess.
Also the ceiling above the stove is the worst,the vent fan was not used ,so the grease is really bad there.any ideas on cleaning that area.?
I have seen ceilings where the owner has tried to paint with I guess regular house paint and it looks so sloppy.
Ow and last but not least is this gonna cost me an arm and a leg, I can get her to fix some stuff .
I would really appreciate any help or ideas you can send my way..
Thanks a bunch..dee dee

[Tom]

Given that its in such bad shape, my suggestion would be to scrape off the popcorn texture and prime then paint. Its messy as all get out, but there is really no effective way to clean it well. Tom

[lacey]

why couldn't you just use "kilz" and paint the ceiling? the kilz will cover up any discoloration, including smoke.

[Bill]

I've got the popcorn type ceiling also (who doesn't?). Same situation, the people who lived there befor us were HEAVY smokers. The home was a repo. The bank paid someone to go in and paint the inside, which included spraying the ceiling. They didn't do a very good job, as it still had traces of the yellowed ceiling showing thru. I rented a sprayer from Home Depot and sprayed it again with ultra-white ceiling paint. Only this time I removed all the ceiling fixtures and crown moulding before spraying it. Turned out great and was very easy to do, especially since the house was empty at the time.

[Tom]

Well given the fact that the painting itself causes the popcorn to fall off, and the fact that once painted, if any of the chunks fall off, you have the old color showing thru, it sometimes easier just to get rid of it altogether. Tom