I have vaulted ceilings in "open" area of house including kitchen and living room. There are a couple of narrow cracks where it looks like house (slab foundation) has settled and caused the sheetrock panels to seperate along the tape lines.

The cracks are narrow (<1/8" would be my guess) and straight.

What is the simplest way to fix? I was thinking scrape the texture around the crack, re-tape and mud over the crack and then re-spray the popcorn from a can. The problem I will have is the house is 30 years old and I don;t think the patched area will match well color wise. I also don;t want to have to paint 700 sq ft of popcorn ceiling.

Any ideas? I'd like to list the house this summer so I have no desire to put a bunch of money into, yet I cant have the fix be obvious.

Popcorn ceilings are out of fashion. Scrape all of it off, repair your cracks, retexture in a splatter drag, and repaint.

Do it right or not at all. And I dont mean that to be rude, just the way I think.

Yup, he's right. A patch is a patch, will always stick out. If the cracks are in corners only, you might get away with just caulking them. But there is no way possible that you will tape, bed, sand and apply new texture without having to paint the whole ceiling. And another thing to keep in mind, if they just sprayed the popcorn texture and didn't put a coat of primer and paint over it (which is usually the case) you will have big ol clumps of your existing texture come off if you try to paint it with a roller and don't know exactly what you are doing.

As was said above, you would have to paint the entire ceiling or it won't match. Also, matching popcorn ceilings can be tough, even with the right equipment. Trying to do patches out of a can will more than likely look like patches unless it is minimal.

Good luck

I get your point and that's what I would do if I planned to stay in the home. I've worked on this house 10 years and sunk alot of money and time into it-its time to patch up the few loose ends and move on. Got two small kids and need my money and vacation time to move. I ain;t scraping the whole house.

This is what I knew would be the issue-it is literally half the house where the ceiling flows from "room" to room. It is a ton of painting and ceiling fans and light cans to work around.

Suggestions on painting the popcorn without clumps coming down?

Mask it off and spray it. If it was painted after texturing, you wont have any trouble rolling it, if it wasn't, the only way to get away with using a roller is being experienced with a roller. You have to roll the paint on in one pass and leave it, if you roll back into where it is wet, clumps the size of a dinner plate will come off (again, unless it was sealed / painted from the start).

This^^^^^^...just did the entire house last year....huge improvement!

Tip for taking popcorn down, get a pump sprayer and wet it, wait a half hour and get to scraping. Just don't try it if it's ever had anything other than flat paint. I've seen some semigloss ceilings that the water wouldn't penetrate.

Good luck with the patch sir.

Spray panting would be better but they do make a sponge roller that is designed for popcorn.

If the cracks are small enough try to rub caulk in them with your finger. A little at a time and wipe excess off with a wet rag. This is a way to get rid of the crack for a while sometimes no paint needed. The right way is to remove it all and start over. Second method would be scrape along the crack about 12" wide tape and float the cracks re screw the Sheetrock an both sides of the crack at the beams to help stabilize then spray the popcorn. The cans will not match period it's not even the same stuff. I would guess it will stand out worse. Try to caulk it not much to lose. Good luck

Yep. I've tried using spray can popcorn on a rental...Came out lookin' like 'hammered dog feces'.

I had a guy repiar a few cracks in the ceiling of my old house. He walked in the door looked at the cracks for about 5 seconds walked out to his truck and came back in with a spray can and was done in less than 30 seconds no painting and you could not tell where the cracks had been. Sold the house about 1 month later. That was money well spent and it was a popcorn ceiling.

Thanks I learned about scraping the stuff the hard way. I boxed in some ceiling beams that had sheetrock and popcorn texture over them. Scraped them smooth then put oak ply and oak 1x8 to cap it off. Realized water would help a little too late. Lots of dust!

Thanks I will start here, if that doesnt work i am still in the same boat. I just hate to snowball into a huge project on a house I am trying to move out of. Already put a ton of work in it and that is a long way to to fix two cracks

Hire a painter. They can typically get it pretty close and if the area is small enough, they can make the difference in color fade away pretty well. IMO, it is money worth spending. As long as you are aware that it is a patch and not a complete fix, the price tag on it should be relatively small.

Depending on the size of the texture originally blown on the ceiling, a can might work but an amateur with a can might do more damage. Good luck

Thanks- this was my starter home and I've tried my hand at a bunch of stuff- i plan on checking my work on a small spot and if i get over my head i will have a painter or drywall guy finish the patch. Not worth it for me to do a complete fix; if i was staying i would scrape the whole house my wife hates the popcorn

Pretty cheap to buy a piece of sheetrock and try your hand. Check the distance from the surface for coverage consistency.

^^^^^^ good tip^^^^^^^^. Practice in the garage. Get good then go back inside. Otherwise, hiring the painter is the best bet. Find a painted up mini van in apartment complexes. They'll do side jobs like you wouldn't beleive

Sell as is.