See how we easily covered our popcorn ceiling using beautiful Armstrong WoodHaven Planks with Easy Up® tracks and clips. No need to scrape the ceiling first! Planks can be installed right over your current ceiling.
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When we moved into our home last summer, one of the first things I wanted to change were the few remaining popcorn ceilings! I hate popcorn ceilings. Fortunately, the previous owners tackled most of the ceilings in the house before we purchased it; however, a few still remain. Earlier this year, I scraped, sanded and repaired the popcorn ceiling in my husband’s office and it was so messy and time consuming! I knew I wanted to avoid that hassle when renovating our television room, and I love the look of ceiling planks. Armstrong Ceilings offers an Easy Up® track system which makes installing beautiful ceiling planks over your existing popcorn ceilings a breeze. If you are tired of your dated ceilings, or just want to add depth and character to your space, then keep reading to find out how!
How to Cover a Popcorn Ceiling Using Armstrong WoodHaven Planks
Important Note: When you purchase your planks, you receive both written instructions as well as a link to video instructions on the Armstrong website. This tutorial is not meant to take the place of these instructions, but rather serve as a quick overview of the installation process. Over the years, I have tackled so many home improvement projects because I saw a blog post from someone showing me how they did it. Seeing some step-by-steps by real people often gives us the courage we need to try it ourselves!
Tools We Used to Cover Popcorn Ceiling and Install Planks
- Circular saw
- Drill
- Level
- Hack saw
- Jig saw (for plank around light fixture)
- Chalk line
- Stud finder
- Tape measure
- Rubber mallet
- Dust mask, safety glasses
Step 1: Find your joists and mark with a chalk line.
Using a stud finder, locate the ceiling joists and mark the joists with a chalk line.
Step 2: Starting 2 inches out from starting wall, make perpendicular marks on your wall every 24 inches where your tracks will be placed. Screw in tracks at joist marks.
Your tracks will run perpendicular to your joists meaning they will intersect with the chalk lines you just drew. Be sure that your tracks do not cross over your light fixture holes. If necessary, adjust your tracks by reducing space between them to avoid having a space greater than 24 inches between tracks. While your tracks can be cut with a hacksaw, it’s not necessary. Tracks can be installed side by side as pictured below. Use a bubble level across each track to make sure it is level. If not, loosen screws and place shims behind the tracks where needed in order to level each track. Install your last track 2 inches away from your finishing wall to allow room for the last plank to be installed.
Step 3: Cut the “tongue” side off of your first border plank.
Your border planks are the first and last planks installed on your starting and finishing walls. Your instructions will come with a mathematical formula to help determine what width each of these planks needs to be, so you will know beforehand how much plank to rip cut off. Once your border planks are cut to size, install 3/4 inch away from the wall to allow for wood expansion. Use one screw as pictured below to hold the board in place. The screw will be covered by crown molding later on. Only the border planks will contain any screws.
Next, clip on a clip to each track and push the clips it into the groove of the plank.
Step 4: Layout your planks with staggered seams and continue to build your ceiling by connecting the tongue and groove planks as pictured below.
The rest of the ceiling will go fairly quickly especially if you have two people working on it! Measure the plank gap, mark it on your plank, cut to size, and install! Repeat until the ceiling is complete. Bye-bye ugly popcorn ceiling!
Tip: I found it helpful to use a rubber mallet to gently tap the planks into place. You may not need to do this. Also, remember to cut around your light fixture openings using a jigsaw before installing the plank.
Bonus Tip: Be sure to check the groove of each plank for any debris and remove debris with flathead screwdriver before installation. We had a few boards that were difficult to work with because some debris was stuck in the groove.
When cutting your plank pieces, do not to use planks that are less than 26 inches in length to ensure that planks are attached to the track with at least two clips.
Step 5: Repeat the actions you took in Step 3 for the remaining border planks.
When you reach the end of your plank ceiling installation, you’ll need to double check your math before installing your last plank. Ours was off. Math is not our strength! 😂 But no worries, just remeasure the space you have remaining and rip cut your last planks accordingly. This was the only tricky part of covering the popcorn ceiling!
Here is a close-up of the beautiful texture on my WoodHaven planks in Woven White. It reminds me of gorgeous crisp white linen—on my ceilings! I absolutely love it and can’t wait to complete the rest of the room.
Where to Purchase Armstrong WoodHaven Planks
Our local home improvement stores carry the WoodHaven planks I used on our ceiling, and you can purchase them online here.
I hope this post inspires you to cover up your own ugly ceilings! It’s such a relief to look into this room and see a beautiful ceiling instead of an eyesore.
Did you notice the progress on the new built-in bookshelves? I will have a tutorial for you on those soon! In the meantime, here is a sneak peek look at my design plan for this space! I’m hoping to get this room completed in another few weeks so stay tuned for more progress posts!
Check out these Related Posts:
https://www.homestoriesatoz.com/diy/diy-plank-wall-tongue-groove-tutorial-how-to.html
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Every house has a list of jobs and tasks that just never seem to get done. These are the jobs that fly under the radar, unnoticed until they are an issue.