Wonderful smooth ceiling - no more outdated popcorn look

Freshly painted room with a view

Yorkville Popcorn Ceiling Removal and Plastering 

Yorkville’s acclaim for a great New York City place to live has been enhanced in recent years with a new subway stop and ferry landing. Once woods and pastures, Yorkville now boasts an abundance of diverse housing options, along with Gracie Mansion, the official residence of the Mayor. This client acquired a place here which clearly needed some love.

Popcorn ceilings are so yesterday. And popcorn ceilings with cracks and water damage are simply unbearable. We scaped away and captured loose paint and plaster before skim coating the ceilings for a smooth and even texture. We added paint up there and then went around the whole place and painted all the walls. These folks can come home from East River Walk or Ruppert Park to a sweet, freshly painted home with sleek ceilings and warm, welcoming walls.

Clean new paint in kitchen

Professional painter at work

Here’s the ceiling at the outset of the project.

Beautiful newly plasterer and polished walls to showcase professional photos.

Close up view of beautiful walls.

NYC Apartment Skim Coating 

There are lots of ways to incorporate a homey atmosphere into your residence. Rugs, window treatments and furniture come to mind. But the personalization of space, that unique décor element that speaks volumes about the homeowner, might just be how one treats the walls. The options are nearly limitless for paintings, prints, fabric, mirrors, metal art, maps, shelves, plates, sconces, whiteboard, the television and – drum roll – photos. One of our recent clients is a professional photographer, and she wanted to showcase some of her work at home, but not on crummy, rough, uneven, peeling walls with ceilings to match!

We scraped off lots of loose, old paint and plaster before smoothing the surfaces with multiple skim coats of plaster, sanding between each one. After applying an excellent bonding primer, our team painted a polish plaster coat. This final layer provides a smooth, uniform texture which is durable and naturally waterproof. While it can be tinted, this lady opted for the cleanliness of white so her photos capture full attention. We took a few photos of our own so you can see the difference, though not close to professional standards of photography, we know.

The hallway walls when we arrived on the scene.

Ceilings needed serious attention, too.

Professional skim coater plying his craft

Skim coating ceiling in process

Left - room ceiling complete. Right - closet ceiling patiently waiting for its skim coats.

Downtown Manhattan Skim Coating Contractors

Popcorn is one of six types of maize or corn and the only one of these whole grains which pops. Popcorn sales top $1 billion per year and more than 17 billion quarts are consumed. Its popularity is undisputed, but the appeal of popcorn ceilings waned a couple decades ago. Their attraction in the late 1970s was in hiding imperfections and absorbing sound, thereby reducing noise. But now, customers are requesting skim coatings that offer a smooth appearance. We do this, often. Multiple coats – applying, drying, sanding, applying again and so on.

 For this downtown Manhattan job, the ceiling tested positive for asbestos. Bet you didn’t know we even do that! Thus, we had to prime the ceiling first to eliminate releasing any dust into the room. Then we skim coated some 4 coats before it could all be smoothed like the client wanted. We delivered a beautifully crafted new ceiling, and skim coating is definitely both an art and a craft, finely tuned only by professional experience. Take a break and watch this video below of the process, and you’ll know just want to expect from our expert skim coaters and painters.