Stucco is an interior finish material commonly applied to North American ceilings by spray, producing a randomly bumpy finish also called “popcorn ceiling”. New builds here in Toronto often have stucco ceilings because this method of finishing is faster and less costly than drywall (GWB, or Gypsum Wallboard), as drywall seams have to be taped and mudded, a process which involves several applications of plaster and sandings. Stucco is also used to cover existing ceilings, especially if they have been repaired and no longer have a perfectly smooth finish.
Older stucco ceilings can contain asbestos, so removal of stucco should only be done by a qualified professional so as to avoid serious health problems. Stucco removal sounds easy enough; just get it wet. In reality, it’s a very messy operation, and once it’s all off of a ceiling, then we often discover why it was put there in the first place; cracks, holes, patches, seams and other flaws which may be difficult or impossible to repair show up in the underlying ceiling.
Although the bumpy texture hides flaws and improves acoustics in a room, it has become so ubiquitous as to be a décor cliché, and many homeowners and residents long for a smooth ceiling. Stucco is porous, so it tends to turn from its original white to a yellowish or brownish shade over time, and painting it for the first time can only be done slowly by brush. Inevitably, this results in a container of paint which is full of gritty lumps that came off the ceiling on the brush.
If an already stucco covered ceiling should develop a leak, crack or hole, repairs will be visible unless the stucco is removed around the repair and then reapplied by spray, and even then, it is easy to mismatch colour and texture between the old and new areas.
Aside from scraping off stucco, options for getting rid of it include knocking down the whole ceiling and re-installing drywall, this time with the full taping, mudding and painting process, or installing a dropped acoustic tile ceiling, which will lower the ceiling height by several inches, and often doesn’t end up looking any better than the stucco did.
Laqfoil Stretch Ceilings Installed Right Over an Existing Stucco Ceiling
There is a better way! Laqfoil stretch ceiling can be installed right over an existing stucco ceiling, and does not need to lower ceiling height by more than one inch! Stretch ceiling, fully installed, costs far less than any of the above options, leaves no mess, takes about two hours for an average residential room, and doesn’t release any toxic substances! Stretch ceiling sits so smooth and flat that it comes in a high gloss version that… well, the best way to describe how perfect it looks is just to invite you to look at these pictures.
Being a fraction of a millimetre thick and held by narrow aluminum or plastic tracks around the perimeter of the room, stretch ceiling involves a lot less material than the other options. That’s less material to go to a landfill during a renovation, and at the end of the building’s or room’s life. Better still, both the membrane and the tracks are fully recyclable, so no part of a stretch ceiling needs to go to a landfill at all!
Stretch ceiling does not need to be painted, and in fact, cannot hold paint, so there’s less material use, toxicity, and waste involved with finishing as well. If you ever wish to change the colour of your stretch ceiling, we can remove the membrane from your existing tracks and install a new one. Best of all, you can store the old membrane and have it re-installed if you should ever wish to return to your original look! Alternately, a used membrane can be installed in another room of the same size and shape, or re-shaped to fit a smaller room. We can do this at our Toronto facility.
There is no more cost-effective, attractive, and safe method to change a popcorn stucco ceiling into a smooth one than this! You can choose pristine white, or any of over 260 colours. For surface finish, choose from high gloss, satin, matte, rough matte, or canvas. We can also digitally print any high-resolution image on your stretch ceiling membrane prior to installation, so if you want your ceiling to match that of the Sistine Chapel, or to look like an open blue sky, we can do that! We have distributor-installers all over North America and beyond.
Cover Popcorn Ceiling With Stretch Ceiling
Are you tired of looking at your popcorn or stucco ceiling or wall?
Do you need to repair your ceiling?
Maybe you just need to cover up unfinished drywall or unsightly wires?
Many traditional ceiling options on the market today are very difficult to install, repair or replace. They take many hours of heavy manual labor, even more hours of finishing time while dust manages to creep into every area of the space.
LAQFOIL® Stretch Ceiling Technology is an innovative solution to achieve a perfectly flat, durable and quality ceiling or wall. We guarantee fast production and installation times, a mess-free dust-free environment and a cost-effective way to transform your ceilings.
HOW CAN WE HELP? Essentially we hide any type of ceiling and wall surface…whether its popcorn ceilings, stucco ceilings, tiled ceilings, insulated ceilings, unfinished ceilings, ceilings that need repair and just plain ugly ceilings! We also hide wires, ventilation systems and bulkheads.
HOW DO WE DO IT? LAQFOIL® Stretch Ceiling Technology consists of two parts. An aluminum perimeter track that follows the shape of your room and a lightweight Stretch PVC, Canvas or Transparent membrane that stretches and clips into the track. It is installed right below the existing ceiling leaving a gap of 0.5”-1” between the old and new ceilings. In many cases, our ceiling acts as the only primary ceiling surface covering the exposed beams, insulation and wires.
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF LAQFOIL® PRODUCTS?
There are so many benefits to LAQFOIL® Stretch Ceiling and Surfaces. While it creates a beautiful solution for a smooth ceiling, wall or 3D surface, the Stretch Surfaces have unique properties exclusive to them:
- Stretch surfaces are 100% fireproof, waterproof, anti-microbial, hypoallergenic and will never collect dust, stain or discolor
- It’s strong enough to hold water up to 100L on a square meter surface, in case of water leakage from above. In which case, we are able to remove ceilings, clean any watermarks and return the same ceiling looking brand new.
- Installation is clean and fast! Removal of furniture is not necessary because we work around your environment. There will never be any dust, mess or wait for paint to dry. We work around your schedule to give you the best service possible
- We integrate any light (Pot Lights, Pendent Lighting etc.) or ceiling fixture (Sprinklers, Exit Signs, Servalliance Cameras etc.)
- We provide a 15-Year Manufacturers Warranty on all surface materials and a 2-Year Warranty on our Installation
Visit our benefits page to learn more!
WHAT ABOUT DESIGN? We could go on and on about design. We can help design or build any ceiling or wall design you can imagine. Whether it’s a flat, curved or geometric surface we can build and install it. We have many LAQFOIL® Lighting products from large-scale back lighting, edge lighting to Starry Night Sky Effect. We create LAQFOIL® Printed ceilings or walls (that can all be backlit) with a size up to 16’ x 200’ long. We have over 280 colours and finishes that include high-gloss, matte, pearl and metallic.
Permanently Cover-up Stucco
Removing stucco/ popcorn from your ceiling is a time consuming and messy process. Even having to cover it up with ceiling planks may take you a few days and you will have to move everything out of your room first.
The only solution is ……………to install a Stretch ceiling.
No mess, no dust, quick installation.
Stretch ceilings guarantee you a perfectly smooth ceiling, which will never require painting. It will never crack like stucco, or peel or fade like a painted drywall.
BROWSE OUR GALLERY FOR DESIGN IDEAS
If you have any questions about Popcorn Replacement or any other questions about our products and installation, we would be happy to hear from you. Please feel free to contact a team member
at INFO@LAQFOIL.COM or 1-888-663-1708
Find out more about the technology here: www.laqfoil.com