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House Question

cheryle (Dianthus)

(website)

Veteran

Hi ladies,

I have a bit of a house dilemma and thought I would ask the fabbers for an opinion. I am having a new house built. It has a very open plan with a the kitchen and eating area open to the great room. The kitchen has grown to about 28' x 10' with about 16' being the kitchen with a peninsula to the eating area. The eating area and part of the kitchen are open to the great room which is a little under 14' x 18'. The ceiling in the kitchen is standard 8', the great room 10' and the foyer 11'. I am debating whether to upgrade to a smooth ceiling for about $2400 or just leave it with the textured finish and use the extra money towards upgrades elsewhere.

What do you think? My partner thinks the textured ceiling is find. My BFF thinks the smooth ceiling is worth the expense. I am torn.

Yay for upgrade and nay for leave the texture.

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15 replies

Latest reply was from

Anonymous

I would leave the texture. It really cuts down on noise bouncing off the ceiling. That being said, would you find in the kitchen that the ceiling would get gungy, because the texture is impossible to clean.

Gaylene

Veteran

Absolutely no question--go for the smooth ceiling! I had to make the same call when we built our house and bit the bullet to increase the ceiling heights to minimum of 9' throughout the house and to install smooth ceilings.

That was one of the smartest decisions I made, hands down. The ceilings look nicer but they also dramatically add to the resale value of your house. My jaw dropped when a friend, who is a local realtor, told me that she figures those ceilings will add another $20,000 or more to the value of the house. Apparently one of the most common remodeling tasks that many new buyers choose to do is to remove those dated, textured ceilings. A house that has smooth ceilings is definitely more attractive to most buyers. Your BFF is right; there are place to save a few dollars but not here.

cinnamon fern

Veteran

I'm with Gaylene. $2400 is not that much in the context of building a house - it's totally worth it.

That said, is this your house alone? Or your and your partner's house? If the latter, how much does s/he care about the ceiling?

Jem

Veteran

What kind of textured ceiling are you talking about? If it's the popcorn ceiling, then definitely upgrade! If it's a knockdown texture, already than that's ok. I vote for the 9 foot ceilings if that's an option.

Aziraphale

Veteran

Smooth ceiling! Smooth ceiling!

cheryle (Dianthus)

(website)

Veteran

Thanks ladies. It is the popcorn stuff. Its too late for the 9' ceilings. I considered this but like the variation of the 8', 10', and 11' because the plan is very open (deliberately) and the ceiling heights provide some definition to the space.

Cinnamon Fern,I will be living in the house by myself for quite a few years but we plan it to be our retirement home. My partner's children are 12 and 17 and he doesn't want to move until they finish school. That could be at least 10 years unless the younger one decides to go away to university. They live 5 minutes from a large U though so she will most likely attend there.

Raisin

Veteran

Oh yah if it's popcorn ceiling then definitely invest the $2400 and go for smooth.

Laurinda

Veteran

Ugh popcorn. Go smooth!

I wonder why it costs so much -- maybe because the popcorn lets the builders do a less than perfect job (which means it will be serious bucks to redo it if you decide to change it in the future) ?

Janet

(website)

Veteran

I agree to go for the smooth ceiling! I have had too much experience with textured ceilings, blech.

Jem

Veteran

Definitely upgrade from popcorn!

MsMary

Veteran

Ixnay on the opcorn-pay! Go for the smooth!!

Deborah

Veteran

Dianthus, thank you, I have learnt something new today:) I didn't know what a popcorn ceiling was so I googled it I would also agree that a smooth ceiling is a much nicer finish. According to what I read this type of ceiling was popular from the 1950's through to the 80's in certain areas of homes. Originally asbestos was part of the mixture... though of course it wouldn't be now. I don't recall seeing this in Australia, though older homes did have this feature (or something similar) on the walls! Our newer homes generally have smooth ceilings and either high ceilings or varying hights within the house.

DonnaF

Veteran

I didn't know they still did popcorn ceilings. The upgrade is definitely worth it for resale.

cheryle (Dianthus)

(website)

Veteran

I suspect it is a regional thing. I appreciate all of the comments very much and have contacted the builder regarding a change order to incorporate the smooth ceilings.

Anonymous

Just say NO to popcorn ceilings.