How Much Does Popcorn Ceiling Removal Cost in Cheyenne?

Updated October 2026 · 7 min read

If you are pricing out popcorn ceiling removal in Cheyenne, the first thing you will notice is that almost nobody publishes numbers. Local painters list the service, directories collect your phone number, and you are left guessing. This guide lays out the typical ranges we quote, how a few common rooms work out, what pushes a price up or down, and how it all compares with national averages and doing it yourself.

Every figure below is a typical range or estimate, not a firm price. Your written quote depends on what we see on site.

Typical price ranges by package

Popcorn removal is priced per square foot of ceiling, which is close to the floor area of the room. What you pay mostly depends on how finished you want the ceiling to be when the crew leaves.

Scrape and prep is the cheapest option, but a bare scraped ceiling almost always shows old seams, tape lines and gouges. Most homeowners who want a truly smooth look choose the skim coat package. If you would rather not deal with a painter afterward, turnkey covers everything through the final coat. Prefer a light texture that hides imperfections? A new knockdown or orange-peel finish costs about the same as a skim coat. Our smooth ceiling finish page explains what a skim coat involves.

What common rooms cost

Here is how those ranges work out for spaces we see all the time in Cheyenne homes:

• 12×12 bedroom (144 sq ft), smooth and primed: roughly $430–$685.
• 1,200 sq ft ranch, turnkey (scrape, skim, prime, paint): roughly $4,500–$6,900.
• Single hallway or small bathroom: often falls under a minimum charge, because setup, containment and cleanup take about the same time no matter how small the room is.

Doing several rooms at once usually lowers the cost per square foot. Containment, setup and the trip out only happen once.

Factors that change your price

Two ceilings with the same square footage can end up with different quotes. These are the main reasons:

• Painted popcorn (+25%): paint seals the texture, so water can't soften it and it has to be worked off more slowly. See removing painted popcorn ceilings.
• Ceilings over 9 ft (+15%): taller ceilings need more staging and slow down every pass.
• Vaulted or cathedral ceilings (+30%): angles, ridges and scaffolding add real time.
• Drywall condition: water stains, cracked tape joints or hail-season roof-leak damage may need ceiling repair before finishing.
• Furnished rooms: an empty room costs less to protect than one full of furniture that has to be moved and wrapped.
• Asbestos testing: on older homes, testing is a separate line item. More on that below.

Cheyenne's housing stock has a median build year of 1976, and more than half of local homes went up between 1950 and 1989. That was peak popcorn-ceiling era, so many quotes here include at least one of these factors.

Asbestos testing costs

Popcorn texture installed before about 1980 may contain asbestos. On ceilings from before 1986, we arrange sample testing through an accredited lab or inspector before anyone scrapes. Lab sample testing starts at about $250, and a full inspector visit typically runs $250–$850. If a sample comes back positive, that portion of the work goes to a properly trained asbestos abatement contractor, which is priced separately. Nationally, abatement runs about $5–$20 per square foot. Our popcorn ceiling asbestos testing page walks through the process, and the Wyoming asbestos guide covers the state rules.

How Cheyenne compares with national averages

National cost guides give a useful sanity check:

• Angi puts the national average around $1,985 for a removal project, with professional removal typically $1–$6 per square foot.
• Bob Vila reports an average near $1,960, with most projects between $923 and $3,006.
• HomeGuide cites about $2–$6 per square foot.
• Painting after removal adds roughly $1–$3 per square foot, and new texture runs about $0.80–$3.

Those averages mostly describe one or two rooms with basic scraping. Our package ranges fall inside the national per-foot band. A whole-house turnkey job will cost more than the "average project" figure because it includes much more ceiling plus finishing.

What DIY really costs

Doing it yourself looks cheap on paper. You'll need plastic sheeting, painter's tape, a pump sprayer, wide scraping knives or a ceiling scraper, a sturdy ladder or scaffold, joint compound, sanding tools, primer, contractor bags and a good respirator. For one room, figure on a couple hundred dollars in supplies. You also need to plan for debris disposal. National estimates put hauling at about $150–$170 per 500 sq ft, and in town the Happy Jack Landfill accepts construction debris with fees by weight.

The bigger costs are time and skill. Scraping is the easy part. Getting a skim coat flat enough to look good under raking light is the hard part, and in Cheyenne's dry air the compound sets fast. You still pay for testing on an older ceiling whether you DIY or not. Our DIY vs professional guide goes through the trade-offs honestly.

How to get an accurate quote

For the most useful estimate, have these ready:

1. The rooms you want done and rough dimensions.
2. Whether the popcorn has ever been painted.
3. Ceiling heights, and any vaulted areas.
4. The year your home was built, so we can tell whether testing is recommended.
5. The finish you want: scraped, smooth, textured or fully painted.

You can also try the calculator on our popcorn ceiling removal cost page. When you're ready, request a free quote and Cheyenne Popcorn Removal will usually reply the same day with a clear written price.

Frequently asked questions