Popcorn Ceiling Removal

Every home is different.

When we come to your home we give you a customized estimate for your home for free.  We need to determine whether your home uses plaster or drywall, because they are completely different jobs.  The height of the ceiling is also a factor when determining how much a job will cost.

Many companies often give quotes over the phone and will offer an unrealistically low price so you will have them come to your home only for them to tell you they need to raise the prices.  At System 1, we provide free personalized in-home estimates, so you know up front how much getting the acoustic ceiling removed from your home will cost.

“The only time we don’t have to see a job is a if they say it’s a one bedroom apartment with a low ceiling,” said System 1 President Richard McKinnon.

System 1 has been removing acoustic ceiling for more than 30 years in Gardena, Redlands, Santa Ana, Lakewood, Lawndale, Hawthorne, Monterrey Park, Rowland Heights, Hacienda Heights and more than 100 other cities across Southern California.  For your free, in-home estimate contact System 1 President Richard McKinnon at (800) 698 – 4410.

Acoustic Ceiling Removal

The answer . . . No.  For most homes, you do not need to move out of your home.

Before coming to your home we simply ask you to remove the breakable items off the tops of furniture and any shelves.  Anything that is covered in glass and everything inside of cabinets or drawers can stay where they are.

At System 1, we move the large pieces of furniture for you.

The home owner has to do a half an hour of work moving the breakable items off the tops of furniture and we can do the rest without you having to move out of your home.  And we do a clean job because of the way we prepare the house in plastic.

System 1 provides acoustic (popcorn) ceiling removal in more than 100 cities in Southern California including Glendora, Santa Fe Springs, Costa Mesa, El Monte, Alhambra, Montebello, Rosemead, Mar Vista, Villa Park, Colton, San Bernardino, and Tarzana.  For a free quote contact Richard McKinnon at (800) 698 – 4410.

System 1 Acoustic Ceiling Removal Receives Super Service Award from Angies List

System 1 Acoustic Ceiling Removal was recently honored by Angies List during their annual Angies Lists Super Service Awards.  Angie’s List rates companies and customers have the opportunity to evaluate companies on a grading system.

The Super Service Award is something we value highly at System 1.  We work hard to make sure every customer is thrilled with the service we provide.

“(Angie’s List) is trying to let the cream rise to the top.  They’re trying to make it easy for customers to choose the best companies in the business, so they don’t have to do the research on their own,”  said System 1 President Richard McKinnon.

We are proud to receive the Angies List Super Service Award.  We service cities across Southern California, including Monterrey Hills, San Dimas, Eastvale, Bellflower, Downey, El Segundo, Woodland Hills, Beverly Hill, La Puente, Hermosa Beach and hundreds of others.  If you would like a free estimate for your home, contact us at (800) 698 – 4410.

Lath & Plaster Specialists

At System 1 we can complete a lath & plaster job in one day and with no mess.

“A lot of people don’t believe we can get it done in one day,” System 1 President Richard McKinnon said.  Many homes, especially along the coastline require special attention due to the lath & plaster used to build the home.

Other companies don’t specialize in lath & plaster.  And, for them, it can take anywhere between 5 to 8 days to complete the project which costs you more money in services and forces you to leave your home for an extended period of time.

“With lath & plaster we can get the jobs done much faster than any other company.  Nobody does it better,” Richard said.

For a Free Estimate, contact Richard McKinnon at (800) 698 – 4410.

1. Move furniture against the walls or out of the room.
2. Lay thick plastic over the entire floor.
3. Drape thinner plastic down the walls covering everything but the ceiling.
4. Spray the ceiling with a fine mist of water.
5. Scrape the ceiling using 12 inch dry wall blades.
6. Remove the acoustic.
7. Coat seams and nail holes to make them “smooth as glass.”
8. Apply texture by hand or by our state-of-the-art hydraulic spray machine.
9. Clean up.

System 1 has been removing acoustic from ceilings for over 30 years.  Get your acoustic removed and hire System 1 today.

For a Free Estimate contact Richard McKinnon at (800) 698 – 4410.

The process for painting is exactly the same as it is for acoustic (popcorn) ceiling removal with one exception:  prior to laying down plastic, we scrape the corners to clean up any residual texture and we put silicon caulking around the entire perimeter between the wall and the ceiling.  This creates a smooth transition between the wall and the ceiling so it looks like you never had an acoustic ceiling.  (In some cases, we may need to do a minor sanding prior to painting)

We use two state-of-the-art Greyco Airless spray machines to apply primer and then paint.  Because we spray, the paint goes on much thicker, giving your home more protection.  “It’s like we put up three coats of primer and three coats of paint,” System 1 President Richard McKinnon said.

Because we use a fine spray machine, there’s no brush marks or roller marks.  In many homes, it’s easy to tell the difference between someone who sprayed their home and someone who painted it with brushes and rollers.   When you choose System 1 to paint your home, you better protect your home and get a better final product.

“We’re not a run of the mill painting company,” Richard said, “our focus is precision.”  Because we were based on acoustic ceiling removal and taping, we’re better than most painting companies because we’re better at taping.  Taping is the “bread and butter” of painting and most painting companies are not as good as we are.  When we take the tape off, we create a “perfect laser line” around the perimeter of the home.  We use our state-of-the-art method of taping for popcorn ceiling removal and brought that into our painting.  No company is as good as us when it comes to painting.

“Painting is a profession that you can be very good at,” Richard said.  It’s the knowledge of knowing the right product, how to apply them, timing, how long to do something, the way to sand it, and the way to apply the paint that makes a great painter.

Richard frequently is inviting back to his customers homes when it’s time to repaint because of their exceptional service.  “I see the work we did back then and it was fantastic.”

System 1 didn’t always provide painting services, but they were asked so often by so many people they really had no choice but to make their customers happy.  “Painting is a service we can provide for our customers that leaves them without having to search for somebody else,” Richard said.

“(Acoustic Ceiling Removal and Painting ) is not something our customers look forward to doing.  They don’t look forward to the decision making.  They’re spending so much of our hard-earned money on this and they don’t want to screw it up.  They want it done right the first time . . . If customers could see the final product, choosing System 1 would be a no-brainer.  It wouldn’t matter how much it costs.  When you choose our company, you get more than what you pay for,” said Richard.

Contact Richard McKinnon for a Free Estimate at (800) 698 – 4410.

People who make the decision to get the acoustic ceiling removed in their home often ask these questions.  With more than 30 years of experience, System 1 has fine-tuned the process of acoustic ceiling removal giving our customers the best value and the best product in the acoustic (popcorn) ceiling removal business.  Upon entering your home we apply the following steps to ensure the utmost in quality, cleanliness and professionalism when removing your acoustic ceiling.

Prior to any work we do in the home we ask the homewoners to remove any small breakables off the tops of tables, dressers and chairs.  The big furniture can stay in the home, but all the little things should be secure and out of the way. 

The big bulky pieces of furniture, things like china cabinets, we don’t move.  The only things we move are tables/chairs and similar items away from the middle of the room so we can have space to work. 

A common misconception many homeowners have is they think we want all the large pieces of furniture in the center of the room, like when you paint the wall, but we want it on the sides.  It’s easier for us to drape the protective plastice over the furniture more effectively when it is on the sides rather than in the middle.  Also, we need space in the middle of the room to work.  It’s easy for us to reach the corners over the large pieces of furniture when the furniture is on the sides of the room. 

If you have the type of home with a big back yard and a patio, we move as much stuff as we can onto the patio.  In an apartment or condo where that may not be possible we move those items into the kitchen since typically there is no acoustic (popcorn) ceiling in the kitchen.

After the furnitures is properly placed, we lay extremely thick plastic along the entire surface of the floor.  The thick plastic covers the floor and goes up the wall two to three feet around the perimeter of the room.  We then lay thin plastic covering the area from the ceiling to the floor along the wall.  A typical ceiling is 8 feet.  The plastic we use from the ceiling is 12 feet long giving your home an extra 6 feet of protection.  

In order to make a mess, someone would have to physically pick up the plastic from the wall and throw the excess acoustic material behind the plastic.  We have a failproof plan to ensure no mess is ever left behind one of our homes.

After we lay the plastic, we look for ceiling fans and light fixtures.  Many companies fail to remove the acoustic (popcorn) ceiling from the areas covered by ceiling fans and light fixtures, but we put in the extra effort to make sure all the acoustic is removed from the interior of your home.  

The entire home is encapsulated in plastic from top to bottom.  The only thing that’s exposed is the ceiling.  System 1 President, Richard McKinnon said, “We could walk in there with a firehouse and go crazy and nothing would get damaged because it’s completely and thoroughly wrapped in plastic.  Keeping our customers’ homes protected is our top priority.”

We come in with a light-duty hose and we mist some water on the acoustic to make the material wet and soft so there is no airborn dust or particles.  This makes it easier to take off the acoustic material cleanly.  

A lot of companies spray too much water which leaves a lot of residue and results in an unsatisfactory final product.  We wet it just enough to make sure it absorbs all of the water like a sponge, but doesn’t wet the dry wall underneath it. 

After Removing the Acoustic, We Apply Texture to Your New Ceiling

The acoustic ceiling turns into a type of sludge, like “cottage cheese.”  We scrape all of the acoustic extremely clean to where all you see is clean drywall, seams and nail holes.  We coat all of the seams and nail holes.  If there are bad tape joints, we fix them with mesh tape so they’re strong and will never go bad. 

We coat the ceiling so that it is “as smooth as glass” using a fast drying light weight compound made for coating joints and after that we coat it again.  This is something that only our company does.  Other companies don’t do this process because it’s like adding another 20 % more labor to the job . . . another 2 hours.  We always do it.  This is one of the reasons we’re the best.  Our attention to detail and our pursuit of perfection have made our brand synonymous with excellence.  

Depending on the type of texture the customer chooses we either apply a texture by hand or spray a texture.  Our most popular texture is “Light Cloud” which we apply by hand.  Applying texture is basically an art form.  When we complete a project, “It truly looks like you had an artist come in and smooth your ceilings out,”  Richard said.  All of the texturing we do is the same price so customers get our variety of skills and talents and they get them at the same price.

Call Richard McKinnon for a free estimate – (800) 698 – 4410.

System 1 has removed acoustic (popcorn) ceilings and painted homes in Phillips Ranch, Pomona, Cerritos, Cypress, Seal Beach, Rossmoor, Los Alamitos, Norco, Alta Loma, Mira Loma and 100 more cities across Southern California for the past 30 years.

System 1 Can Remove Acoustic Ceilings from Any Home

The house was a large house and Richard explained to the woman it would be a large project and would take a full day with a full crew.  He gave her the best price he could possibly give her.  She said she would be in touch . . . She never called, but Richard eventually ran into her again.

Three or four months after the original estimate, Richard headed back to Los Alamitos again.  He recognized the street name and realized the new estimate was just a few doors down from the woman he had not heard back from months ago.  System 1 began working on that home shortly thereafter.

When the job was completed, the woman called Richard to let him know what a great job System 1 had done on their acoustic (popcorn) ceiling removal.  The woman said, “Richard, you guys did a beautiful job on my ceiling.  The guys were clean.  They were here on time.  They were even waiting outside before they were supposed to start and rung the doorbell at exactly 7 O’Clock.  Very rarely does a contractor we hire show up on time.  I can’t think of anything bad to say about your crew.  Everything looked exactly how you said it was going to be.  It was an easy, painless process and we are absolutely ecstatic.” 

The reason she called; however, wasw to let Richard know why she chose System 1.  She chose System 1 because her neighbor, the original one in the story, decided to go with another company because it was $200 less then what Richard had quoted her months ago . . . and she regretted her decision.

Richard went to see the job the other company had done on the home because the original woman wanted to see how much it would cost to fix the shoddy work of the other company.  Unfortunately, Richard told her, it costs more to redo the acoustic ceiling once it has been done because they have to go over everything rather than just a few patches. 

The original woman in the story regretted her decision to use someone other than System 1 for their acoustic ceiling removal.  Time and time again System 1 has proven it is the most capable, competent, clean, professional company in the business.  Make sure you make the right choice when choosing who you want to have working in your home . . . make sure you choose System 1.

System 1 provides acoustic ceiling removal and painting services in Pasadena, Glendale, Burbank, Hollywood, North Hollywood, West Hollywood, Sun Valley, Sunland, Calabasas, Encino and hundreds of others across Southern California.  Call Richard McKinnon today for a FREE estimate – (800) 698 – 4410.

Happy Thanksgiving from System 1

We have improved the homes of people in:

• Torrance
• Rancho Palos Verdes
• Palos Verdes
• Palos Verdes Estates
• Rolling Hills
• Rolling Hills Estates
• Carson
• Lomita
• Huntington Beach
• Newport Beach
• Irvine
• Mission Viejo
• Laguna Hills
• Long Beach
• Marina Del Rey
• Playa Del Rey
• Westchester
• Westminster
• Los Angeles
• Westwood
• Redondo Beach
• Manhattan Beach
• Garden Grove
• Orange
• Tustin
• Aliso Viejo
• Rancho Cucamonga
• Chino Hills
• Chino
• Anaheim
• Anaheim Hills
• Yorba Linda
• Fullerton
• La Habra
• La Habra Heights
• Brea
• Riverside
• Corona
• Moreno Valley
• Upland
• Claremont
• Montclair
• Ontario
• La Verne
• Walnut
• Diamond Bar
• Placentia
• Covina
• West Covina
• Sierra Madre
• Pasadena
• Glendale
• Burbank
• Hollywood
• North Hollywood
• West Hollywood
• Sun Valley
• Sunland
• Calabasas
• Encino
• Phillips Ranch
• Pomona
• Cerritos
• Cypress
• Seal Beach
• Rossmoor
• Los Alamitos
• Norco
• Alta Loma
• Mira Loma
• Alta Dena
• Eagle Rock
• Culver City
• Santa Monica
• Chatsworth
• Northridge
• Reseda
• Whittier
• La Mirada
• Baldwin Park
• Duarte
• Malibu
• Fountain Valley
• Fontana
• Rialto
• Hacienda Heights
• Rowland Heights
• Monterrey Park
• Hawthorne
• Lawndale
• Lakewood
• Santa Ana
• Redlands
• Gardena
• Venice
• Venice Beach
• La Crescenta
• La Canada
• Flintridge
• Sherman Oaks
• Arleta
• San Pedro
• Ladera Heights
• Arcadia
• Tarzana
• San Bernardino
• Colton
• Villa Park
• Mar Vista
• Rosemead
• Montebello
• Alhambra
• El Monte
• Costa Mesa
• Santa Fe Springs
• Glendora
• Monterrey Hills
• San Dimas
• Eastvale
• Bellflower
• Downey
• El Segundo
• Woodland hills
• Beverly Hills
• La Puente
• Hermosa Beach

Thank you for choosing System 1 for your acoustic ceiling removal, painting and lath and plaster specialists.  And thank you for being a part of the System 1 family.

System 1 President Richard McKinnon

Richard finds a lot of enjoyment, in a variety of different ways when helping people navigate the hassles of home improvement, especially when it comes to painting, walls and ceilings. 

He loves seeing the job evolve, “from advertising, to a phone call, to an estimate over the phone, to an actual estimate, to shaking a customers hand, booking a job, doing a job, painting it, to a customer saying I absolutely want to thank you, I love my house and I’m so glad I chose System 1,” Richard said.

It’s a huge process and sometimes he forgets about all the elements that had to fall in to place for his customers to be happy with the end result.  ”We do so many houses and I don’t think about the huge arch of things, but it’s an amazing thing when you think about what goes into a customer being happy,” Richard said.

“I know when a customer chooses us they are making the right decision,” Richard said.

Richard explains it like this:   

“Imagine I have a $100 bill in one hand and a $5 bill in the other and you are my customer.  I know which one has the $100 bill so I try my hardest to get you to pick the one with the $100 bill, because I want you to be happy.  If you end up choosing the one with the $100 I know that you will be happier than if you chose the one with the $5 bill.

“I know that when a customer chooses System 1 . . . they don’t know it yet, but the made a very good investment in their home and their future, because they are going to get what they envisioned in their head.”

Too many times, Richard has come across others who chose other companies who did a sloppy texturing job and they think to themselves, ’this isn’t what I expected, this doesn’t look like the hotel I stayed at, or the restaurant I went to or a friend’s gorgeous house, this looks like a handyman did it.’

And many companies out there, that’s what they do.  They do sub-standard work for their customers. 

At System 1, you’re receiving 30 years worth of experience, quality, cleanliness and professional.  The difference between an excellent texturing job and a sub-standard texturing job is the talent level of the guys that are doing it and our guys are the best in the business.

Richard McKinnon III loves his job because he knows he makes his customers happy and a consistent basis and works tirelessly to ensure their happiness.

For more than 30 years, System 1 has improved homes in Claremont, Montclair, Ontario, La Verne, Walnut, Diamond Bar, Placentia, Covina, West Covina, Sierra Madre and more than 100 other cities. 

If you would like more information, please contact Richard McKinnon III at (800) 698 – 4410.