In our house we just purchased, it has this texture in the ceiling of 4 bedrooms and the livingroom and dining room.

We tried the technique for scraping like you would with a popcorn ceiling of wetting it and then using a scraper we got at Home Depot meant just for this purpose. However, this texture on our ceiling does NOT want to cooperate.

We are able to knock down the peaks some with serious scraping but can't get it anywhere near smooth.

So, I'm looking for other options. Better ways of scraping or sanding to remove it.

Right now, our plan is to scrape, then sand, then skimcoat to make it flat. We just finished sanding one bedroom but it's brutal with the sander I have. It's electric but it weighs probably 5+ pounds. So, holding that overhead for more than a minute or so while sanding gets to be a lot. It's SLOW going.

Any advice you can provide is GREATLY appreciated!

Here is a picture of what I'm up against:

 

Good luck trying to do it that way.
It's going to have to be skim coated or add a layer of 1/2" light weight sheet rock.

 

Once texture is painted it's really no longer water soluble - the paint prevents the water from getting to the joint compound. Your plan to scrape and skim coat sounds good.

 

Scraping it only seems to get the peaks though. From there, skim coating it all in all the rooms plus the decent sized living room and dining room just seems like it will take forever.

Any tips for speeding up the scraping and/or sanding?

I wonder if it got to the point of adding a thin layer of sheetrock over it if I wouldn't be as far ahead just to tear down what is up there and start over.

We were hoping when we bought the place that this stuff would fall into the popcorn texture category where scraping was common and very doable. I guess if this is the worst surprise with the new house we're doing OK.

 

Gaining speed with skim coating takes practice. IMO it's quicker to skim coat than to laminate the ceiling with drywall and then finish it. If you thin the mud slightly it will flow better. The biggest things to consider when laminating a ceiling are will the ceiling joists support the additional weight and using screws that are long enough to secure the drywall to the framing.

Before tearing out a ceiling you need to figure out what is above it! If it's an attic with blown insulation - it will all fall down when you remove the ceiling