How do I remove sand paint from an old plaster ceiling? The areas where there are cracks, the paint removes easily, however most of the paint is not coming off. Help!

To remove the sand paint you must scrape or sand it off. If you scrape it you should do so lightly so as not to gouge out the plaster. You can also sand it off. Yes this is a dust storm. We use a 5" orbital palm sander to do this. I highly recommend the use of safety glasses and a mask/respirator for this work (sanding or scraping!). It is tedious - I won't lie. Your other option is to skimcoat the entire ceiling to cover the texture of the sand paint. That would entail placing a very light coat of spackel over the entire ceiling. Then you let it dry, sand it to be sure it is smooth. Sometimes another skimcoat is required. After the whole ceiling is dry you can prime it and then paint it. Again safety glasses are really important. As you working on a ceiling, plaster/spackle, primer and paint can (and will) fall downward toward you. I wish there was some easy way to remove sand paint but there just isn't. If you have cracks you will need to repair those with spackle/plaster anyway so that might be the easiest option.

Good luck!

You can rent a disk sander from rental company that has a vacuum attached just for sanding sheetrock. It has a long handle on it so you do not need a ladder on 8 foot ceilings. It is still a dirty job. Also have plenty of Ben-Gay ready as your arms and neck will be very sore the next day!