Ceiling Texture Falling off - Totally Random

I despise textured ceilings.
They are tough to clean and you normally would not think about cleaning them but I'll be darned - spiders and cobwebs just seem to love the texture so much.
Painting them is not fun - depending on the texture they just drink up paint like you would not believe.
A plain ceiling is a beautiful thing!
But if plain white ceiling bores you, you can add interest by painting it a color that coordinates with decor in the room.

Google 'painted ceilings' and select Images for some cool ideas.

http://pinterest.com/ulla_umlaut/colored-ceilings/

I would scrape and do a smooth coat finish, but that's my personal taste.

I would just have it scraped off and refinish/paint the ceiling.

I'd be a little worried that you have a moisture problem. Have you seen any sign of that?

Get a professional to take care of this and make your ceilings smooth.

Good luck!
Dawn

As Dawn said below, you need to know if there is moisture problems or not.
You need to know what the ceiling subsurface is or not.
You need to know, what is under all that ceiling texture.
And who knows if the previous people, even used proper ceiling materials, to do it.
Ceiling texture, can be years old, and not even fall off.
So something is amiss, with your ceilings.

You best call in a Professional. To remove the ceiling surface.
And hopefully, that material on the ceiling, is not something toxic/asbestos etc. At one time, textured ceilings did contain asbestos, for example.
THUS, is it IMPORTANT, to KNOW, how to even remove.... your ceiling. When/if you demo it.

Your texture might have been put on too thick. Our house had that same problem too, pre-remodel.

You can scrape the ceiling and retexture on your own or have a professional do it. Menards rents equipment for texturing, I believe.

If you want a smooth ceiling, scrape off the existing texture and skim coat the ceiling with drywall mud and sand before painting. My parents did this in their house and it looks great!

edit* I wholeheartly agree with the others. A smooth finish is the way to go! :)