painting ceilings?

[BiggerPiggyBank]

Hi, Jenna,

I’ve done a lot of painting on ceilings. Are your ceilings textured, or
smooth? The textured ceilings are okay if they have already been sealed or
painted over, but the texture can get wet and come down in large patches if
you attempt to paint on an unsealed surface.

Try a test area, with plain
water, and see if the texture gets soggy before proceeding with paint. I
think they sell a primer/sealer that you can apply first if this is the
case.

I usually don’t use primer on ceilings – in fact, I’ve used everything from
cheap latex paint to expensive ceiling paint. If you have a bunch of white
or off-white paint left over from other projects, you can combine them and
use that to save money, but you must make sure that you have enough of this
“unique combo” to complete the job, or at least do one coat.

if the ceiling is dirty or discoloured, it might need more than one coat.
if it’s already white enough, however, you could get away with one coat of
ceiling paint.

ceiling paint is the preferred paint, of course – and they do make some that
are low odor. ceiling paint is thicker than the usual household latex, and
drips less. however, if you are also painting the walls, and the color
happens to be light, you might consider painting the ceiling in the same
color as the walls – this makes painting the walls and the ceiling much
easier, because you don’t have to “cut in”.

cutting in is the beginning of any paint job. it involves painting a strip
around the edge of the room, about 5″ deep, taking care not to touch or
smudge the surface that meets the one that you’re painting. So, if you’re
doing a ceiling, you first paint the outside edge, all the way around, being
careful not get the ceiling paint on the walls.

Although you can buy
“edging” tools for this, I haven’t found them to be particularly useful, so
I tend to use just paintbrush for that.

Next, you need a roller – a fairly thick one, in most cases, especially if
your ceiling has any kind of texture. And you’ll need a paint tray, and a
broom stick. Also some plastic bags, a damp cloth, and an old shower cap
are useful.

You can use a fairly large plastic bag to slide over the paint tray instead
of one of those plastic liners you can buy. You then pour the paint into
the plastic bag liner and use the tray as you would normally, except clean
up is easier, because you simply peel the bag off the tray, turning it
inside out as you go, and throw it away instead of washing up the tray.
Small sandwich baggies can be fastened with a rubber band to any door
handles to save splatters on them. The shower cap goes on your head, and
saves your hair from unplanned paint drips.

Also it’s a good idea to apply
hand lotion before you start painting, because it makes cleaning your hands
easier afterwards. The damp cloth is to use to wipe the inevitable drips or
spills before they become a permanent part of your walls, door frames, or
whatever.

Attach the broom handle to the roller, and begin painting! Start somewhere
away from the wall, and roll the paint in a fan shape, so paint on an angle
to the left, then do some straighter lines, then angle to the right. Keep
doing this, overlapping each new fan that you paint, and this will help
prevent visible paint roller marks.

By the time you start with the roller,
the cutting in edge will have dried a little and will look darker than the
fresh paint you are applying, but don’t worry — just overlap the cut in
edge a little bit, without hitting the wall, and when it dries, you won’t
see any line.

Ceiling paint is usually flat latex, although I have used semi-gloss with
good effect. If you have a choice, don’t buy oil – the clean up is awful
with that stuff. With latex, either wall or ceiling paint, you can just use
soap and water for clean up.

Good luck with your painting job!

Jane

[Author]

Posts