Hi all,
A few weeks back I posted a question about installing a strip wood ceiling. Thanks for the advice provided here. It is all up and looks good. The boards (5/16 pine) were all primed before installation, and I have applied a quick second coat of primer after installation. Now it is time to paint. The plan is to have an off white ceiling.
The grooves between the boards present a challenge, as do some of the knots, warping and other imperfections in the wood. It all adds character to the ceiling, but makes it harder to paint.
I started working with a 2 1/2″ brush, but took over an hour to do 7 rows. They look great, but at that rate it should take about 16 hours to do two coats. That’s a bit much!! So I am looking for some tips.
The options as I see them are to use a roller or spray. Are there any others?
Spray “sounds” great, but I have never done it before. I am not sure I should use my new ceiling as guinea pig for my first spraying job. Any thoughts? Would spraying be the best way to get a good finish? Is it really that risky, or should I be fine as long as I go slow, keep the flow rate low, and have lots of rags handy? If so, any suggestions on a sprayer? I can by a Wagner unit for about $100, but would it be suitable for this job, or would I be better of renting a higher end unit?
The second option is rolling. I am well acquainted with the device, so no problems there. I am considering a roller for semi-flat surfaces. My thinking is – keep the roller fairly dry to avoid getting too much paint in the grooves. Apply the paint, then use a brush to quickly clear the grooves of excess paint, then pass the roller over a second time for a smoothing pass. Work in small areas at a time to make sure the paint doesn’t dry too much before I am done, then move to the next section. Has anyone tried this before? Would a roller work on this kind of surface, or should I stick with either the brush or the spray.
Your thoughts appreciated. After all the work installing the ceiling, I don’t want to screw up the paint job!
Replies
All I can say is I've used a roler with stain before to get the stain on the siding without splashing too much of it all over me and everything else (which using the brush alone was doing). I then brushed it out after I'd gotten it up there with the roller. I would think your idea would work with painting your ceiling. Lots of folks here know about spraying. I've used a sprayer three times in my life. Main concern would be overspray and having to mask off what you don't want painted. I guess the overspray with the modern HVLP sprayers isn't much of a problem.
Use a bigger brush. Okay, I'm not trying to be cocky or anything. My experience is that rolling then brushing it out works well for stains but not so well for latex paint. (I'm assuming you're using latex?) The problem is the paint starts to dry too fast and you get a grainy brush texture. If you switch to a good quality 4" brush things will move along a lot faster. I emphasize good quality because it will deliver more paint to the surface faster and more evenly. Expect to pay $18 to $25 for the brush.
There is one exception to rolling and brushing it out. I worked with a partner to paint a beaded ceiling once. He was on the floor with the roller and I was on the stilts with my 4" brush and a can of paint to keep the brush wet. He rolled and I brushed it out just as fast. It took about an hour per coat since we didn't have to do any straight edges, all the edges were going to be trimmed out afterward.
I don't suggest spraying because by the time you get the sprayer, set it up, mask everything off... you could have the job done. Just keep on brushing and don't stop till it's done. But definately get a bigger brush.
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Edited 4/5/2006 4:31 pm by Ted W.
Thanks for the responses.
As for masking .. the room is under construction. The only thing that would need masking is the window and some pot lights hanging from the ceiling. It would not be a time consuming task to do it, so that doesn't really factor into the decision about spraying.
As for the brush, I am using a good quality one. The cheap ones would never give the kind of knife edge I need to try and get in between the boards. The boards are 3" so that is why I opted for a brush a little narrower than the boards. I want to do one at a time to have better control and less brush marks. But it's a big job!! Hence the search for alternatives. A wider brush might work, but I'm a bit reluctant.
As for the roller, yes I am using latex, and I do understand the concerns about drying time. That's why I was thinking of working one small section at a time. But it still might not work due to the drying time. Maybe I will experiment on some scrap.
Use a sprayer... and then backbrush. The sprayer is just getting the material on the ceiling (or whatever you are spraying in a lot of cases) and the brush works it in and removes any excess material. I would reccomend renting a good quality sprayer, like a spraytech, titan, or grayco (not the home depot special), from a paint store or rental center... or just borrow one if you can. I use a Titan 440 inside... it's small and easy to move... or a spraytech 2300 if doing large jobs. Just make sure that you clean it out exceptionally well!
There's a product called Flotrol (I think that's the name--one for latex has different name than the one for oil-based) that slows drying and allows the paint to be brushed out better. That may help.
Boy if the room doesnt need much masking, your day could look like this.
7am: wake up, pour coffee
8am be at paint store getting paint, picking up rental pump
830 back home
900 ceiling painted, cleaning pump
915 loading up the car
10am showing buddies cool new ceiling
"Sometimes when I consider what tremendous consequences come from little things, I am tempted to think -- there are no little things" - Bruce Barton
Given that extra bit of important info I gotta agree with RW, although setting up and completing the painting in 1/2 hour doesn't seem likely (that was 2 coats, right?). If you're gonna do some testing on scrap, you should be testing the sprayer.-----------------------------------------------------------
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