Painting a ceiling the proper way
Painting a ceiling might seem a bit of a challenge, but they are no more difficult than painting walls.
Painting a ceiling should be the first job on the list, prior to decorating the rest of the room.
I have been asked many times not to paint a ceiling, because the client thinks it either does not need doing, or it will cost too much.
Neither of those statements are true.
You cannot half decorate rooms, as it will always look like a half decorated room. And it’s not any more expensive than painting walls.
Like most things in life, if you prepare properly and have the right tools then any job will go much smoother.
Tool List
You will need the following tools for painting a ceiling:
- Step ladder
- Scuttle (square bucket for holding paint)
- Extension pole
- Paint roller arm and microfibre sleeve
- Paint brush
- Dust sheets
- Filling Knives – up to 6 inch and/or a plasterer’s trowel.
- Mastic gun for caulk.
- Paint Kettle (plastic paint pot for holding paint when painting with a brush)
- Materials List
- Paint – a good contract emulsion (MacPherson’s Eclipse, Leyland Super Laytex or Tikkurila Anti-Reflex)
- Filler – Use Easi Fill available from Wickes, B&Q etc…
- Caulk – Use Everbuild’s Caulk Once if possible
- Sand paper – 120 grade
- Scrim (if required)
Step 1 – Prep the area, prior to painting a ceiling
Good decorating is all about good preparation, don’t skimp on this part of the process.
Spend some time in identifying areas of lumps and bumps and general cracks that will require filling.
Move out as much furniture as you can or put it in the central part of the room, before painting the ceiling.
Put the dusheets down to cover any remaining furniture and to prevent any mess from going onto the carpet or finished floor below.
If you have long straight cracks on the ceiling then these are best treated by using scrim to prevent the crack from coming back.
Scrim comes in the form of a sticky tape that looks like a medical bandage. This is simply stuck on over the crack and then filled to hide the tape.
This process of filling over the tape needs to be done with a wide filling knife (6 inch) or a plasterer’s trowel and it needs to be filled twice as a minimum.
Step 2 – Preparation with filler
Fill any areas of lumpiness with the easi-fill to try and minimise the lump or bump. This process is called feathering.
Use a 6 inch wide filling knife for feathering out the lumps and bumps and try to lessen the severity of the unevenness.
You may not lose the entire unevenness but you will help it to look much better than before. Old ceilings in older houses suffer with this much more.
Once the filler is dry, then simply sand down gently as easi-fill can be quite soft. You don’t want to rub away all the filler.
If there are cracks between where the wall meets the ceiling or they look quite rough, then use the caulk to fill these areas.
Put the caulk tube in the mastic gun, cut the tip at 45 degrees and angle the gun at about 45 degrees as well.
Simply squeeze the trigger and run along the edge. Smooth off the excess caulk with a wet finger.
Step 3 – Cutting in
‘Cutting in’ is a term used by decorators for painting areas with a brush, where the roller cannot reach. Pour the paint into a paint kettle and use this for holding the paint.
So you will have to ‘cut in’ or paint the perimeter of the room (ceilings meet the wall edges) and around light fixtures. TIP: Remove light shades from lights to prevent paint from getting on it or simply cover these with plastic sheeting if a chandelier.
Step 4 – Painting the ceiling, work away from the light.
Now for the main event. For the best finish this has to be completed in one go.
Pour the paint into the scuttle and attach the extension pole onto the roller and sleeve.
You will need to start in an area that works away from the light. This will help you greatly in making sure you don’t miss any areas when painting the ceiling, especially when painting white on white.
Step 5 – Paint in sections and keep the ‘wet edge’ going
What I do when painting the ceiling, is to paint in sections. In order to make sure you don’t miss areas use a marker in the room or on a ceiling to paint up to.
For example, paint up the first ceiling downlighters (if you have downlighters) before moving on. Or paint halfway up the central light, before moving onto the light itself.
Or if you have no ceiling markers to paint up to, use a marker in the room say a window or door
Always paint across the width of a room (usually more narrow then the length).
The important thing here about painting in sections, is to keep the ‘wet edge’ going. The ‘wet edge’ is the leading edge of wet paint on the ceiling.
As you keep painting, this stays wet as the rest of the ceiling is starting to dry. You keep this wet edge going until you have finished the whole ceiling. That’s why it has to be done in one go.
Once you have finished the first coat, wait for it to dry, before applying the same process as above for the second coat.
I have painted many ceilings in London. If you need help with painting your ceiling in London, feel free to contact me
Give it a go, it’s not as difficult as it looks.
