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If you're painting a whole room, paint the ceiling before doing the walls or trim. Prepare your smooth ceiling for painting by dusting thoroughly with a broom; washing it; and fixing problems such as stains and mildew, cracked plaster, or popped nails on drywall. (To paint acoustic tile or popcorn ceilings, see the section named "Painting acoustic ceilings" in this article.)
As for paint, use ceiling paint, which is formulated to spatter less, diffuse light more evenly, and have an even, flat sheen. If desired, you can have the paint technician tint the ceiling paint to coordinate with your wall paint (most painters use a 25 percent tint).
Get ready to paint your smooth ceiling by filling your toolbox with the following items:
- Telescoping extension pole
- Stepladder (if necessary)
Ceiling painting by the numbers
Painting a smooth ceiling takes about half a day or less to complete. Grab your brush and follow these steps:
1. Prep the room, wash the ceilings, and let it dry throughly.
Placing dropcloths on the floor, tape the walls where they meet the ceiling with 2-inch blue painter's tape. Pretreat stained areas on the ceiling by priming them with an oil-based sealer.
2. Stir the ceiling paint thoroughly and pour some into the tray.
3. Starting in the corner farthest from the door on the narrowest wall, cut in the edges of the ceiling with a 2-inch sash brush.
Cut in only small sections of wall at a time, about 3 to 6 feet.
4. Wearing a hat and goggles and using a roller attached to an extension handle, paint a roughly 3-foot diagonal line on the ceiling to unload paint from the roller.
5. Distribute paint by rolling the roller over the diagonal line back and forth, not side to side, in the direction of the diagonal line.
Start each new stroke by slightly overlapping the previous stroke.
6. On the final stroke before reloading the roller, roll toward the door.
7. Repeat Steps 3 through 6 all the way around the ceiling.
Painting acoustic ceilings
 | Have plain white acoustic ceiling tiles? Paint those tiles with tinted ceiling paint to make them more attractive. What you lose in sound reduction you make up for in looks! Lots of restaurants paint their acoustic ceilings black or dark brown to make them seem to disappear, but you may want to opt for a color that coordinates with your wall color for a cozy effect. |
 | If you don't have smooth ceilings but rather acoustic "popcorn ceilings," you need to be careful. Popcorn ceilings have a sprayed on or painted on texture treatment that resembles popcorn or cottage cheese when dry. The additive that gives the paint its texture is fragile; it melts when it gets wet, and it can wipe off onto the roller. Even sweeping a popcorn ceiling can loosen the additive. So if you paint a popcorn ceiling, be sure to use the fewest paint strokes possible and paint in only one direction to minimize the amount of stuff raining down on your head. Alternately, you can spray on the paint. |
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