Painting popcorn ceiling is an enjoyable job, if you are a do it yourself guy and love painting of course! Popcorn ceilings have nothing to do with popcorns, other than the fact that they have a texture that looks like popcorns stuck on the roof! Popcorn ceilings or acoustic ceilings are a feature of almost all buildings, built in the 70’s or 80’s. They were a result of cost cutting techniques by builders of those times. With a popcorn ceiling, they saved roof smoothing cost. Fortunately, these roofs also turned out to be a hit with buyers. Painted popcorn ceilings look great if painted in a typical way with the right color combinations. This article is all about painting popcorn ceiling on your own. This is a nice and simple interior painting project for people who like to beautify their homes on their own.
Preparation for Painting Popcorn Ceiling
Painting popcorn ceiling is a huge paint drip, splash and splatter experience. Paint is going to rain down in all directions. So first thing you need to do is remove as much furniture as you can from the room being painted. If removing furniture is not possible, cover the furniture with plastic sheets or cloth. Spread drop cloths on the floor to avoid a floor scrubbing project later! Use masking paper, masking tape and plastic to cover the walls and furniture. To prevent them from getting painted, remove all the light fixtures from the room or pack them thoroughly. Also before you start off, cleaning popcorn ceiling is important. Do not clean it roughly. Take care not to dislodge the texture.
There is one more consideration before you go ahead. How to paint a wall with a popcorn ceiling? You have to decide whether you are going to paint the walls along with the ceiling or not! If you paint the walls along with the roof, which is recommended, you will have will not have to do a lot of masking. Of course, paint the walls after you paint the popcorn ceiling. That way, you can choose a matching color combination for the walls and ceiling.
However, if you are happy with you wall color, then you have a huge wall masking task ahead. Use a lot of masking paper, plastic and tape. Make sure all of it is covered properly.
Choosing Paint for Painting Popcorn Ceilings
You can choose the color of paint according to your choice and liking. One thing to be remembered is that the quality of paint will be inversely proportional to the number of coatings and the hard work you put in. That is, better the quality of paint you use, lesser will be the number of coats needed and lesser the effort. Even one lesser coat applied will save you a lot of money and valuable time. A flat sheen color is recommended. It is not necessary that you use a shiny paint unless you live in a high humidity area. If you do live in a high humidity coastal area, then use a semi gloss sheen.
Thinning Paint for Painting Popcorn Ceilings
One should not apply dense acrylic paint directly to the ceiling. Chances are that it will rip the popcorn texture off from the ceiling. So its better to dilute or thin the acrylic paint up to 20% . The thinning liquid used can be water. It is absolutely necessary that the ceiling texture soaks in the acrylic paint. Experiment with the amount of water needed to make the paint sufficiently thin. Apply and see if its the right proprtion. Approximately half a quarter of water for every gallon is a reasonably good ratio and solve the purpose.
Painting Popcorn Ceiling Methods
There are two ways in which you could paint the popcorn ceiling. One is by spraying and the other is by rolling paint. Let us have a detailed look at both these popcorn ceiling painting methods.
Spray Painting Popcorn Ceilings
Spraying is the more enjoyable of the two methods. Here are some spray painting tips and techniques, for painting your popcorn ceiling. Buy an airless sprayer, specially designed for spray painting. Generally, two nicely thick paints will produce excellent results. Two things should be taken into consideration. The thinning will vary with the kind of brand type of the paint. Choosing the right spray tip is very important as that will decide your spraying pattern. It is important that you spray the paint without breaks and the paint looks continuous. For this to happen, you will have to adjust the spray tip diameter till you get it right. Before you go on to spraying paint on the wall, test spray on paper or cardboard. Once you start spraying in one direction, maintain that direction. The next coat must be applied in the reverse direction. Take a break of an hour or two, between two coatings, so that the stuff dries. Doing this will ensure that, an evenly spread color and sheen is achieved.
Painting Popcorn Ceilings by Rolling
Alternatively, if you are willing to do more labor intensive work, go for painting the popcorn ceiling by rolling. This can get really messy. Do not forget to use protective clothing as there is going to be a lot of dripping. Also wear a headgear and safety glasses.
Buy a lambs wool roller cover or synthetic covers for the roller. Use a bucket and a roller setup to do the job. Rolling paint on popcorn ceiling is a simple job. The only problem that lies with it is covering the edges of the roof. Use a separate paint brush for that purpose. Do not apply too much pressure while rolling as that may cause the texture to come off it. You will require three to four coats for good effect.
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