Have you finally decided to go ahead and paint that ceiling in your house? Even after taking all of the precautions and prepping the ceiling for the final paint, there might be some confusion regarding how to go about it. It may seem simple, but which direction should you paint a ceiling?!
There are a lot of opinions on this but the most common suggestion is to roll toward the primary source of natural light that is coming into the room. Many experts also suggest. only painting in one direction for the best finish.
It is always better to know how to go about the entire process, I mean, why take unnecessary risk? Painting the wrong way might just ruin your entire ceiling and that can be very annoying.
Let’s take a look at how to correctly paint the ceiling. All of these methods can work wonderfully, the only thing is that you should do them properly.
When Painting A Ceiling Do You Paint Towards The Window?
Although there is no one specific direction in which you should paint for the best results, painting towards the window makes the entire process a bit simpler and is recommended by many experts.
You can see the wet paint reflecting the sunlight which makes it easier to paint evenly. It also helps to see any kind of irregularities.
Does It Matter Which Direction You Paint A Ceiling
The direction in which you paint does not really matter as long as you are painting in a uniform direction. For example if you are only painting in the forward direction then make sure you are doing it the same way till you finish.
Changing the direction in the middle of painting can create an uneven coat which will just look bad.
The other common opinion in the market is that you should start painting from one edge of the ceiling which is nearest to the window in the room. There is a logical reasoning for this, the light coming from the window will reflect the wet paint on the ceiling.
This way you can easily keep track of how the paint job is going. You will also be able to see any uneven surfaces or paint drops on the ceiling.
Tips To Follow Before Painting The Ceiling
Let me summarize some of the tips which you should follow while you are going to be painting. The first thing which you should remember is to protect your walls from paint.
The easiest and safest thing to do here is to take tape and put it along the edge of the ceiling and the wall. This way even if some paint drops get on the wall, it will be protected by the tape. You can simply remove this tape once the painting is done.
The second tip would be to “cut in”, this step will allow you to use the roller more fluently because the edges would have already been painted. This way you won’t have to go the edges while painting which might drop some paint on to the walls.
Simply use a brush and paint one line across the perimeter but only do one coat. Paint another coat once the entire painting is over. The line should be the width of the brush and if the brush is too thin and then you can double it as well.
Your goal while doing the first coat is not to evenly coat everything, It is about putting a hefty coat of paint on there so you can even it out in the next coat. This does not mean that you should put the first coat unevenly, try to do it as smooth as possible so it can look even better the next time.
How Do You Prevent Roller Marks When Painting Ceiling
Roller marks can look really bad on the finished ceiling and it is a pain to do the entire ceiling again. This can also be quite hard on your pockets, buying all of that paint can be quite expensive especially the second time.
So how can you avoid this from happening? There are multiple tips for this. First, you don’t want to handle too much paint at the same time.
Make sure your roller is not carrying a lot of extra paint on it. It should not be dripping with paint. If you roll with extra paint, it can create some pretty nasty lines.
The second point is to paint the second coat from the opposite direction. You will anyways have to coat the ceiling a second time for the best results. So, might as well do them in the opposite direction.
Even after this if you end up with roller lines then you can simply roll over those lines using very light pressure. This will clean up all of the lines.
Conclusion…
Painting a ceiling can be a very enjoyable experience but you should still follow all of the tips to make the experience even better.
You will end up with an excellent look and finish on the ceiling. You should not rush the entire process as it can leave an even look so go ahead and take you time.
One thing to remember is finish one coat completely before stopping as it will lead to the ceiling evenly drying.
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