DIY painting wallpaper on the ceiling

Recommendation points

• Choice of paint and tinting
• Consumption, amount of paint
• Staining tool
• Room preparation
• Uniform coloring technique
• Skirting around skirting boards, joining work

In the repair of an apartment, there are tasks that a student can cope with. Painting wallpaper on the ceiling is a good example, but don’t be confused by the simplicity of this process. Better to aim for high quality and adopt a few professional recommendations.

Choice of paint and tinting

Water-based paints are used to paint wallpaper. Of the types of binders for coloring without tinting, alkyd-acrylate, polyvinyl acetate and latex are preferred, and for tinting it is better to purchase dispersion acrylics. For non-woven wallpaper, it is recommended to choose an acrylic base; for paper and glass cloth, almost any paint is suitable. Experimenting with pure alkyd or oil based enamels is strongly discouraged. Such paints are not as environmentally friendly as water-soluble paints, moreover, there is a high probability of damaging the very structure of the wallpaper..

The best coloring result is achieved by choosing a white paint as a base and then tinting it in the desired color. Without dye, staining is extremely rare, because even a small amount of color scheme significantly reduces the soiling of the ceiling, while maintaining visual lightness.

The cost of a paint directly correlates with its hiding power. Using cheap paint, you will have to repeat the stain 3-4 or more times, while when using high-quality paint, it is enough to apply two coats, and sometimes even one. Moreover, the more layers are applied, the lower the final surface quality. Also keep in mind that the darker the tinting of the paint, the better its base should be..

You can mix paint with color either on your own or in a vibration chamber. The latter can be called the best option: if the store has this kind of equipment, then you can not worry about the quality of paintwork materials, besides, the final color will be as close as possible to the custom color. Self-mixing is recommended only in cases where the ceiling of a small area is painted, where one bucket is enough.

Manually tint paint in two different containers and achieve the same tone is something of a fantasy. True, with a volume of 20 liters or more, the dosing accuracy of the color can already be considered quite high, in addition, a slight difference in color is allowed for different layers. In any case, tint the base in advance, at least two days in advance, and before painting, stir the paint thoroughly again.

Consumption, amount of paint

The consumption rate of water-based paints varies from 150 to 200 g / m² or 5–8 m²/ l. But here it is important to remember that this is the norm for one layer, which is usually not enough to obtain a deep and uniform color. The best option is to take a liter “probe” of the selected base and paint a small piece of gypsum board with the remnants of wallpaper pasted on it.

For confidence, you can tint a tone or two darker than the selected colors. The task is simple: determine the number of layers at which the coloring is guaranteed to become uniform, and defects in the base do not appear. If you paint the base with uneven spots before sticking the wallpaper, the check of the hiding power of the paint will be even better..

Preliminary paint tests are very important, especially if the substrate is chosen for the entire apartment. With due diligence, it is possible to determine both the real consumption and the final surface quality and the number of layers. It is much better to make a mistake in a test staining than when 20-30 liters of an expensive composition will be purchased. In addition, with a successful result, the liter of the base that was purchased for trial will not be wasted.

Staining tool

For painting ceilings, it is recommended to use special rollers with a protective cover. The optimal type of roller is VM or VMP, the pile length should correspond to the texture of the wallpaper. The width of the roller should be at least 25 cm, the wider, the more uniform the staining will be.

It is most convenient to paint the ceiling from the floor: the quality and uniformity of paint application on a real scale are clearly visible. To work from the floor, you will need an extension rod that is suitable in diameter to the roller handle, and preferably a telescopic type. Naturally, you will need a tray and a pair of brushes for subtle tracing of the perimeter and detailed painting of complex ceiling elements..

Spray painting is not a rational method. If for walls this is a completely suitable technique, then when spraying paint on the ceiling, the consumption increases by 20-30%. In addition, furniture may remain in the room and the presence of a finely dispersed suspension in the air will definitely not benefit it..

In addition to painting tools, you will need a reliable stepladder and several cuts of clean cloth, preferably dark, so that traces of paint on it are clearly visible. A wide spatula is useful for detailed painting of the places adjacent to the moldings. And, of course, do not forget about the head cap from the newspaper – the main weapon of any painter.

Room preparation

Ceilings are usually painted early in the renovation phase when the floor has not yet been installed. If the floor is already ready or you are carrying out cosmetic repairs, it must be covered without fail..

Unfortunately, a cheap covering film is not suitable for these purposes. It is too thin and will inevitably break when the ladder is moved. At the same time, you must remain mobile and be ready at any time to climb to the ceiling anywhere to remove the stuck insect. A protective paint film with a density of 30-40 g / m2 is optimal for such conditions.² or higher.

Moldings, sockets and other elements that should not be painted are easiest to protect with masking tape. Before starting painting, all these places should be pasted over, and the edge closest to the surface to be painted should be well pressed with a dry rag. Windows, doors, furniture and other interior details should be protected with plastic wrap, for these purposes you can already use the cheapest.

Uniform coloring technique

The first layer on the wallpaper is either a special primer or paint diluted by a third with clean water. At the same time, due to the high initial absorbency, all defects of the wallpaper appear. It is necessary to fix their location and paint well local areas with undiluted paint after the first layer has completely dried.

It is not difficult to achieve uniform coloring, but for this you need to know the number of layers in advance. Each of them is applied perpendicular to the previous one, while the stripes in each layer should overlap by about a third of the roller.

After applying the paint, there is no need to try to disperse it with a roller in different directions. Water-soluble paint begins to dry almost immediately after application, and any interaction with it 3-5 minutes after contact with the surface is fraught with a significant decrease in quality.

It is important to make sure that the last coat is applied along the direction of the natural light. Thus, the penultimate layer should lie across the light, and so on..

Correct painting of the ceiling requires that each subsequent layer falls on top of the completely dried previous one. The paint dries quickly and often at the end of one layer the place from which the work began is already dry. It would be a mistake to immediately return to it and proceed with the next application: the ceiling must dry completely, after which the quality of the result is checked and the room is ventilated.

Skirting around skirting boards, joining work

When painting the ceiling, leave untouched areas 5–7 cm from walls and all kinds of parts that cannot be painted. After applying each layer, climb the ladder and brush in these places..

If you are using masking tape, there are only two tricks. First, the edge should be firmly pressed down so that paint does not flow under it. The second point – when removing the adhesive tape, you need to act carefully so that the layer of paint on it does not pull the coating off the painted surface and does not form a torn edge. However, protection with adhesive tape is far from a panacea; outlining objects of complex shapes, for example, stucco, requires special care..

The brush must be pressed to the surface at an angle of 30–45? So that the pile adheres tightly to the ceiling, forming an even edge, smoothly turning into the painted plane. In this position, the brush makes circular movements in order to circle the obstacle tangentially, without lifting the nap of the brush..

Straight moldings that are not protected with tape are simply enough to circle under the spatula. The recommended width is about 40-50 cm, it should be placed perpendicular to the ceiling and then pulled back slightly so that the blade can bend, repeating the slightest irregularities.