Flat ceilings are easier to paint than contoured ones.
Painting a flat ceiling is a fairly routine job. A paintbrush is used to go over the perimeter of the ceiling, and then a roller is used to paint the rest of the ceiling. Flat paint is the preferred type of paint for most ceilings, because it doesn't reflect light. This helps to hide imperfections, as well as roller lines. An extension pole fastened to the roller can make it possible to cover most of the ceiling without the use of a ladder.
Instructions
1. Slide a roller cover with a 1/2-inch nap over the spindle of the roller frame. Screw an extension pole into the frame's threaded handle.
2. Lay painter's plastic over the floor. Lay drop cloths around the perimeter of the plastic where it meets the walls. Using the drop cloths eliminates the need to tape down the plastic.
3. Set up an A-frame ladder in a corner of the room.
4. Pour 2 inches of flat paint into a handheld paint holder. Climb the ladder. Dip a paintbrush into the paint so that an inch of the bristles are covered.
5. Wipe the paint off the sides of the brush bristles using the lip of the paint holder. This will ensure the paint doesn't drip while you hold the brush vertically. If you aren't painting the walls, then cut or paint a straight line in the corner between the wall and the ceiling. Keep the paint on the ceiling and don't let the brush touch the wall. If you are planning to paint the walls, though, you don't need to be quite as careful, because you will be doing them after the ceiling is finished.
6. Paint all the way around the ceiling with the brush, covering about 4 inches of the perimeter all the way around the room. Move the ladder clockwise as you go. Dip the paintbrush into new paint after every stroke.
7. Pour 1/2 gallon of flat ceiling paint into a paint tray in the middle of the floor. Dip the roller into the paint until the fibers of the nap are saturated but not dripping.
8. Walk to one side of the room and place the roller into the corner, perpendicular to the wall. Overlap the painted border by an inch and roll from one end of the ceiling to the other. Roll back over the same area to even out the paint and smooth out any roller lines. Make sure your pressure's even. Keeping the extension pole exactly vertical will minimize roller lines.
9. Dip the roller back into the paint tray and begin a second pass across the ceiling, overlapping the first pass by 2 inches. Repeat until the entire ceiling has been painted from border to border. Smooth out the paint lines between passes by going back and forth over them with the middle of the roller.
Tags: , extension pole, roller lines, drop cloths, flat ceiling