Read the safety guide on the side of the ladder before you begin work.
If you would like to paint the ceiling rafters in your basement, employ specific preparation strategies based on the composition of the surface you are working with. If your rafters are metallic, they will not accept paint adhesion. You must pretreat metal rafters with a special acidic coating prior to painting, or they will shed their new finish. If the rafters are wood, they still aren't ideal candidates for paint until they are conditioned with a base coat of primer. Know the proper preparation and application techniques, or you will end up with flaking paint.
Instructions
1. Cover the basement floor with drop cloths.
2. Access the ceiling rafters, using a stepladder. Protect surfaces adjacent to the rafters by covering them with painter's tape.
3. Descend the ladder. Open the container of primer and stir the contents for three full minutes. Pour a 1/2-gallon of paint into a 1-gallon painter's pot.
4. Put on your respirator.
5. Scale the ladder with the painter's pot and paintbrush in hand. Coat wooden basement ceiling rafters with latex primer, using the paintbrush. Use a galvanized metal etching primer on metallic rafters. Brush in long, horizontal strokes. Wait four hours for the primer to dry.
6. Wash your painting tools with water.
7. Coat the primed basement ceiling rafters with a flat, satin or semigloss latex paint. Apply the paint just as you did the primer. Wait two hours. Apply a second coat of paint if you have poor coverage.
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