Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 15 of 17

Thread: Question for the Painters -- Spraying Walls, Ceiling and Crown

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Location
    Cedar Park, TX (NW Austin)
    Posts
    578

    Question for the Painters -- Spraying Walls, Ceiling and Crown

    We are gutting the first floor of our house and removing all doors, cabinets, trim (except crown), flooring, furniture etc. The house will be empty. I will need to paint the walls, ceilings and crown and plan on using an airless sprayer. So my questions is -- "what is the best order to paint those three items?" They will be different colors and/or sheens. It is about 1400 square feet with 10' ceilings. While I am not opposed to rolling the walls or ceiling I do not want to brush the crown. I have a Graco fine finish tip for the crown. Thanks in advance.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
    Location
    Lake Gaston, Henrico, NC
    Posts
    8,973
    Paint the walls first. For the second color, as you go up, Green tape the transition to the wall for the next color above, and drape the walls with the lightweight clinging wall drape. I like the wall drape with the built in masking tape on one edge, but you can't depend on that masking tape to be good enough for a clean transition. Ceiling last, with tape, and narrow drape over the crown. It doesn't matter if some paint gets on the parts that are going to be painted next, but obviously, it's easier to drape a wall, than a ceiling.

    Any caulking needed on the crown is done after the walls are sprayed, and draped. Fingers can wipe off excess caulking on the drape, and it saves a lot of up and down to clean finger otherwise.

    This is the way I have done it many times, and it works for me, but I expect there will be more opinions.

    edited to add: for a tall wall, I use the clinging wall drape without tape on the lower part, and the kind with the built in tape is put up last, and drapes over the covering below.

    For caulking interior, I like the quick drying type, not so much because it dries quick, but because it does dry quick, it also shrinks less. The finger is to take off excess caulking, rather than to spread it out, and leave two raised edges (I hate that). It should look invisible. I've had two different Architects tell me that I'm the best finish carpenter they've ever seen, but what they didn't recognize, because they could see the evidence, was that I am the best caulker they've ever seen.
    Last edited by Tom M King; 05-07-2019 at 8:33 AM.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    Lafayette, IN
    Posts
    4,563
    What Tom said, except for one thing.

    Caulk is applied BEFORE painting. I was a pro painter for almost 20 years—I didn’t know any colleagues who caulked after painting. Caulk attracts dirt, and paint protects it from that. Make sure you use a high-quality caulk that is clearly marked, “PAINTABLE.”
    Jason

    "Don't get stuck on stupid." --Lt. Gen. Russel Honore


  4. #4
    Do any filling of nail holes and or preparation/patching needed on walls.

    Sand everything to 220 grit trim walls ceilings. Use a sanding pad on a pole for the field of walls and ceilings hand sand edges were they meet trim.

    Rosin paper on floors in full. Blue tape on floor perimeters masking tape to hold the paper to the blue tape. Drop clothes over all this. Liquid mask on all window glass, it’s brushes on and does not stick to the wood. You cut it free with a razor blade with easy when done.

    Spray everything with a even coat of primer.

    Sand everything back to 220 vacuum tack cloth everything and caulk everything. Some stuff will take two coats of caulk. Check walls and trim again for misses. If misses repair and just spot prime with a brush and then sand primed area with 220.

    Vacuum and tack again after caulk dries.

    Now cut and roll ceilings. Two coats ceiling flat.

    Then cut and roll walls two coats of whatever sheen you want.

    You can do the mask and spray everything but honestly I think it kinda comes out like crap. If you do opt to go that route at least back roll your coats to get roller stipple. The stipple hides blemishes in the walls.

    My two cents.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
    Location
    Lake Gaston, Henrico, NC
    Posts
    8,973
    I agree with all prep work done before any painting, or even masking. I didn't intend to suggest otherwise, and don't know why I even typed it like that-must have been carrying on another conversation while I was typing that.

    For some reason, I can't edit my previous post. I'm sorry for the confusion it caused. The part I wrote about caulking after painting the walls is not only wrong, it's stupid.

    As to rolling walls, I never did it, but I'm not following anyone else's work on any of the previous steps, having done everything, so there are no blemishes on the walls before they're finish painted. After someone buys the house, they can deal with any damage they do.
    Last edited by Tom M King; 05-11-2019 at 4:28 PM.

  6. I agree with what the above about prep.
    Then I always first spray the trim without masking anything towards the body of the walls. Usually when you spray against tape you get a hard line after, since it builds up against the tape.
    After trim is finished you scuff sand quickly the finish paint that got on the wall and proceed to roll ceiling and walls and cut in against trim.
    I would not recommend spraying the walls without back rolling, if you ever need to do a touch up or repair it’s harder to match the nonexistent texture of spraying, vs the slight orange peel a roller nap gives you.
    Hope that helps

  7. #7
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Location
    Highland MI
    Posts
    4,511
    Blog Entries
    11
    And as for caulk, I am really liking Dap Dynaflex 230, recommended to me by a friend that did big hotel refurbishing and now is the super/carpenter on a multi million dollar home on Lake Michigan. Readily available. And for pro spraying (and other painting) tips, check out the Idaho Painter's YouTube channel. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...3jlQfrv-sZeacp

    Backroll for sure. But I swear, next time I do a ceiling, I am using the stuff that goes on pink so you can see there you have been. Ceiling paint is the same color as the primer and before too long everything just looks white and you end up with stripes.
    Last edited by Ole Anderson; 05-11-2019 at 6:26 PM.
    NOW you tell me...

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
    Location
    Lake Gaston, Henrico, NC
    Posts
    8,973
    Yes, I had gotten to the point that if I didn't use the color change ceiling paint, I would always have to do at least one room again.

    I never had anyone complain that my walls were too smooth, but that was one of many details that meant that I never held a house for longer than two weeks, once I put a price on it. I didn't put a price on one until I was sure what I had in it, and was done with it.

    edited to add: I'm glad these days, that I'm doing lime plaster walls, that don't get painted. About the only interior spraying I've done since 2007 is in our house, on additions, or some other volunteer work.
    Last edited by Tom M King; 05-11-2019 at 7:28 PM.

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by Tom M King View Post

    I've had two different Architects tell me that I'm the best finish carpenter they've ever seen, but what they didn't recognize, because they could see the evidence, was that I am the best caulker they've ever seen.
    "Caulk, putty, and paint makes a carpenter what he ain't." Caulk, AKA beauty cream, cause it makes it look good.

  10. #10
    Wow pointless lime plaster.

    Now that’s top quality imop..

    Quote Originally Posted by Tom M King View Post
    Yes, I had gotten to the point that if I didn't use the color change ceiling paint, I would always have to do at least one room again.

    I never had anyone complain that my walls were too smooth, but that was one of many details that meant that I never held a house for longer than two weeks, once I put a price on it. I didn't put a price on one until I was sure what I had in it, and was done with it.

    edited to add: I'm glad these days, that I'm doing lime plaster walls, that don't get painted. About the only interior spraying I've done since 2007 is in our house, on additions, or some other volunteer work.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
    Location
    Lake Gaston, Henrico, NC
    Posts
    8,973
    I have it down to where I'm using modern materials, that are really pretty cheap, to my own recipes. I used to buy it in bags from Virginia Lime Works, but they went out of business. There is another place that sells it in bags, but I like my formulas better. Too long to type out here. I found some reprints of books that were published in the early 20th Century, before gypsum plaster took over, decades before sheetrock. Now I make my own.

    Gypsum plaster is one of the "advances" in building technology that is all about faster, and cheaper taking the forefront, while quality, and longevity goes down, but that's a long story too.

  12. #12
    No bum kissing here but I really value and respect the varied depth of your knowledge base and commitment or interest maybe both to a job well done..

    Quote Originally Posted by Tom M King View Post
    I have it down to where I'm using modern materials, that are really pretty cheap, to my own recipes. I used to buy it in bags from Virginia Lime Works, but they went out of business. There is another place that sells it in bags, but I like my formulas better. Too long to type out here. I found some reprints of books that were published in the early 20th Century, before gypsum plaster took over, decades before sheetrock. Now I make my own.

    Gypsum plaster is one of the "advances" in building technology that is all about faster, and cheaper taking the forefront, while quality, and longevity goes down, but that's a long story too.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
    Location
    Lake Gaston, Henrico, NC
    Posts
    8,973
    My apologies for entering my first post in this thread without proof-reading it. I wish I could go back and edit it, but can't now. After thinking about it, when I said "caulk" the crown molding after the walls, what I must have been thinking, but didn't type it that way was "paint" it, in order, after painting the walls.

    As far as my "green tape", I forgot that there is some type of green masking tape these days. When I call for "green tape" to one of my helpers, I'm asking for 3M fineline tape that's used in autobody work. It comes in all sorts of widths. I think the number is 218. It's not cheap, but I want to be done with the job, so I can move on to the next one. It probably won't stick to a wall that has been stippled with a roller.

    You also can't load up a thick layer of paint over the edge of that, or any tape, and expect to pull it back off leaving a clean line.

    I'll try to think to take a picture today of one of my wall to trim transitions, and post it back here, if I can get what I want to show up in a photo.

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    SE PA - Central Bucks County
    Posts
    65,688
    Tom, do you mean you want the original response changed to reflect caulking the crown before any painting? I or another moderator can make that change for you since the edit window expired. I know I'd do all the caulking first.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    Lafayette, IN
    Posts
    4,563
    To get evenly sprayed ceilings when they're textured, cross-hatch two light coats. Apply the second coat immediately after the first, you can even work in sections. If it's a smooth ceiling, backroll it.
    Jason

    "Don't get stuck on stupid." --Lt. Gen. Russel Honore


Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •