Need advice regarding painting.

[Laurian]

We have lived in our house for 20 years and the bedrooms still have the original paint from when the house was built. Now that I'm retired, I've decided that I will paint each of them with a goal of finishing the four rooms by early fall. (I'm finding the job to be more physically demanding than I expected, so I paint one day and then take several days off.) I've mostly finished the first room. I'm happy with the color and the results EXCEPT where the walls meet the ceiling. It is uneven in some places. I taped it off before starting because I know my hand is not very steady. I'm thinking the walls may be a little uneven but it was not noticeable before because the wall color and the ceiling color were vey similar.

I'm thinking I need to carefully re-tape and paint the top of the walls again to try to correct the problem. Oh, but I dread doing that. My husband says nobody will notice, but I notice and it will drive me crazy the way it is now.

Any experienced painters here with a solution to my problem? I'd like to figure this out before I start on the second room.

Thanks!

[jeff47]

1. First, you will always see flaws

The disadvantage of doing it yourself is you will see flaws that no one else will.

Some options off the top of my head:
1) Make the walls and ceilings the same color. That way it doesn't matter if you get "wall" paint on the ceiling.

2) Correct the problem only where you see it - you don't need to repaint everything if there's only a few uneven spots. Since you have exactly the same paint and it's still new, the patches will dry exactly the same as the rest of the wall...might be hard to convince yourself of that though since you will remember where the patches were.

3) Bust out the carpentry skills and put up crown molding

What are you painting with? Many people find foam brushes to be easier when they first start with delicate work. Once they have some practice, bristle brushes work better. Also, an angled brush will help get close to the ceiling without getting any paint on the ceiling.

[Laurian]

4. Thanks so much for the quick reply.

I was letting myself get totally discouraged over this. I think I will try taping and repainting the trouble spots. I really relied on the blue painters tape for my guideline, but I think I didn't foresee the problem because the original wall and ceiling colors were so similar. The new wall color is a much more distinctive contrast.

Crown molding will be a back up if the painting doesn't work out. I'm doing the painting myself to save the money I would have used to hire a contractor so that I can splurge on some new furnishings. The "flaws" may be less noticeable once the blinds and furniture are back in the room.

[Warpy]

2. Trust me, nobody will notice.

Unless you've painted part of the ceiling, even a few blobs of paint are not noticeable. I know, I've painted rooms in Boston where the walls joined the ceiling very unevenly, there was no way to tape anything and it all had to be done freehand.

Crown molding didn't help much as the plaster+lath walls were all bumpy and uneven.

You only notice the flaws because you made 'em. Nobody else is going to see them.

[Laurian]

5. Thanks for the encouragement!

My husband also said nobody would notice. He reminded me that trying to fix it could lead to unending grief by telling me about a cutting board he made when he was in high school. He kept working on it and working on it to make it square. He ended up with a little tiny (uneven) cutting board. Sometimes it's hard to leave well enough alone!

[Dead_Parrot]

3. Coving

I get that, and it bugs the hell out me: If the walls/ceiling are irregular, it's damn near impossible to get the right color on the right surface. What's worked for me is adding some cheap, flexible coving to cover the join. If you fix it with adhesive (some come with a peel-and-stick backing) it's not too much like hard work.

If the wall's so lumpy you have to plug gaps in the coving with filler, paint the coving ceiling colored but the face-down, bottom edge of the coving wall colored - it's in shadow so you can't really see it, and you finish the color on an outside corner which is easier to keep neat. You can also paint the coving before putting it up, which helps.

[Laurian]

6. Thanks.

Ha, I had to google "coving"! Does that tell you how inexperienced I am with DIY? It's like crown molding, right? If I can't get an acceptable result with paint, I'm going to check out this option.

[jeff47]

8. It's a small moulding

What makes it crown moulding is where you stick it on the wall, not the shape.

Top of wall and onto the ceiling - crown moulding
Top of wall and not on ceiling - frieze (This almost always has crown molding above it)
Middle of wall, about 3 feet off the floor - chair rail
Bottom of wall and over the floor - baseboard

Then there's a name for the individual shapes commonly used for the moulding in each location. Cove crown moulding looks like this.

The location is actually important - there's another kind of cove moulding meant to be baseboard. It looks like this.

If you go with the moulding, another poster mentioned the problem of uneven walls. The moulding is straight. The walls and ceiling probably aren't. The way you solve that problem is with acrylic caulk. It will stretch as the moulding expands and contracts with humidity. Run the caulking along the bottom and top of the moulding to fill the gap, and then use a putty knife covered with a damp rag to make it flat. The idea is to make it look like you shaped the back of the crown moulding so that it fit the wobbles in the wall and ceiling.

Note that you should not use silicone caulking for this, or any other caulking meant to seal against water. You want the stuff in the paint aisle that's only good for filling holes and gaps before painting.

And if you do go with some sort of crown moulding, you will have to paint it too. But the sharp transition of the moulding helps to hide imperfections in the transition between the wall, moulding and ceiling because of all the shadows created by the moulding.

[Dead_Parrot]

9. Yeah, same thing

My bad - I'm from the UK and whilst I generally use American English on DU, sometimes I get caught out. Sorry.



This stuff.

[Laurian]

11. Ah, that explains it.

When I googled "coving", the results seemed to all be sites in the UK. It's always fun to learn the terminology used in other countries. Coving sounds so much more sophisticated, especially if I imagine hearing it with a British accent.

[Dead_Parrot]

12. lol...

...whereas (to me) "crown molding" sounds like something the royal hat-maker has to do.

Incidentally, Please don't ask me for advice on water heaters. It may get nasty.

[Laurian]

14. Oh, my!

I can see that you'd have to be very careful with that, another interesting language twist.

[mbperrin]

7. Don't use tape. The texture on the wall or ceiling prevents it from lying flat.

Instead, buy a really good quality 2" sash brush, and "cut in" your wall paint where it meets the ceiling, holding the brush always at about a 45 degree angle. It will take at least two coats of the cut in to get the same amount of paint as the roller did on the wall, but the result will be pleasing, no tape to fool with, and with practice, very quick. I can cut in a 12 x 12 room in 10 minutes (moving the stool takes some time), and second coat will be ready to apply nearly immediately.

Same goes anywhere two colors meet - use your good sash brush to finish the last 3/4" or so, and you will always like the results. Hope this helps - I've been painting for money since 1966.

[Laurian]

10. Thanks for the tip.

I'm going to purchase a good sash brush and try to clean up these imperfections. Luckily, it was not a case of getting the wall color on the ceiling so much as not getting the wall color close enough to the ceiling in some spots.

[mbperrin]

16. You're welcome.

Sounds like you're going to get a great job done!

[NEOhiodemocrat]

13. I don't think it will be very noticable overall

when I want to touch up around the ceiling I often use one of those little skinny paint brushes like the ones that come in children's water paint sets. I think you can buy a big pack of them for $1 at a dollar store. That way I can straighten out the line without getting any on the ceiling or it ends up being an enless circle......touch up the wall, touch up the ceiling, touch up the wall etc. But overall once your room is all done and everything back in place I think your husband may be right and it won't be a glaring issue. Good luck with the painting!

[Laurian]

15. From one Buckeye to another, thanks for the advice.

I was born and raised in Ohio, graduated from Ohio State and then worked at the University for about 8 years before moving south for my husband's job. We go back several times a year to see family and friends.

I really want to do this painting myself, but I don't want it to look like it was done by an amateur. I'll either be proficient or crazy by the time I get to the fourth bedroom.

[NEOhiodemocrat]

20. So how is the painting going?

Or are you watching the four Ohio teams in March Madness? I am from Hamilton Ohio, moved up northeastern Ohio when GM plant closed and my husband was transferred. We have family all over Ohio, Hamilton, Dayton, Kent, Salineville. I went to Miami University but have had kids in University of Dayton, Wright State, Ohio University, Kent State, and George Washington University.

[Laurian]

21. The painting is going pretty well.

I'm getting ready to start on the second bedroom. I get bogged down clearing out the closets in these rooms and that slows me down. Coming to terms with years of "stuff" that has been pushed away into the extra closets in the bedrooms is a time consuming, but necessary task. It's amazing what you overlook while working that you finally decide to deal with once you retire! I'm actually having fun choosing colors and seeing the transformation that they can bring to a room.

Sounds like your family has Ohio pretty well covered. Mine is pretty much still in central Ohio and the Columbus area. We are definitely rooting for the Ohio basketball teams in general, but had to choose Ohio State over Cincinnati last night.

[Adsos Letter]

17. As a retired painter of 35 years I second mbperrin's advice, and would add...

that the final stroke for the clean line should be done with very little paint on the leading tips of the angled sash. Remember, you just want the cleanliness of line in that fraction of an inch where ceiling and wall meet, and a drier brush on the final stroke(s) will be much easier to control.

if the walls have a full covering coat then you could just use a fairly dry brush in those areas where you are dissatisfied; again, you aren't looking for paint film build, but simply a clean line.


Good luck, and remember to have fun with it!

[Laurian]

18. I think your advice will be very helpful.

Seems I do have a tendency to load too much paint on the brush. I haven't gone back to the project yet, but will likely get to it in the next day or so. I will get the recommended sash brush and go lightly with the paint. Once I finish this first room, I think I will be more confident going on to the second one armed with all the good help I've received from this group.

[Wash. state Desk Jet]

19. I think you got it all .

Have fun is the bottom line in it. If you are too hard on yourself about it ,you make a very difficult task to do.

Start with one wall -section it off in yer mind as far as you can reach. looking at it from a distance go after an area in a section you think need attention -go at it with yer brush. Get down off yer step stool -stand back and look at it. You will see it looks better. go after the more of it. Get down of the ladder and stand back -than take a look. You will see it gets better and better. Soon enough you will be moving that brush right along at a quick pace.

And like they said-do look for for perfection or perfect,it looks good to the eye than it look's great. and remember-,most people don't look up there much ! And remember ,what you see at eye level isn't seen on floor level. Two very different visuals.

Good luck and do have fun. !