How To Paint Your Plastered Walls and Ceilings and Achieve Elegant Results
by Donald Thomas
Home decorating can be an exciting time for homeowners and their families. I'm a home improvement contractor and I have been in this business almost a quarter of a century and I still get excited about starting a new project or just hearing about one that's about to begin. The planning, shopping and purchasing of new items to bring the interior of your home to life, as well as beautiful colors to accent your taste can really start your engine to racing and your emotions to soaring.
Welcome aboard, I want to share with you some of the knowledge and experience I have gained in the home improvement business in the past twenty-four years. I'm very confident that you will do a great job, after all, I believe in the old adage that says "having the desire to do the job puts you at an advantage from the start". So let's begin.
Whether your walls and ceilings are plaster or covered with drywall you can achieve beautiful results by painting them. However, in this article I will give you pointers on painting plastered walls, ceilings and trim, although it is not uncommon for some homes to have a combination of the two, that is, walls plastered and ceilings covered with drywall panels, or just the opposite; whatever the case, you can still do a great job. But we will be focusing on painting plaster in this particular article and we will address painting drywall in upcoming feature articles.
PAINTING PLASTERED WALLS AND CEILINGS
If your plastered walls/ceilings are newly finished I suggest that you wait several weeks before you begin applying any type of coatings on them. Once the plaster is completely dry apply an alkaline resistant primer before painting. This type of primer can be purchased at most home improvement centers and is perfect for priming newly plastered walls/ceilings. Also, I use it on old plaster as well to act as a safety net; meaning, I just want to be sure that I won't have to worry about anything leeching through. I truly recommend using a quality alkaline resistant primer before painting plaster whether it's new or existing.
MINOR REPAIRS TO YOUR WALLS AND CEILINGS
Before you begin painting your walls and ceilings, first take a thorough look at them to see if there are any cracks, hairlines, dents or even holes;
PAINTING PLASTERED CEILINGS
Now that you're ready to begin painting I suggest you start with the ceiling first and work your way down. After the ceiling then the walls unless you have some type of ornamental trim or crown molding, if so, paint the the ornamental trim or crown molding after you paint the ceilings but before you paint the walls. In most cases I like to cut in the perimeter of the ceiling with a good quality synthetic bristle brush that's firm and stiff enough for me; usually one with the bristles made of a combination of nylon and polyester blend and of course I recommend using a premium brand vinyl acrylic latex paint that has a flat or matte finish. This has proven to be a winning combination that has yielded positive results time and time again for me, however, you might decide to use a non traditional finish on your ceilings and go with a satin or even semi-gloss finish. There are several finishes available in most latex paints: matte, egg shell, satin, semi-gloss and gloss. You can decide which is more suitable for you but be warned that the higher the gloss the more it will highlight imperfections in the ceilings!
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