Ceiling Painting

We paint ceilings and trim, the ceiling and molding work that finishes a room, for houses in and around Wilson, NC. A ceiling is the largest unbroken surface in most rooms and the one lit from the side by every window, so it shows a stain, a patch or a roller lap more plainly than any wall.

Ceiling Painting in Wilson, NC

A ceiling takes longer than a wall of the same size. Three things make it harder:

• Working overhead. The roller rides on an extension pole above your head, the paint is pushed up against gravity, and spatter falls on whatever is below.
• Lap marks. When a fresh pass overlaps paint that has started to dry, the overlap dries as a darker or shinier stripe. So a ceiling is rolled in strips from one wall across to the other, each strip laid against the still-wet edge of the last, without stopping halfway.
• Flashing in side light. Light from a window skims across a ceiling at a low angle, and that angle shows every change in sheen. An unprimed patch, or a strip rolled thinner than the rest, shows up as a dull or shiny band in the afternoon.

The ceiling is painted before the walls, so roller spatter lands on walls that still need paint, and the wall color is cut in last along the ceiling line. Our interior painting page covers the walls and the full order of work in a room.

Water Stains on Ceilings After a Summer Leak

June through August is the rainiest stretch of the year. NOAA's 1991-2020 normals for the Rocky Mount-Wilson Regional Airport station, between the two cities, count 13.41 inches of rain in those three months alone. Summer is also when air conditioners run hardest. Between the storms and the air conditioning, it is the season when brown rings and yellow blotches show up on ceilings: a roof leak in a heavy storm, a slow drip from a bathroom or a water line above, or an air-conditioning drain line that backs up in the attic.

The order of work matters more than the paint:

• The leak is fixed first, by the right trade: a roofer, a plumber or a heating and air technician. Paint over an active leak only hides the stain until the next storm brings it back.
• The ceiling dries out. The stained area has to be dry all the way through before it is sealed.
• A stain-blocking primer goes on. Water leaves behind minerals and residue that dissolve into ordinary latex paint and bleed back through as a yellow shadow, sometimes after two or three coats. A stain-blocking primer seals them in.
• Then the ceiling paint, usually across the whole ceiling, not only the patch. Fresh paint next to ten-year-old paint rarely matches, even in the same white, because old ceiling paint yellows and dulls with time.

Preparing a Ceiling for Paint

Ceiling prep comes down to what side light will show once the paint is dry:

• Washing. Kitchen ceilings carry a film of cooking grease, and ceilings near a fireplace gray over time from smoke. Both are washed so the new paint can grip.
• Cracks and nail pops. Cracks along drywall seams and nail heads pushing through the paint are common on ceilings, because the framing above moves with the seasons. They are filled, sanded and primed before paint. A long crack or tape that has come loose needs drywall repair first.
• Caulking the corner. A crack where the ceiling meets the wall, or along the top of crown molding, is caulked so the ceiling line comes out straight.
• Sanding and priming. Every patch is sanded flush and primed, so it does not flash through the flat paint later.
• Protecting the room. Ceiling paint spatters, so floors are covered edge to edge, furniture is grouped in the center under plastic, and light fixtures and ceiling fans are wrapped or masked.

Flat Paint, White or Tinted, and Textured Ceilings

Most ceilings are painted in flat paint, for good reason. Flat paint reflects almost no light, so it hides drywall seams, small patches and slight waves that a shinier paint would show under side light, and it hides lap marks better than any shinier finish. Its weakness is that it is the hardest finish to wash, which rarely matters on a ceiling.

White is the usual ceiling color because it bounces light back into the room and makes a ceiling feel higher. Plain ceiling white can look cold or gray next to a warm wall color, though, so some people have the ceiling paint tinted with a small share of the wall color, which softens the line where the two meet. If you have a color in mind, bring it to the estimate.

Textured ceilings are painted as they are. Heavy spray-on texture drinks paint and can loosen if a wet roller works it back and forth, so it is rolled with a thick-nap cover in light, single passes, with plenty of drying time between coats. Knockdown and orange-peel textures are easier, but still take a thicker roller cover than a smooth ceiling.

High Ceilings, Stairwells and Bathroom Ceilings

High ceilings and stairwells

A vaulted living room or a two-story foyer can't be reached from the floor with a standard pole. These ceilings need tall ladders, longer extension poles and, over a stairwell, a ladder or plank set level on the steps. Cutting in a ceiling line 15 feet up is slow brush work, which is why a high ceiling takes longer than its size suggests.

Bathroom ceilings that peel

Bathroom ceilings take the steam from every shower. Ordinary flat ceiling paint absorbs that moisture, and over time it blisters or peels, usually right above the tub. The fix starts with scraping off the loose paint and sanding the edges smooth. Then comes a primer suited to damp rooms and a paint made for bathrooms, often in a satin sheen, which sheds moisture instead of soaking it up. The exhaust fan matters as much as the paint: running it through every shower and for a while after keeps steam off the new finish.

How Much Does It Cost to Paint a Room and Ceiling?

The cost comes down to what the room needs:

• Ceiling height, and whether ladders or planks are needed over stairs.
• Texture, which takes more paint and slower rolling than a smooth ceiling.
• Stains and cracks, which add patching, stain-blocking primer and drying time before the paint.
• The walls and trim. A ceiling alone is one job. A ceiling with walls, baseboards and casings, the work on our trim painting page, is a full room, painted in order from the top down.
• A color change, such as a tinted ceiling, or a dark ceiling going back to white.

In Wilson, Rocky Mount and the other towns we serve, the first step is the same. Tell us about the ceiling, including any stain and whether the leak behind it has been fixed, and we will look at it and give you a free estimate.

Is a Ceiling Stain Bothering You?

Call (252) 299-2240 for a free estimate.

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