HELP...the wife and I decided to paint our ceiling in the entire upstairs white...I would describe the previous ceiling as: drywall with a pinkish\fleshy\white toned flat color paint (not sure of brand, it was on the ceiling when we bought the house in 1995). First, we wiped down the ceiling with plain water and a cotton cloth, let dry for approx an hour. Next, applied Lowes - American Tradition Flat Acrylic Latex Ceiling Paint White 24892 yesterday approx 4pm est. After the first coat (we did the entire upstairs over a 4 1/2 hour period without stopping for more than drips and drinks of water), the ceiling looked streaky and not completely covered. After letting it dry overnight we started with the kitchen ceiling this evening approx 830pm est. At first it looked much better (all spots being covered) however, after a short while the streaks started showing up again. The paint just doesn't appear to be layering and\or covering well to say the least. I decided to stop after completing that one room since it still pretty much looks like crap and seak advise rather than spend another 3 1/2 hours only to get the same results. Should we have wiped the ceiling with TSP instead of water? (guessing YES). Now that we put one coat (two in the kitchen) of paint on the ceiling is it too late to use TSP? (guessing YES). Should we have used a primer BEFORE applying the paint? (guessing YES). Is it too late to put on a primer? (guessing it isn't necessary) Should we change the type of paint? (guessing YES) Any suggestions, price is not an issue...quality is. Sorry to say I asked the paint manager at Lowes for the highest quality without regards to price. After reading some of the previous posts it appears not many experts on these forums like "national" brands i.e Behr, Lowes, Home DeePot etc. Thankx 4 any help and suggestions. I am ready to tear all the drywall down and start over (just kidding....of course)

 

I would say that washing it down with water should've been enough, unless it was really dirty. A primer probably wasn't necessary, nor was the TSP. And at this point, its too late for all of these.

From the sounds of it, your problem lies somewhere in here:

Cheap roller cover, not holding enough paint, thus not covering well. Use a 3/4" nap roller cover, Wooster, or Best-Liebco are good.

Inadequate or uneven rolling, (known around here as 'operator problems' )
You should be rolling all in one direction, IE always north-to-south. Then if a second coat is needed/applied, you roll east-to-west to assure maximum coverage.

The bright white just isn't covering the off-white existing paint.

American Tradition isn't tops in my book, but at least its better than Behr. Since thats what you already have, I suggest a second coat should be applied.


And BTW:
You looking for a job???

 

I will offer the following:

1) We used a Purdy 3/8" nap roller...maybe problem 1?

2) We rolled like the dickens, after preforming step #3

3) We rolled in one North-to-South direction on the first coat in approx. 3' areas using the "V" shape then filling in the rest of that area with adequate rolling...I think

4) Second coat applied only to the kitchen was applied in the same Noth-to-South direction...sounds like that might be the problem. Now that the kitchen has dried it looks much better but still not what I would consider a great paint job.

5) Guess we will try the entire area with a second coat of the AT using East-to West strokes and a 3/4" nap Wooster this time and see what we get

BTW - The wife says thankx 4 the job offer but no thankx...I say...if you teach me I will follow...

 

I hope you mean that you worked expeditiously, not that you rolled diligently by pressing too hard on the roller. Pressing too hard tends to leave thin paint with thick lines along the edges of the rolled surface. This hampers the coverage of the paint as well as leaving lines that will take another coat to cover.

Unless the ceiling is dead flat and smooth, the 3/8" roller would have made a good job challenging.

Hope this helps.

 

Well...the amatures that we are "rolled to heavily" even on the second coat...that gave us exactly what you discribe: "with thick lines along the edges of the rolled surface." The actual coverage looks much better...just that we have the edges now...crap crap crap crap....guess we will need to put on a THIRD coat...

BTW...we asked Lowes...Home Depot and Sherwin Williams Paint people about using a 3/4" nap roller for a ceiling and they all said anything over a 1/2" nap would create a big mess, lots of splatter and mess. We ended up going ahead and did the second coat with the 3/8" nap roller...go ahead and yell...we deserve it...should we REALLY have used a 3/4" nap roller? Seems like there was plenty of paint on the 3/8" one but then again we obviously pressed to hard creating edges at the ends of our 3' rolled sections... I am ready to toss the roller THROUGH the ceiling and make it cathedral....on purpose...we were painting from 730 last night until 430 this morning...don't know how much more we can take...

 

I always use a 3/4" nap.....for all walls and ceilings. You need at least 1/2" to hold any amount of paint.

Unfortunately, the lines or 'ropes' are there, unless sanded out. A third coat will not make those go away.

 

I cringe to say this on a DIY board BUT... if quality is more important than price, and your frustration level is high (hmmmm...just guessing LOL) you might want to hire someone to tackle those ceilings for you and you take care of the walls. (Your neck and shoulders will thank you in the morning)

Hang in there!

 

I'm glad she ^^^ said it, and I didn't have to.

Kinda gives you a better appreciation of what a painter goes through every day.

 

I believe I am over analyzing our lines or 'ropes' a bit...the wife says I am being over critical...if you look closely you can see the lines...I wouldn't call them 'ropes' exactly...maybe just more paint in one place than the rest...not LOTS of extra paint that would need sanding...we had that in the bedroom...I truely believe using the heavier nap and not "over rolling" will give us the better result...especially after thinking about this more and remembering how we did the bedroom makes me realize this is doable...thankx again for all the help...will let you know how the 3rd and final coat comes out in a few days...we get to lay ceramic tile over the next 3 days in the kitchen....but THAT's for anther part of DYI forums...