Paint ceiling white or match wall color?

[Krazy4Real]

Keep the ceiling white.

 

[cytoSiN]

Unless you are trying to make a long, straight line, taping is a waste of time. I can cut it in as fast as you can tape.

Maybe, but unless you're a pro or otherwise very gifted at painting, rolling to the wall when you do the ceiling and then taping the ceiling while you roll the wall (right up to the tape) will look a lot neater than cutting in. Especially if you're using paint and primer in one on the walls...cutting in with thick paint like that usually leaves ugly brush strokes (again, unless you're a pro).

 

[Scarpozzi]

Did you already paint the ceiling with it?


Wife picked out a color. I painted the living room, stairwell and landing with it. Then she says that she doesn't like it. I told her to have at it. It's still the same color.

For a lot of projects, she insists on painting because it's one of those jobs that's sort of fun work....well you'd think it'd be fun. I just bought the supplies. I was only out a few bucks from the error and have already used half of that gallon of paint on another project since then.

I have a bunch of painting to do next year probably. I bought a Milwaukee paint sprayer and can't wait to use it on my 10' ceilings.

 

[olds]

Maybe, but unless you're a pro or otherwise very gifted at painting, rolling to the wall when you do the ceiling and then taping the ceiling while you roll the wall (right up to the tape) will look a lot neater than cutting in. Especially if you're using paint and primer in one on the walls...cutting in with thick paint like that usually leaves ugly brush strokes (again, unless you're a pro).

Well, my first job 42 years ago was as a painter...

 

[cytoSiN]

Well, my first job 42 years ago was as a painter...

I'm not doubting your abilities, just saying most people can't do that, myself included, and I'm careful and have done quite a bit of painting. If you can get away with it, great. For most, tape is the way to go unless you don't care about messy edges or brush strokes.

 

[MrPickins]

I'm not doubting your abilities, just saying most people can't do that, myself included, and I'm careful and have done quite a bit of painting. If you can get away with it, great. For most, tape is the way to go unless you don't care about messy edges or brush strokes.

I tend to agree.

Back when I did handyman work/renovations I remember it took the better part of 3 months to get any good at cutting in.

Once you're proficient though, it's the only way to work.


Edit: Also, white ceilings.

 

[RagingBITCH]

I'm not doubting your abilities, just saying most people can't do that, myself included, and I'm careful and have done quite a bit of painting. If you can get away with it, great. For most, tape is the way to go unless you don't care about messy edges or brush strokes.

I've used the Shurline edger from Lowes...comes with a pad and rollers to paint ceilings and floors to avoid taping. Works pretty well IMO...I painted every room in my old house (some rooms multiple times) with very few issues. Any issues were me just being tired and saying "F-it" and rushing it.

Back to the topic at hand - that seems dependent upon the area. Texas (Dallas area) - we pretty much only see white ceilings, unless you see the big ornate ceilings. (Whatever that's called - the beams running criss cross, and the coffered ceilings) In Oklahoma (Tulsa) where my wife's family and friends all are - ceilings are all wall colored. Not sure what it is...may be a regional thing.

That being said - all the ceilings in our house are white except our main living room, which has 12 foot ceilings, beams running across, and crown molding. The sides are wood paneled, so when we had the popcorn scraped, we decided to have it painted wall color. It works for that room, but for the rooms with 8 or 10 foot ceilings, it'd be awful.

 

[CPA]

I'd vote white any day, unless you're maybe making a home theater room with a projector in my mind.

Interesting you mention that. I have a media room that has dark stained walls and the ceiling which is two-tiered, has off-white on the outside, lower tier and dark-stain over large paper mache in the inside, second tier.

 

[Zorba]

In Oklahoma (Tulsa) where my wife's family and friends all are - ceilings are all wall colored. Not sure what it is...may be a regional thing.

See my earlier post. Builders in Tulsa and OKC started painting the ceilings the same color as the walls to save money during construction. It has become so common now that people think it a nicer option. Kind of like in Cincinnati all the closets had wire shelving because it is much cheaper than wood shelves, but builders convinced people the wire shelving allowed clothing to "breathe" and that it was actually a preferred option.

On the flip side, you can get a full brick house built new in Tulsa, at a high finish level, for $95-100/ft including the lot. Repainting the ceilings is cheap, adding arches, bull-nose corners and granite, not so much.

FYI: The change in Tulsa happened around 2005ish, so houses pre-2005 almost always have white ceilings, although pre-1990 most are white and popcorn.

 

[edro]

Kind of like in Cincinnati all the closets had wire shelving because it is much cheaper than wood shelves, but builders convinced people the wire shelving allowed clothing to "breathe" and that it was actually a preferred option.

wat?

I just bought a house in cincy and we looked at probably 15 houses.
It is my recollection that all of them had Closet Maid wire closet shelving.

I like it, but maybe I would like wood shelves better?

Why do you think it's related to Cincinnati only?

 

[Zorba]

wat?

I just bought a house in cincy and we looked at probably 15 houses.
It is my recollection that all of them had Closet Maid wire closet shelving.

I like it, but maybe I would like wood shelves better?

Why do you think it's related to Cincinnati only?

I doubt it is only Cincy, I've lived in Oklahoma, Kansas and Cincinnati, also have family in Dallas. Cincinnati is the only market that I've been in that puts wire shelves in houses, but it is also the only market I've been in out this region. You see it in apartments around here, but never houses, even very cheap houses (unless someone retro'ed it in). I looked at a couple 1M+ houses in Cincy and even they had wire shelves.

I always thought the ceiling texture in Cincy was really weird too, but from watching HGTV that seems to be fairly wide spread.

You be the judge,
Typical Oklahoma Closet:

Typical Cincinnati Closet:

 

[Mr.IncrediblyBored]

Our house is 12 years old. Closets all have wire shelves.

 

[edro]

I gotta admit, the wooden shelves look much nicer.

 

[bbhaag]

White is ok but a little bland. Do clouds. Its so much more fun.

 

[edro]

We are having out house painted now.
The painter requested we buy Flat White paint for the ceilings, not Ceiling Paint.
He said ceiling paint is lower quality and has a slight gray tint.
He said flat white goes on much easier and covers better.
Flat White was only a few dollars more per gallon, so we went with that.
So far, the ceilings look great.

 

[RagingBITCH]

See my earlier post. Builders in Tulsa and OKC started painting the ceilings the same color as the walls to save money during construction. It has become so common now that people think it a nicer option. Kind of like in Cincinnati all the closets had wire shelving because it is much cheaper than wood shelves, but builders convinced people the wire shelving allowed clothing to "breathe" and that it was actually a preferred option.

On the flip side, you can get a full brick house built new in Tulsa, at a high finish level, for $95-100/ft including the lot. Repainting the ceilings is cheap, adding arches, bull-nose corners and granite, not so much.

FYI: The change in Tulsa happened around 2005ish, so houses pre-2005 almost always have white ceilings, although pre-1990 most are white and popcorn.

Didn't see that earlier! Explains a lot...easier to just spray it all one color. The neighborhood the in-laws live in is a track of all new homes by about 4 builders. (Owasso, just north of Tulsa) Think they had the option of going white but they painted it all the same. At her aunt's houses (all within 2 miles of each other), they're older homes (15-25 years) but have ceilings painted the same.

And yea, the quality is there at that $95-$100/ft. You have to live way up north here in Dallas (Little Elm, McKinney) to get that pricing. We bought our '86 house last year for $103/ft.

 

[MongGrel]

We are having out house painted now.
The painter requested we buy Flat White paint for the ceilings, not Ceiling Paint.
He said ceiling paint is lower quality and has a slight gray tint.
He said flat white goes on much easier and covers better.
Flat White was only a few dollars more per gallon, so we went with that.
So far, the ceilings look great.

+1

 

[cytoSiN]

We are having out house painted now.
The painter requested we buy Flat White paint for the ceilings, not Ceiling Paint.
He said ceiling paint is lower quality and has a slight gray tint.
He said flat white goes on much easier and covers better.
Flat White was only a few dollars more per gallon, so we went with that.
So far, the ceilings look great.

I think that's true in general, but it depends on who you're buying from. Some companies sell ceiling paint that's crap, others sell ceiling paint that accounts for these issues. In my experience, S-W "Eminence" is one of the good ones. But I haven't tried many other ceiling paints.

 

[Zorba]

White is ok but a little bland. Do clouds. Its so much more fun.

Ever since the first time I went to Vegas I've wanted to do this to my ceilings.

 

[Zorba]

Didn't see that earlier! Explains a lot...easier to just spray it all one color. The neighborhood the in-laws live in is a track of all new homes by about 4 builders. (Owasso, just north of Tulsa) Think they had the option of going white but they painted it all the same. At her aunt's houses (all within 2 miles of each other), they're older homes (15-25 years) but have ceilings painted the same.

And yea, the quality is there at that $95-$100/ft. You have to live way up north here in Dallas (Little Elm, McKinney) to get that pricing. We bought our '86 house last year for $103/ft.

Yeah, Tulsa spoiled me. I moved to OKC last year, house quite as nice and cost about $15-25 more a square foot.

I am surprised a 20ish year old house in Tulsa has colored ceilings. In that time period most houses were being painted white or off-white. Good chance a 20 year old house has been completely repainted at least once too.

 

[michaeladam]

I have also painted my room with white colour.

 

[Mr.IncrediblyBored]

I put two coats of Sherwin Williams Eminence on the ceiling. Still looks uneven in a couple places. Needs a third coat. What a pain in the ass. It would have been worth investing in a sprayer just for this room.

 

[DrPizza]

I've always been able to cut a clean line (in more ways than one), so I rarely tape anything.

It's not pointed out often enough: there's no point in getting good paint if you're going to use a shitty paintbrush. Get a good paintbrush - it makes a huge difference, especially in terms of being able cut in effectively.

As far as rolling the wall - if you save your cardboard for a while, you can cut a bunch of flat, manageable squares or rectangles. That allows your roller to get within the thickness of a piece of cardboard from the ceiling along the wall - and the edge of the roller just puts a little paint on the cardboard. (Just replace the cardboard often, so you don't accidentally get paint on the edge & transfer it to the ceiling via the cardboard. Cutting in + cardboard is going to be just as good as taping that ceiling any day.

 

[Greenman]

It's not pointed out often enough: there's no point in getting good paint if you're going to use a shitty paintbrush. Get a good paintbrush - it makes a huge difference, especially in terms of being able cut in effectively.

As far as rolling the wall - if you save your cardboard for a while, you can cut a bunch of flat, manageable squares or rectangles. That allows your roller to get within the thickness of a piece of cardboard from the ceiling along the wall - and the edge of the roller just puts a little paint on the cardboard. (Just replace the cardboard often, so you don't accidentally get paint on the edge & transfer it to the ceiling via the cardboard. Cutting in + cardboard is going to be just as good as taping that ceiling any day.

Good point about the brush. You can't cut any sort of line without a good one.

The cardboard is a great idea, I've always used the "get as close as you can then swear when you miss" method.

 

[marvdmartian]

The way I understood it, painting a ceiling white tends to make the room look larger, or less oppressive. Like the ceilings are higher, whereas a dark color makes them look closer/lower.

I went with traditional flat white ceiling paint, and got the stuff that goes on pink, then changes to white when it dries. Makes it easy to tell that you hit every spot, if you're doing white over white. :thumbsup: