Of the many types of ceiling finishes, painting is the most economical and popular way. The correct use of acrylic paint, which we will tell you about in this material, allows you to emphasize the quality of the ceiling surface and make it in any color scheme.
The choice of acrylic paint for painting the ceiling
Acrylic paint must be chosen for its purpose, which is indicated on the packaging of the material. In addition, it contains data on the consumption of the product per 1 m2 surfaces, temperature conditions and many other indicators that must be considered when buying.
Colored acrylic paints are sold ready-made. If there are difficulties in choosing a shade, you can purchase a white material, and give it the desired shade in the process with the help of soluble pigments, which you will have to buy additionally.
Acrylic paints can be glossy or matte. The matte surface of the ceiling well hides its minor defects and visually increases the height of the room. Glossy paints are useful when finishing large areas of the surface or for creating areas on it that are distinguished by color. In this case, the ceiling should be perfectly flat.
In the production of high-quality paints and varnishes, the leading companies are Tikkurila, Himaton, Svyatozar, Dulux, Siro mat plus and others. It is highly recommended to purchase acrylic paint from one manufacturer from the same delivery batch for finishing the ceiling. Materials from different supplies of the same brand can vary greatly in consistency and color.
Acrylic ceiling paint tools
To prepare and paint the ceiling with acrylic paint with your own hands, you will need a set of necessary tools and devices:
- Roller or spray gun for continuous application of paint and primer compositions;
- Painting ditch-bath for uniform distribution of paint over the working surface of the roller and removal of its excess;
- Painting flat brush for painting hard-to-reach places: joints of walls with a ceiling, ledges and other obstacles, insurmountable by rolling a roller;
- Telescopic extension handle for the roller, which makes it possible to work with it from the floor;
- A set of spatulas: one wide from 250 mm, designed for ceiling putty, and the other narrow up to 80 mm, required for spreading gypsum material over the plane of a wide spatula;
- Scraper for cleaning the ceiling from the old coating;
- Masking tape for separating color-coded sections of the ceiling and protecting the tops of the walls from unwanted paint spills on them;
- Paint brush for the initial priming of the ceiling before putting it on.
After choosing the materials and tools, you can proceed to the preparation of the ceiling, which consists in cleaning it from the old coating, leveling and ensuring adhesion between the base, putty and paint layers of the surface.
Cleaning the ceiling before painting with acrylic paint
Before work, it is necessary to take out everything unnecessary from the room to be repaired: furniture, equipment, carpets, etc. Otherwise, after finishing the ceiling, all this will be covered with debris, gypsum dust and paint splashes. It is recommended to cover the floor and windows with plastic wrap.
Cleaning the ceiling from the old coating is carried out with scrapers until the material of its construction is exposed. Previously, to facilitate the work, the surface must be moistened and kept in a draft for some time. The coating layer swollen from moisture will be easier to remove. In this case, you can use detergents, but at the final stage, the ceiling must be rinsed with clean water.
Particular attention should be paid to removing overhead grease stains. They cannot be permanently painted over and can show up at any time after finishing. To combat them, you need to use all available methods up to grinding the base surface of the ceiling. Its problem areas can be tested by applying 2-3 coats of paint on them. If the stains do not appear, work can be continued.
All irregularities and cracks in the cleaned ceiling are sealed with plaster putty using a spatula. Concrete build-ups and other unnecessary protrusions are knocked off using a chisel and hammer.
Leveling the ceiling for acrylic paint
The leveling of the ceiling surface is carried out using a fine-grained gypsum plaster. Before applying it, the ceiling must be impregnated with a primer. It will ensure the adhesion of its material to the leveling layer and prevent the formation of fungus.
The putty is diluted in a separate container with water to the desired consistency and thoroughly mixed with a special nozzle fixed in the chuck of an electric drill. The proportions of the constituent components for mixing are indicated on the product packaging. As a result of the process, a plastic and homogeneous mixture should be obtained, suitable for work.
Its main part is carried out using a wide trowel, which gives a grip band of the ceiling surface of at least 250 mm. It is inconvenient to pick up putty from a narrow container with such a tool. Therefore, a narrow spatula is used to pick up the material and distribute it on the main tool. The plaster composition is evenly distributed on the ceiling, creating a smooth surface. If one layer of putty is not enough to level the ceiling, additional layers are applied until a positive result is achieved. Each of them must be cured until dry.
The final layer of putty is carefully sanded to obtain an ideal surface for painting. The gypsum dust from this work is swept from the ceiling with a cleaning brush.
After grouting the ceiling, it must be covered with a primer again. The resulting film will ensure the adhesion of the putty surface to the future paint coating and reduce the consumption of acrylic paint for its creation.
Painting the ceiling with acrylic paint with your own hands
The general principle of painting the ceiling is to apply the material from the corner near the window towards the center of the room.
The order of work is as follows:
- Acrylic paint is poured into a paint ditch, in which the roller is carefully rolled to remove excess material using the ribbed surface of the bath.
- When working, the roller is held at an angle of 45 degrees, you do not need to press on it, otherwise paint drips cannot be avoided.
- Sections of the ceiling adjacent to the walls can be conveniently processed with a small roller, and corners, ledges and baguettes - with a brush. These works are performed first of all before the solid painting of the rest of the surface.
- Further painting of the ceiling with acrylic paint with a roller is carried out in parallel stripes, overlapping each other so that there are no "dry" areas between them, and all the material is evenly distributed over the ceiling plane.
- The second layer of paint is carried out in the transverse direction in relation to the previous one. Smoothing the joints between paint stripes is done with a roller wrung out from the composition. Each layer of material applied is cured until dry, so it is very problematic to finish the entire painting in one day.
- You do not need to paint over the covered sections of the ceiling, this is done after the previous layer has dried. Otherwise, the different thickness of the coating in some places will be very noticeable.
- If the windows are located only in one of the walls of the room, then the last layer of ceiling painting is applied in a direction perpendicular to their plane. When the windows are located in different places, the last layer of coating is applied from the walls towards the center of the room.
- The final drying of the ceiling covering is carried out in a natural way without the use of heaters. To do this, after completing the painting, you need to close the windows, stopping access to the room by draft and sunlight. In this case, they will not force the drying of the coating and disrupt its uniformity in sections of the ceiling.
Below you can see a video about painting the ceiling with acrylic paint:
It's all! We hope that our material will help you to properly prepare the ceiling and paint it with acrylic paint in the premises of your home.
