The former owners of my loverly home had some interesting decorating ideas. One of them was to put wallpaper on the ceiling of the dining room. Since the wallpaper had been up there about ten years, and was bubbling and peeling (not to mention filthy and ugly), we decided to drywall over it rather than attempt to pull it down (which, with my luck, would have pulled down the ceiling as well).
So now the drywall is up, and, prior to painting, we need to put texture up there so that the ceiling texture matches the wall texture. My BIL believes that we need to put a layer of plaster on the ceiling first; my MIL believes that we can just put the texture up there without putting a layer of plaster up there first. My dad believes I should sell the house and buy new construction.
Anyone done this kind of thing before? What do you think – plaster? no plaster? abandon ship?
Plaster is not something you put over drywall; it is what they used to use instead of drywall, so I’m not sure what you had in mind. You need to tape the seams and prime the ceiling, then do whatever texture you were planing on doing, then paint.
What we had was an old drywall garage ceiling. We stripped off the falling-off parts, mudded and taped the joints, then sprayed the textured stuff up there. There was no need to paint. BTW, Home Despot sells a sprayer. They probably rent them too. What we did is still hangin in there.
My house was built in the 1927. There are places where the plastered section has been replaced with drywall. After taping, mudding and painting, you cannot tell where the drywall is and where the plaster is. Tell your dad old houses have character (unless he’s gonna buy you a new house).
You use a sprayer, as mentioned before. First, though, identify what sort of texture you have on your walls. Orange peel? Heavy knockdown? The way texturing is done is to spray on the material with something resembling a foghorn, then use a mud knife to lightly ‘knock it down’. It takes practice, so you might want to hire someone or at least practice somewhere before doing your ceiling.
What do you mean by the ceiling texture matching the wall texture? Are you talking about some sort of stucco?
My advice is to not texture the ceiling. What will it look like five years from now, ten years from now? Will you hate it then as much as you currently hate the wallpaper on the ceiling?
Sometimes, they have too much character. Every time, I want to do something with my house, I discover that almost nothing is a standard size.
My griping aside, as long as the problems aren’t structural, don’t worry too much about it. Everything else can be repaired and even new construction will have problems crop up.
I guess I am a little confused (as normal). You said the wallpaper on the ceiling was not removed for fear of the ceiling coming down…What was the wall paper glued to? What did you attach the new drywall to? It sounds like perhaps tearing the old ceiling out might have been a better bet. That ship having already sailed, I would go with the spray on texture, but you did not mention how deep the texture is. You can put plaster over drywall, but it takes a special kind of paper finish on the sheetrock for it to stick. I am guessing you did not put that up there. So the spray finish sounds best. When my house was built, the contractor gave us a choice of perfectly flat texture, (more money), heavy texture, (lots more money) or “Orange peel” (cheapest). I went with orange peel, turned out to be the best, easy to clean, covers all minor imperfections, and can be matched by any spray painting gun. Any chance of doing the ceiling that way? There is no law that says the ceiling needs to be the same texture as the walls, and the wall/ceiling joint makes a nice breaking point. And who ever looks up anyway? A minimally textured ceiling makes the room brighter anyway because light reflects better than off a heavily textured surface.
Just my opinion of course. My wife regularly accuses me of asthetic crimes, and she is legally blind.
I’m tempted to go with the best-armed person in the room, but I think you might try the non-plaster alternative first and see how it comes out. You can always plaster over it later if you find that the texturing your MIL tries doesn’t work out. Plastering a ceiling is a big mess and you’re going to have to sand it extensively to get it even reasonably flat.
I believe it has already been established previously that your father is, and I quote, “a nutter”, and so while you might value the old man for his effort in bringing you into the world, I think that you might give his opinion a pass with regard to your current digs if you are satisfied with them. Think of it as cutting the umbilical cord. Well, except that he’s your dad and not your mom, so, kind of a bad analogy, but you know…go with me on this.
If you want a nice “small” texture you can just roll drywall compound on using a paint roller. Very simple, inexpensive, quiet, no mess, etc. Looks nice, hides minor imperfections, works great. Two thin coats, you’re done in a day or two, then prime and paint. I did my TV room that way.
thanks Valgard, I don’t plan on doing any remodeling here any time soon, but with the kids moving out, that is a fantastic tip that might come in handy in helping them with some budget upgrades to thier new digs. See, even an old seenidog can learn new tricks!
Minor observation. In some areas of the US, veneer plaster is installed over finished drywall, and while walls are smooth finished, ceilings may be smooth or fan textured. It seems to be a regional thing.
He’s not gonna buy me a new house. And, of course, Stranger On A Train has nailed it: my dad is a nutter, but he’s my nutter. (Re the umbilical cord: my dad can tell you how many tiles there were on the floor of the waiting room of the hospital where I was born. For some reason, that touches my heart. So, despite the fact that my dad doesn’t see many redeeming qualities in my 1920’s house, I see many redeeming qualities in my dad. So I’ll keep both. :))
Nope, no popcorn ceilings. My grandparents’ house has popcorn ceilings, but also the thing that I covet: some gold sparkly stuff in the paint that’s purty. But cooler heads have prevailed, and there will be no gold sparkly stuff in the paint on my new ceilings.
For those who’ve asked: the walls (to which we want to match the ceiling) are not orange peel; I’ve done orange peel before, and you’re right: it’s easy to do (and a wee bit addicting). No, the walls are old-timey, 1920’s plaster-ish, and I want a ceiling that doesn’t look like a new slab of drywall was slapped up there, but like it’s an integral part of the room. Stranger, per your advice, we’ll try the texture mixed with paint first. It’s going up this week. And if it doesn’t look good, we’ll go to plan B.
I think of drywall mud and plaster as two different things, but maybe the terms are interchangeable. I do know of the smooth finish you’re talking of (my house, when I build it, will be smooth finish) but I don’t think it’s achieved using traditional plaster. But I could be wrong.
We just finished putting up soundproofing, then some drywall, then taping, mudding and texturing the wall in our living room which separates us from our reviled noisy neighbors. Here’s my helpful hint:
Purchase a sheet or two of damaged drywall for little or nothing, put it in the garage or outside, and practice your texturing skills thereon. That way you’ll have the skill perfected by the time you start on the room surfaces and you won’t have any crappy-looking patches to try to cover with furniture.
