Painting Ceiling in Kitchen

[car crash]

Hi, I have a question for you paint experts. We have a 2 year old house and we needed to repaint the kitchen ceiling due to a very minor water damage. (that's not the issue) What a nightmare ! 3 coats later and we can see all the roller streaks in the ceiling throughout the kitchen during daylight hours. It looks like a horrible job. We are using Betonel Cloud white paint, which is pretty standard and we are painting directly on the old surface which was the same thing originally. Does anyone know why all the roller marks would show up on the ceiling during daylight hours ? Is there a special roller to use when painting a ceiling ? We are using a 12mm roller. We have no clue what's causing this to happen. We thought maybe a lack of paint on the roller but we tried soaking it good before the 3rd coat, and still were seeing many streaks. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

[SBH]

There could be a few reasons for the streaks.

1. Lack of spreading the paint evenly.
2. Cheap roller covers.
3. Not a thick enough nap for the roller covers
4. Lack of primer
5. Type of paint.

and maybe more things I can't think of which others may.

1. You need to make sure you evenly spread the paint as you're rolling on a surface. Think of "feathering" with each roll and overlap each section you roll going along the surface.
2. Cheap rollers don't absorb the paint very well or have poor nap which can leave streaks from the edges.
3. A thin nap can also leave streak since you're not applying enough paint on the surface.

4 & 5 speak for themselves.

Also, are you using a flat sheen? The sheen for ceilings should be flat. Using a gloss, semi-gloss or anything shinier than a flat will display more of the imperfections from the application. Especially with the light that shines on to it.

Hope some of this helps.

[Phisherman]

Most ceilings are rough and require a thick nap. The thicker nap will hold more paint but you also need to lay the paint on slower to avoid splattering.

[Ulysses]

I always overlap my strokes when using a roller. The end that is attached to the handle is the leading edge and the other end is the trailing edge and that's the one you want to overlap as there is less pressure on that end. Aside from that, from where I sit, it's sounds like perhaps it's not very good quality paint or was not mixed well enough.

[Norminn]

Are you saying the old paint is the same type and brand, or just "white"? 12mm? That translates to about 1/2", which is too long nap for a smoothe wall or ceiling. Should use 1/4". You probably have gotten some semi-permanent ridges of paint on your ceiling, unless you sand them down prior to the next painting. I'm not familiar with your paint .. is it water base, semi-gloss?

If you want to get rid of the ridges, they should probably be sanded. Rolling paint is my least favorite paint task, as in the wrong kind of light it is difficult to be free of all roller marks. Have to make sure the roller isn't loaded too much by rolling off on the pan. Much better to go two thin coats and risk not covering entirely the first. If you are going to sand, it might be a good idea to put on a coat of primer so you know paint isn't soaking into the ceiling.

[Steve Barker]

Airless sprayer and plastic sheeting for masking the walls. Is it textured or smooth?

s

[Frank]

Sounds like low quality paint to me. Cheap stuff has less pigment and lower hiding power. Often extra coats show no improvement.

Also sometimes with water damage you need a sealer otherwise stain can bleed through new paint.

[EXT]

Had that problem. My wife liked the white color of Behr paint at Home Depot, so I used it in the kitchen. Could NOT get the roller marks out, made it acceptable, but not perfect after 4 coats and swore never the use that paint again.

A year later I painted my son's bedroom with the top grade of Moore's paint, and it looks great, with 2 coats.

Sometimes it is the paint. An old saying is "there is no such thing as cheap paint that is good, but there can be a good paint that is cheap". I'll let you figure it out.

[John Grabowski]

It sounds as though you were putting too much pressure on the roller in order to get most of the paint onto the wall. You need to rotate the roller a few times in the pan to get an even fill. When rolling onto the ceiling go easy and let the roller do the work. Replenish paint on the roller often. Sometimes I will roll across the previous applied paint from another direction to even it out. I only use Benjamin Moore paint. On a smooth surface I use a short nap roller.

You may need to lightly sand the ceiling now to smooth it out before painting again.

The streaks are showing up only at certain times because the light is hitting the ceiling at the correct angle to make the streaks most noticeable.

[benick]

Sand the ceiling with a pole sander with 180 grit sandpaper changing it often as it will load up..You MAY have to touch up the bad ridges if they don;t sand off easily with joint compound. Sand the touch-ups. Then apply 2 coats of Ben Moore or Sherwin Williams(or similar NAME brand) FLAT WHITE CEILING PAINT using a GOOD quality roller cover paying close attention to the aerea where the light hits it...Try to keep a "wet edge" and work quickly.. Good luck...

[Don Young]

In addition to all the other good advice, be sure you are allowing the paint to adequately dry. I have noticed that latex sometimes seems blotchy for quite a while but finally evens out.

Don Young

[ransley]

Did you ever read any instruction label and follow it , or do you just post stupid questions. You did, NO degreaseing , NO wash, NO sand, it might all peel in 2 years in sheets, nothing like a homeowner hack knowing nothing, what a pain in the ass you guys are. Its too late to do it right, so slap on more till yr happy or strip the bitch bare.

[RickH]

When painting anything never let the lap lines dry out as you move across the wall or ceiling. IOW always lap over a recently wet area.

Use the best roller covers.

For ceilings use an adjustable stick (not a ladder) this way you can long stroke the laps better with your feet on the floor.

Try a different brand of paint if all else fails, or go down to eggshell or flat finish if using semi-gloss.

[h]

NO NO NO!!! All painted surfaces in kitchens and bathroom should be semi-gloss or high-gloss. Flat paint on a kitchen ceiling will soak up any grease or smoke and will be uncleanable. Yuck.

[benick]

Jesh , what do you have , 5 foot ceilings..you might want to install a VENTED range hood...Does everyone in your house know supper is ready because the smoke detector goes off...LOL...Reminds me of SWMBO's cooking many years ago when we first married...LOL...

[cshenk]

"car crash" wrote

Smile, Live and learn! You got lots of good advice here. Now to fix it, sand lightly where the streaks show (lightly, dont rub off the drywall paper!) then prime.

I'd also upscale the paint type. The one you used is prone to blotching. Benjamin Moore is a decent one that will cover better. 2 thin coats work much better than 1 thick coat which is probably where the problem started.

Oh, on flat vs semi-gloss, I prefer a semi-gloss washable for a kitchen. You wont have to repaint so often and hood or no, some grease will travel in the air over time.

[J. Clarke]

The finish doesn't have much effect on cleanability, it's the formulation of the paint that matters.

[Kyle]

"benick" responded:

Basic physics, partner: no matter how high your ceiling, a certain amount of your cooking effort aerosolizes - particularly boiling liquids and oils in fry/sautee pans - and gets on every surface in the kitchen, not just nearby surfaces. A semi-gloss paint is not necessary; eggshell or satin finish will do nicely, too. But you want an easily scrubbable or cleanable surface.

Whether you want to go to the extra expense for a kitchen/bath paint which allegedly contains anti-mildewing ingredients for the two places in the house that get the most humid...well, that's up to you.

But no flat in the kitchen, please. Or the bath - that stuff will just stain, slough and slide like crazy (says the guy who's dealing with the after-effects of the previous owners hiring drunken chimpanzees to paint the house).

[Ray]

I have recently painted ceilings throughout my house and don't have the problem you encountered. I start with Zinsser's 1-2-3 Bullseye water-based flat primer, the cover with two coats of a high quality ceiling latex where I need flat paint -- and latex semi-gloss in the bathrooms and kitchen.

[Ray]

I agree that semi-gloss is best for kitchens and baths -- costs a bit more, but just as easy to put on, and easily cleaned. We wash ours once a year.