painting next to suspended ceiling grid

[hollywood_steve]

Greetings,

I have just rented a small (one room) office for a hobby that has grown into an obsession. The office has a 2x2 suspended ceiling with the cheapest type of grid and tiles (the tiles lay flat on top of the grid, there is no "reveal" or cut-away at the edge of the tiles). But none of this really matters.

I will be painting the four walls tomorrow; they are all typical gyp-board walls with many layers of paint on them already. Although its probably been ten years since I've held a brush or roller, I have painted a few dozen rooms in my time, but I've never painted a room with a suspended ceiling.

I'm guessing that the best way to proceed is to trim along the ceiling and floor and then come back with the roller and fill in the remaining

95% of the wall. But what is the smartest way to trim in against the ceiling grid where it runs along the walls? Should I just use a medium sized brush and go slowly, or is there some type of "edging" tool that will roll along the grid and leave a consistent paint edge just short of the grid? I did my semi-pro painting back in college and I gotta believe that there are some new handy-dandy products from Ronco that didn't exist back in the late 70's. What are they and which one should I use to avoid getting paint on the ceiling?

Thank you.

Steve [e-mail]

[Tim or Marty Shephard]

It sounds awful cheap, but what I call 'bacon plastic' (like bacon comes on), is the best shield in the world. It's designed to shed grease, and wipes off easily, nice and large enough to hold.

Tim S.

[AJScott]

There are a few pads with rollers contraptions out there to do just the type of work you want to do, but they take a little bit of practice. Since your room is really small and you haven't painted in quite awhile, your annoyance level will be virtually nil if you just do it the old fashioned way by getting yourself a roll of the widest painter's tape (the blue masking stuff) you can find down at the nearest big box hardware store and doing the trim work with a 1-1/2" brush. I'm not the most careful guy in the world when it comes to cut work, so for me, the

1-1/2" painter's tape worked a lot better than the 1" tape in preventing the occasional oops. But to be safe, if they have 2" tape, use that. Better safe than sorry.

AJS

[Truitt Bottsford III]

I did my semi-pro painting back in college

If you did as you say, then you should have no problem cutting it in with a brush. Save the masking for the base.