I recently moved into a house with popcorn ceilings. The granules look to be up to 1/4", and I think the paint is latex. The ceilings need painting, but I've gotten several stories as to how to do this.
One - you have to spray paint, else the popcorn will just fall off when it is wet down with a brush or roller.
Two - you don't have to spray paint, just don't thin the latex paint and use a very long-napped roller.
Three - "shudder" - just strip the stuff off the ceiling.
"Two" worked for me - I forget how many total coats went on, but the first coat was Kilz (latex, not oil-based). One coat of Kilz, one or two of ceiling paint. I actually don't know why one couldn't just paint with Kilz and forget the ceiling paint if white is what's desired. Anyway, you want a thick nap on the roller. Easy as pie.
I just did one in a bedroom with Kilz, and it was a pain in the ass. It looks good, but it took 2 coats with a super thick nap roller, and then going around and hitting all the little spots I missed. Of course I did it in a dark red, and it was originally white, so white to white would be alot easier.
THey make specials rollers for this. Trick is DO NOT ROLL BACKWARDS. If you miss an area get it with the second coat. If you roll backwards you risk picking up the popcorn. In other words do not hit an area twice.
LOL. My 12 yr old wanted to pick his own colors for his room. Slate grey, with burgandy trim and ceiling, with salt and pepper carpet. We promised him that his room would be the first one we re-modeled when we moved, since moving is hardest on kids. I wasn't excited about his color choice, but it actually turned out really nice, but I won't ever paint another popcorn ceiling anything but white, or whatever color is on it already. I might possibly try spray paint next time. Should have this time, since we were painting everything else and the carpet was getting replaced...oh well, live and learn.
As someone who just finished such a job, I suggest the following:
Don't try to "clean" the ceiling; simply brush off any loose particles; protect the floor with visqueen, etc. Buy a slotted foam (not long nap) roller and an extension handle. Use Sears ceiling paint--guaranteed to cover in one coat, and it does.
This is by far the fastest. Just get a big roll of visqueen, staple it to the walls an inch below the ceiling, spread it out so it covers the floor and all the room contents, and have at it with an airless sprayer. Buy 2.5x as much paint as you think you will need. Popcorn drinks the stuff. I did my house with latex eggshell titanium white.
This can be done, but it's a royal PITA. DO NOT try to roll over a wet surface, or the popcorn will just wrap around your roller. If this happens, there is an aerosol that you can use to patch the hole, but it is very messy. Staple visqueen an inch below the ceiling and cover everything in the room before using it. :)
Also do-able. Be aware that the original sheet rocker paid no attention to ceiling finish, because he knew it was getting sprayed. Chances are he didn't even topcoat the tape seams. You will have some finish work to do, but then you can brocade or eggshell.
I never give advice. I like to watch a man work. It can be very entertaining.
My house has pop corn ceilings, too. I painted the ceiling in the laundry room using a Wagner spray painter (cheapest kind) - it was a lot of trouble and it only looked so-so when I finished.
My DH painted the great room and eat in kitchen . He started with an expensive, long napped roller that I bought especially for the job. He didn't like it - switched to one made out foam rubber (roller) with little slits in it
- also recommended for the job. He hated that one. Then he switched to the cheap ones - you know the kind that come three to a package and you just throw them away. They worked best of all. He had to roll it and then when it dried, he had to roll it again.....from different direction. It still looks like he missed some places but it's all right. We can live with it.
I sprayed the vaulted ceilings in two rooms, approximate square footage,
1,000 sf with a Graco XR7, and it worked so slick I couldn't believe it. Masking the walls and cleanup took longer than painting. And everything was out of the rooms. That made a huge difference. I wouldn't use anything but an airless, and I don't consider the Wagner POS to be an airless sprayer.
If I should ever have to replace a ceiling - I would look into alternatives over popcorn. Replacing because it's not the current style isn't worth the time or cost. (style will change again!) Scraping a semi-gloss painted popcorn ceilings
- would be way too much work, hire someone and write the check.
Yes, use at least a med thick nap on a roller and roll ONCE forward NOT back & Forth as this causes popcorn to get even wetter and begin to stick to the roller. Clean off the roller as needed. Latex/acrylic paint should never be thinned. Use a quality semi-gloss if you are serious about doing this job yourself. It should last for years and the good paint won't allow it to ever drop off again. As for spray painting - have a pro do that, but still use the semi-gloss paint.
I personally hate the cheap flat ceiling paint - I could always see the laps & that's the ugliest. One thick coat of good latex semi-gloss and the second coat goes pretty fast. Method of application isn't as important as the quality of paint. Try it next time.
Keep in mind that once you paint a popcorn ceiling, it becomes a lot, lot harder to remove later on. An unpainted popcorn ceiling can be removed by just spraying it with water and scraping it off, one small area at a time. Best home improvement I ever made.
I can not imagine painting a ceiling with semigloss paint it must look really ugly. ALWAYS use flat and if you can work a roller you won't see the roller marks. OR remove the popcorn.
Using something other than latex keeps the popcorn on the ceiling. We used an oil based white primer on one, but found CIL makes a special alkyd paint for "calcimined"ceilings. Works fantastic.
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