Painting High Ceilings in Older Riverside Houses

Most people try a ladder and a long extension pole, then wonder why the ceiling looks streaky and their neck hurts. Rooms with nine and ten foot ceilings are common in older Riverside, CA houses, and the staging notes on interior painting riverside crochetastic boutique begin with getting the painter's body at the right height, because that decides how clean the ceiling looks. Interior painting here is often a tall-room job before it is anything else.

Staging that reaches the work

A plank across two stable stands puts a painter's head within a comfortable reach of the ceiling, so the roller can be held without an extension. Furniture comes out or gets pushed to the middle and covered, and the floor gets rosin paper or canvas, since a dropped brush is not a small event from that height. In a house near the Mission Inn district, where ceilings can run taller than the modern standard, the staging often takes longer to set up than the first coat takes to apply.

Cutting in at the crown

The line where ceiling meets wall, or a crown moulding, is the visible edge. Cut in with a sash brush, loaded lightly, pulling the bristles along the corner in one steady stroke instead of dabbing. Cutting in before rolling lets the two coats blend while still wet, and it avoids a dry ridge at the border. Any gap along the crown gets a bead of paintable caulk first, smoothed with a damp finger.

Lighting and rolling

A work light on a stand, placed low and aimed along the ceiling, shows missed spots as the roller passes. A three quarter inch nap carries enough flat latex for coverage on old plaster or textured ceilings. Roll in one direction toward the window, then lay off in the opposite direction with a light pass, so the lap marks disappear.

Old stains and patched cracks

Water stains and nicotine marks bleed through ordinary ceiling paint, even after two coats. A stain blocking primer goes on first, spot primed or over the whole ceiling if the marks are scattered. Cracks along the plaster get filled with spackle, sanded smooth, and primed before the topcoat so they do not flash. Where a sprayer is used for a large open ceiling, everything below it is masked completely, since fine mist travels farther than most people expect.