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OK, the house we are (maybe) buying has the popcorn/cottage cheese ceilings.
We will need to paint the kitchen ceiling -- stains evidence of plumbing leaks in the master bath overhead. Fortunately the inspectors' moisture meter probe thingy said that the ceiling is dry -- the leak was years ago.
Normally when painting I'd first wash with TSP then prime then paint. But with a cottage cheese ceiling, I dunno about washing with TSP.
Any ideas about proper prep? The kids at Lowes and HD don't know much. <sigh>
There isn't a prep process for a textured ceiling. All you can do is spot prime the stained areas. Depending on how long ago it was sprayed, the popcorn may start flaking off if you use a roller. You could try a short nap, like a 3/8". The best way would be to use an airless sprayer. If the house is vacant and you feel up to the challenge, rent one. You'll need to cover the walls and windows with masking plastic which isn't as complicated as it may sound. Practice with the sprayer on a piece of scrap lumber. Once you get the hang of it you can shoot an entire ceiling of a 20 x 20 room in about 30 minutes. Let it dry for an hour or so and you can shoot it again if you like. Clean the sprayer, store the paint, remove the masking and your done. Send me PM if you want to know more. I worked as a painting contractor for several years and learned quite a lot from my, as well as others, mistakes.
So when did they stop putting asbestos in popcorn ceilings? I doubt that would be a problem in a newer home... but since I've only owned 80+ year old homes I'm not 100% sure. Worth asking about.
I'll miss Miller Paint for these sort of questions. They are great! Good luck finding a good paint resource in NC.
We had a house with popcorn ceilings with a kitchen water stain too-we used Kilz primer, in a spray can-it ended up pretty much matching the ceiling color, without additional paint. It wasn't perfect...but ok.
Popcorn ceilings are so nasty. If I had to do it again I'd just scrape it all off.
rwally -- thanks for the tips. The house will be empty -- other than air mattresses and duffle bags .
It's a 1994 house, so with luck the popcorn surface won't come crashing down. I'll skip washing with TSP (though will of course do that for the walls), spray-prime the stains with Kilz, and then try a small area with a 3/8" nap roller. If the popcorn stays, I'll roll the ceiling; if it comes off, I'll move on to adventures with a sprayer!
Or I could just see what it would cost to have a contractor paint the entire interior including the kitchen while the house is empty. At 1600 sq feet, it should be a relatively quick job -- two wall colors, white ceilings, white trim.
That sure would free up time to do other fun things...like unpacking!
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