Texture a Ceiling

The ceiling is usually the most exposed part of a room. Walls are broken up with windows and doors, and are often decorated with painting, pictures and other decorative items. A plain white, smooth ceiling may seem boring after awhile. The easiest way to enhance a ceiling, and sometimes change the entire look of the room, is to texture it. Applying texture to a ceiling can also be a good way to conceal imperfections in the drywall.

Steps

Preparing Your Room and Paint

  1. Protect your walls and furniture. First, remove as much furniture as possible from the room. Cover all remaining furniture, as well as your floors, with drop clothes. Tape off or otherwise cover ceiling fixtures. Finally, tape plastic sheeting around the ceiling’s perimeter to protect your walls.
    • You will also want to remove any faceplates which are on your ceiling, such as vent covers.
  2. Repair any cracks or inconsistencies in the ceiling. You will want to be sure that the base layer of your ceiling is in prime condition. Repair cracks in plaster and generally ensure that the ceiling is as smooth as possible. Cracks can worsen over time and inconsistencies (as well as cracks) will be made more visible by the texture of the ceiling.
    • Some cracks and inconsistencies can be fixed with spackle, but others may be structural and should be addressed by an inspector or contractor.
  3. Paint a priming layer on your ceiling. Paint a coat of paint primer on your ceiling before adding the texture. This can help to reduce the appearance of a previous color but it will also help the new paint adhere to the wall. Choose a primer in a color as close as possible to your final color.
  4. Mix your textured paint. There are a number of ways to texture a ceiling. You can buy pre-textured paint (which will likely be the easiest option). You can also texture the ceiling by adding materials to either latex or oil based paint. Purchase material that is meant for texturing paint, such as special sand, and mix it according to the manufacturer’s instructions, as well as your own preference.
    • Generally, you will mix 1 part of the additive to every ten parts of paint. This works out to roughly 1 ½ cups of texture for every gallon of paint.
  5. Test your paint. Once you believe you have the paint mixed properly, you will want to do a small test patch to ensure you are happy with the texture. Try to do the test patch in a corner of the room or otherwise in a less visible area. Adjust your paint as necessary.

Painting the Ceiling

  1. Paint the ceiling. Use either rollers or a brush to paint the ceiling. Apply the paint in a W, X, or N shape in order to make sure that paint is applied in all directions. You will want to be sure to remove excess paint from the brush or roller before applying, since otherwise it will just drip into your face! Ew!
    • If the paint won’t go on your roller (because it is too thick), you can try putting it on a trowel or similar tool first, spreading it in the general area you wish it to go, and then switching to a roller to even the texture.
  2. Visualize and paint the ceiling in sections. Divide the ceiling into sections and complete the sections one at a time. These do not need to be formally divided. Painting the ceiling in sections will make it easier to make sure you get everything, keep you organized so you get done faster, and help keep you motivated.
  3. Let it dry thoroughly. When you have painted the whole ceiling, make sure to let it dry completely before doing anything else (if any changes or additions need to be made). This usually takes a minimum of several hours. Adding more paint, texture, or touching the drying paint too much will pull the drying paint off and make your ceiling look uneven.
    • The ceiling will dry faster if you increase the air circulation in the room.

Doing Alternative Textures

  1. Create a Faux Finish With a Rag. Use slightly contrasting colors of paint, applied with a rag to get a textured appearance to the ceiling. You can also use a sponge in a similar manner to get another texture.
  2. Texture the ceiling with thickened paint. You can mix joint compound into the paint in order to get a faux plaster look. You can buy either a mix or the prepared compound. You will likely need a great deal of the material (at least 6 lbs of the prepared compound) but how much will depend on the area you are covering and how thick you want it to be.
  3. Texture the ceiling with a special roller. You can also use textured rollers to get other textures to your paint without having to apply multiple coats. You can use shaggy rollers or other textured rollers. These should generally have examples of their final textures on the packaging.

Tips

  • If you buy pre-textured paint, make sure that it is for ceilings. Some are designed only for walls.
  • If you want to spray the texture onto your ceiling, you can purchase or rent a spraying machine at most home improvement stores.
  • You may want to paint a textured ceiling with a spraying machine so that you don't have to make contact with the texturing and risk damaging it. However, this is an extremely messy process.
  • When painting your ceiling in the future, make sure to use a thick pile roller, as a short one will not be able to properly cover the texturing.
  • You can create specific, detailed or repeated patterns using a stencil and applying the texturing by hand. This type of texturing can be tedious and time consuming if you don't have enough stencils to cover a large portion of the ceiling at once. You have to tape the stencil in place using painting tape and wait for each area to dry before removing the stencil to tape it to the next area.
  • If you only need to cover a small area, such as making a repair to an existing textured ceiling, consider textured spray paint. These cans last only a few seconds, so they are generally only appropriate for use in small areas or for doing repairs.

Warnings

  • Be sure that you open windows and get adequate air circulation in the room while you paint. The fumes are not good for you and can cause headaches and dizziness.

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Sources and Citations

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