Tongue and groove pine cathedral ceilings!!

We bought a run down 1980's brick house to renovate and we have done quite a lot to it already but it has tongue and groove varnished pine cathedral ceilings throughout. It remains dark and feels "top heavy". Don't know how else to describe it.

We are considering painting over the pine but not with white ceiling paint. Have thought of using 1/4 strength of the wall colour.

Just wondering what preparation we would have to do? Do we have to sand the wood or is there a primer that we could use instead?

We are desperate for some advice of how to go about doing this. Thanks to the members for helping out.

Have you tried washing it with sugar soap?

It is possible to lighten timber by bleaching, however it would have to be stripped first. I think I'd be looking for professional (or very experienced) advice on this one.

I've seen a lot of painted lining board ceilings and they usually look ok.

I'm not a painter, I hate painting... but sometimes one just has to look good in the eyes of the spouse. :rolleyes: In my efforts to make it a more bearable chore I've found there aren't really many shortcuts I'd ever want to try again.

But, I reckon Bob's on the right path with sugar soap. It'll remove any deposits caused by cigarettes, fireplaces, cooking disasters, etc. and usually results in a lighter surface. As a bonus, it's also a good first step in cleaning a surface in prep for painting, too. So either way it won't be wasted effort. :)

So, scrub your ceiling. Give it a week and decide whether you can live with it or still want to go ahead and paint. If you're really fussy you can give it a light sand, but I've found the sugar soap provides enough abrasion to key the primer/paint. Usually. :rolleyes: It's often possible to get away without priming, but I've think this is often false economy as you end up applying more coats of paint to get a consistent colour without blotches.

When buying the paint, explain your situation to the supplier and they should be able to point you at the right primer for the paint you chose.

Did a house about ten years ago where the owner didn't want any gyprock or plasterboard. All the walls and ceilings were lined with vj pine boards. This made the rooms look like huge packing crates:eek: . The ceilings were clear coated along with the exposed 150 x 70 oregon rafters while the walls were painted white. The boards were given a coat of oil based primer to stop any resin stains bleeding through. All the knot holes and defects were bogged. All this took the painter about three weeks (large house). The end result was pretty good, especially with clear finished brushbox skirting and picture rails.

Mick

I have recently painted over interior timber clad ceiling. The local paint shop recommended Taubmans 3 in1 as a primer, (which I used) then regular ceiling paint on top; which has worked fine.

The knots and holes in the timber, which are not that obvious in the unpainted state, show up as very obvious black holes when you paint with a light colour!



Phil

Thank you so much for all the suggestions.

Went to the local Mitre 10 today and they suggested a Dulux Primer then 2 coats of my chosen colour - have decided against ceiling paint as I don't want white ceilings.

Have decided to practice on a room that doesn't see much foot traffic - the ironing room hahahaha.

Will have to see how obvious the knots will be after doing the 3 coats of paint.

Thanks again for all the helpful suggestions and hopefully it won't look too horrible.