Painting concrete ceiling

Hi,
just wondering if l can get some advice on painting a concrete ceiling. The concrete is sprayed on to give it a very rough texture as can be seen in the attachments. It is just a concrete colour and I want to paint it ceiling white. I believe l will have to spray the paint on as the people next door had this done as well.

Firstly, is this a job a handyman with a small spray gun can do. The people next door said the painters used 20 litres to cover the roof because it needed to be painted from every direction to fill in all the surface area.

Secondly if l can do it would l need to undercoat with a primer and then paint with ceiling white. I take it l can just use water based paint?

Thanks.

Brent:)

Looks like the dreaded vermiculite.:eek:

Of course, thank Coastie. Just did a bit of searching and that appears to be exactly what it is. Well that makes it easier to work out what to do. Found this if anyones interested.

PAINTING A VERMICULITE CEILING: STEP BY STEP

• clean the vermiculite; brush over with a broom to remove cob webs, etc.
• spray the vermiculite with Dulux oil based sealer binder. This helps bind the porous surface together and seals the surface for the paint. The vermiculite will tend to soak up a lot of the sealer binder. Allow 48 hours for the sealer binder to dry (oil-based requires extra drying time).
• spray the paint using a spray gun. Spray guns can be hired from Dulux or Kennards Hire for around $120, however it is recommended you find a professional painter who is skilled in using a spray gun, due to the difficulty of the vermiculite surface. If not applied correctly, the finish may look uneven and appear darker in areas.

Just thought i'd post a followup in case anyone in the future has a vermiculite ceiling they need to spray. The quotes from painters to do the work was $750.
Anyway the ceiling l had to paint was about 30 sq metres. I borrowed my dads 20 year old wagner spray gun with 800ml capacity and set about spraying on 10 litres of dulux oil based sealer binder. This stuff worked like glue to set the vermiculite in place.
Two days later l got 10 litres of cheap ceiling paint (Wattyl Tradesman Hi Opacity Flat Acrylic) and tried brushing and rolling (extra long lambswool nap) it on. It didn't penetrate into the gaps at all so l had to revert to the wagner again. Spraying it on and then rolling back seemed to work really well and 10 litres did one coat. I put a second coat (another 10 litres) on top of this and it was all done.
All up 2 days work but total cost was only $210. $110 for sealer binder and $100 for 20 Litres of the Wattyl (yes it's a very cheap paint but had very good hiding qualities).

Anyway spraying the vermiculite lightened the room right up and makes it look much more modern and vibrant. I'd definately recommend doing it.

Brent:)

Friends just bought a flat in a block of unit that had that ceiling finish throughout the block. However the previous occupants seem to have taken an angle grinder to the ceiling before painting it as their flat has very little trace of the sprayed cement and a few suspicious circular divot marks.

I must agree painting the stuff makes for a much brighter room.