GardenFork – Eclectic DIY

Tag: painting

  • Clean A Dirty Tin Ceiling & Prepare For Painting

    Clean A Dirty Tin Ceiling & Prepare For Painting

    To show you how to clean a dirty tin ceiling, I took some photos to show you how we clean one in preparation for painting. You can also use this method to just clean most tin ceilings that don’t need a fresh coat of paint.

    This paint job was a tin ceiling in a small kitchen, and the tin ceiling was covered in grease from the stove. You can see in the picture below how stained the tin ceiling is. The lighter areas are where we did spot cleaning to see how bad the grease on the ceiling was.

    Clean a dirty tin ceiling
    Kitchen Grease on Tin Ceiling

    To to clean a dirty tin ceiling, we first cover all the counter tops and floors with plastic. We wore paint coveralls and gloves, goggles, and masks to shield ourselves while cleaning the ceiling.

    We then used TSP (Trisodium Phosphate) mixed according to the package directions in a bucket of warm water on the ceiling. We used large sponges to apply the TSP to the ceiling and then removed the cleaning solution and grease with sponges soaked in warm water. It took several applications of the TSP to get the tin ceiling clean.

    TSP is a strong cleaner! Follow all label directions and safety guidelines on the box, OK?

    Clean a dirty tin ceiling
    See the difference cleaning the ceiling makes

    If your ceiling has grease on it or is stained yellow, you have to remove this stuff before painting. The paint wont stick to grease.

    Clean a dirty tin ceiling
    After cleaning one area, you can see the contrast

    It took a whole day to clean the ceiling, applying the soap several times, then allowing the ceiling to dry before painting the ceiling. We used a 3/8″ nap roller and a high quality latex paint.

    Materials List

    TSP Surface Cleaner

    TSP P Free (less harsh cleaner)

    Cleaning Sponges (you will need a bunch of these)

    Chemical Resistant Gloves

    Safety Goggles

    Disposable Coveralls

    Have you cleaned a ceiling? What was your experience? Tell us below:

    Spilled Paint Cleanup!

  • Spilled Paint Cleanup!

    Spilled Paint Cleanup!

    “Eric come here quick!”

    Not the phrase you want to hear on a paint job.

    It doesn’t happen often, but this is what you prepare for, the unexpected. The one time you don’t prepare is when it will happen.

    When painting rooms, I am obsessive about covering every square inch of floor with either paint tarps or red rosin contractor paper. It pays off in a number of ways, we spend almost no time cleaning paint roller splatter off the floor, any plaster or sheetrock repair dust is easily cleaned up, and if one of us happens to step into a drop of paint that has happened onto a tarp, we don’t get even more paint on the floor from walking all over with paint on our shoes. The tarps soak up the paint from the sole of the shoe.

    Painting a brownstone last week one of the crew accidentally kicked over a gallon of paint, but because we had laid down heavy duty muslin paint tarps, the clean up was easy.

    when painting, use a tarp!

    We first scoop up as much paint as we can and put it back into a paint can. You might need to strain that paint if it has sanding debris in it picked up from the tarp. We roll the tarp up into itself and take it outside. We then sop up the rest with paper towels, and lay out the tarp to dry. Latex paint will dry slowly when its thick, but after it dries, you can use the tarp again.

    If you are painting more than one room, consider buying muslin tarps instead of plastic tarps. Plastic is slippery to walk on, muslin paint tarps are much better and last for years. Be sure to write your name on your tarps, your friends will borrow them, and its a subtle way of reminding your friends whose tarps they are.

    What are your paint catastrophes? tell us below