Today I finished the last ceiling of the three ceilings I have been working on in the same client’s home as the Home Office and Kitchen ceilings recently posted. This Sun Room Ceiling was supposed to be my easiest ceiling to complete. Well, it turned out…not quite true. First, the height of this ceiling at the peak is 14′. That’s an extra 5′ over the previous 2 ceilings, and the ceiling is comprised of 2 slanted sides.
Here’s the Before shot.
Now, you wouldn’t think that a few more feet would make such a difference, but believe me it does. It means a lot more trips up and down a taller ladder, and because the ceiling is sloped, it means a lot more moving and adjusting the ladders. This is exhausting, to say the least, and it adds extra hours to the job. Scaffolding was not an option for 2 reasons. One: too much furniture and no place to move it, and Two: the slope of the ceiling would have me constantly adjusting planks on the scaffolding, which is just too much work.
I have mentioned my fear of heights here before. Fourteen feet off the floor is pretty much my limit. I can do it, but I have to be able to grip the wall, at all times. This room had that center beam across, which had to be wood grained, plus the stencil design ran along each side of the beam. My friend Stacy came to the rescue and did that portion.
The main problem incurred, which of course, was not anticipated, was the ceiling paint lifting right off the surface. This happened mostly where the ceiling met the walls… where I was taping off for my lines. I was using the lowest tack tape on the market. It was not the tape… it was due to poor prep work. This ceiling was painted about 2 years ago, by the same painters this family always uses. Unfortunately, they are cheap, but not good. You do tend to get what you pay for with the budget painters. My guess is they did not prime this ceiling first, which was a new ceiling, since this room was a new addition to the house 2 yrs. ago. So, as you can see… I had a little mess here to try to fix.
The homeowner could not find the paint that was used on the ceiling, so I ended up taking a chip that fell off of the ceiling to my trusty paint store for a match. I presented them with a sliver of a chip, 1" x 1/4" and they did an exact match for me!
Here it is, fixed. 😉 This is why I love a small, family owned hardware/paint store. I never get this type of service at the box stores. Here you see the problem fixed. I used a Modello design for each of the 8 corners.
It was very difficult to photograph this entire ceiling in one frame with my camera, but here is one side of the room.
This is a good look at how the design is laid out on each side of the beam.
The inspiration for the stencil design chosen came from the chandelier, the carpet and the other scrolled ironwork in the room.
Now I am ready for a little break from ceiling work. Tomorrow I’ll be doing some repair work in another home.
