DIY Painting Walls and Ceilings With a Roller

Painting walls and ceilings with a paint roller is not complicated but it can require a certain touch for success with some finishes. Before starting, use a brush to paint wall and ceiling corners and around wood trim moldings. This is referred to as "cutting–in" or "cutting–out" by most professional painters. See Paint Brushing Techniques for more on cutting–in. Once the brush work is done the wide open spaces can be painted using a paint roller and a roller extension pole.

Choose a paint roller that suits the paint and surface you are working with. As a basic rule use a short napped roller for shiny paints like high or semi–gloss and a longer nap for flat paints. The surface you are working on should also be a consideration when choosing roller nap (see chart).

Always choose a high quality roller to avoid shedding. Use a 9 inch roller for large areas like walls and ceilings and a small "sausage" roller for small spaces. A good roller will last thru numerous paint jobs as long as it is washed well after use. Below is a list of surfaces and the best roller to use depending on the paint involved.

Sheepskin is recommended by some manufacturers when rolling alkyd and oil–based paints to completely eliminate roller material shedding into the paint finish. Most high quality polyester rollers do just as well and are about a fifth of the cost of sheepskin.

Prepare the Paint and Roller

Use a one gallon or larger paint roller tray. Shake the can or stir the paint to mix all the pigment before proceeding. Don't shake varnish or other clear finishes this will add air bubbles that will show in the application. Have a paint brush handy to clean the rim of the paint can. Fill the tray to about half full. This would be a good time to do the brush work with the paint in the can at a manageable level. See Paint Brushing Techniques for more.

Fill the roller with paint by rolling it into the edge of the paint pool several times until the roller is saturated. If the roller becomes saturated with paint on one side and resists rolling, use your hand or a putty knife to turn the roller to the dry spot to fill it. Don't roll too deeply into the paint or place the roller in the pool to try and soak up the paint. This will create runs and roller marks from excess paint on the roller frame.

Work the paint into the roller by turning it several times on the paint tray and adding more paint if needed before moving to the wall. With the paint evenly distributed in the roller, attach an extension pole and begin rolling the wall or ceiling starting at one corner of the room.

Rolling Ceilings and Walls

Start a few inches away from the brushed paint at one wall and roll parallel to it. Roll the paint 5 feet or more back and forth, working out from the wall. Apply a swath of paint a few feet wide and then roll back over the same space repeatedly to spread out any roller marks.

Continue rolling to the wall to fill the bare patch you left at the start. Take care near the wall not to let the roller bump it. Roll back and forth over the same paint several times to even out the coat and remove roller marks. Look for roller marks caused by excess paint on the edge of the roller and smooth them out before moving on.

Refill the roller and start the next swath of paint a few inches from the last. Roll a few feet out toward the center of the ceiling and then back over the paint again and into the previously painted area.

Roll the surface repeatedly to smooth and blend the paint coat. Check for roller marks or other imperfections in the surface and smooth them out before refilling the roller.

Continue in this way until the ceiling is finished. Blend the roller work into the brush work around light fixtures and at walls using a lightly filled roller. Roll repeatedly until the two areas are blended into a smooth paint coat. Let latex flat wall paint dry for an hour or more and apply a second if necessary. Let eggshell, semi and high–gloss latex paint dry three or four hours and let alkyd paint dry 12 to 24 hours between coats.

Roll walls using the same technique described above but be sure each swath of paint covers the whole length of the wall from baseboard to ceiling with one roller stroke. Smooth out each swath of paint with repeated strokes of the roller going from ceiling to baseboard with each stroke. Don't stop halfway down the wall as this may create a noticeable mark when the paint is dry, particularly with shiny paints. Paint all the walls and let the paint dry as mentioned above. Apply a second coat if needed for good coverage. It will usually take two coats of paint to cover completely when changing wall colors.

If you're painting high walls and ceilings it will be impossible to roll in one continuous stroke. In these cases, using flat latex paint will create a finish that blends to hide the stopping and starting marks.

Special Considerations

The paint finish, i.e. eggshell, semi-gloss, etc., will sometimes have an impact on the quality of the paint job when rolling large areas. High–gloss, semi–gloss and to a lesser degree eggshell paints may flash if not rolled properly. The easiest way to get a professional quality paint job on walls and ceilings is to use quality, flat latex paint. Flat latex paint is very forgiving and will not show most roller marks and touch–ups. If you must use shiny paint like eggshell or semi–gloss, always roll in complete strokes. On ceilings and high walls this may be a problem because of the difficulty rolling complete strokes from one barrier to another. If at all possible use flat latex paint on these surfaces for the best results. See Paint Touch–up for more.