Painting High Ceilings with a Pole

To paint high ceilings white with an accent color on the walls see: Painting High Ceilings with a Ladder, these instructions are for painting one color on both ceilings and walls. Using one color for both will make painting high ceilings, such as with stairwells, easier because it's possible to paint the corners between wall and ceiling from the floor. If you must have a white ceiling with an accent color on the walls, a ladder will be required to do the job. See Painting High Ceilings with a Ladder for help.

Choosing the Paint

Use flat latex paint for this project to improve the results. If you're choosing the colors for the job use one that closely matches the existing color to make coverage easier. Use a roller extension pole long enough to reach to the ceiling. Twelve feet is usually the limit for painting extension poles but this is enough for most situations.

Brushing with an Extension Pole

Fill a paint brush with the wall paint and tape it to the end of the extension pole using masking tape. Set the brush so the threads on the pole press against the metal band around the bristles. Wrap the tape a few times around the brush and pole near the tip of the brush handle. Wrap a few turns of tape around the brush and pole a few inches farther up the handle to hold it in two places.

Extend the pole and start at the farthest corner, brushing the paint on as far as it will go. When the paint runs out, compress the pole to pull the brush in and fill it with more paint. Carefully dip the brush into the paint can while still attached to the pole. Tap it on the sides of the can to stop drips. Extend the pole and coat more of the corner. Paint all the high corners along the ceiling and down the walls to a point where they can be reached from the floor. Let the corners dry and apply a second coat if necessary. Roll the ceiling first and then the walls using the 12 foot extension. Use a shorter pole as you work your way down to finish painting the walls. See Paint Rolling Techniques for more about rolling paint.