Caulking and Painting of Tongue and Groove Ceilings

Remove any furniture from the area and then cover the floor with drop cloths. Cover the walls with plastic sheeting to protect them from drips of paint. Secure the plastic with masking tape, and then place a strip of masking tape onto the top of the walls lining the joint with the ceiling.

Set up a ladder beneath the ceiling so that you can reach the tongue-and-groove boards without stretching. Climb the ladder and locate any cracks or holes in the wood planks. Fill the cracks or holes with silicone caulk, using a caulking gun to apply the material. Level the caulk with the surface of the boards by scraping over it with a putty knife. Allow the caulk to dry overnight.

Sand the ceiling using a pole sander with medium grit sandpaper attached. Run the sander down the boards in a back-and-forth motion to roughen the surface of the boards enough to accept the paint, as well as level the caulking out further with the level of the wood. Dust the ceiling after sanding with a dust brush to remove residue.

Pour primer into a 5-gallon bucket. Apply the primer to the ceiling around the edges against the wall joint with a paintbrush, covering the outermost boards, and a strip about 4 inches wide at the board edges, cutting in the ceiling surface. Place a metal paint roller screen into the bucket to help screen excess primer from the paint roller, and then paint the rest of the ceiling with a low-nap paint roller, overlapping each row of paint by about 50 percent to ensure that you cover the ceiling completely. Allow the primer to dry overnight.

Cover the primer with two top coats of paint, using the same application process that you used to apply the primer. Allow each coat of paint to dry for about 24 hours before applying the next coat. Wait an additional 24 hours before removing the masking tape, plastic sheeting and drop cloths. Return the furnishings to the room.