Do I Need to Sand Before I Prime a Glossy Ceiling?

Preparation

• Preparing the ceiling for painting is an essential part of a good paint job. Without proper surface preparation, even the nicest, prettiest paint job won’t last. It will likely chip, peel and crack, creating more work and expense later on.

Sanding

• Sanding is one step that many novice painters skip; however, it is an important part of the painting process and has several purposes. Sanding smooths out any spackling or scraping that was done. It also gets rid of old paint drips and other imperfections. In addition, glossy paint adheres better to a lightly sanded surface than one that was not sanded, especially if the previous top coat also had a glossy finish. Use 150- to 200-grit sandpaper to lightly sand the ceiling then wipe it clean with a wet rag to remove all of the dust.

Priming

• Primer is applied after sanding. It also helps prepare the surface for paint. Use a primer that is a couple of shades lighter than the ceiling color; this paint trick often eliminates the need for more than one coat of paint to adequately cover up the previous color. If you are painting your ceiling white, a white primer is suitable. Primer also helps the paint better adhere to the surface, and it hides stains and imperfections that regular paint may not. Some primers are stain-resistant, helping the top coat resist some stains, such as ones caused from water.

Glossy Paint

• Glossy paint is often the paint of choice for walls, especially in high-traffic areas. Typically, ceilings are painted with a low or flat sheen. Some homeowners, though, prefer to paint their walls with flat paint and the ceilings with glossy paint. Others prefer to paint the entire room with glossy paint since it is easy to clean and can make a small space seem larger.