I bought a foreclosure that needed the entire ceilings repainted. They were an awful grey throughout the entire interior. I bought the most expensive ceiling paint I could find and the highest nap roller, and repainted ALL of my ceilings. It was very time consuming but well worth the effort! Through trial and error I learned a technique so that the popcorn would not pull off with the paint. People will say to redo the ceilings but I think a fresh coat of paint did it for me. I am on a budget and do not believe in overremodling so that I will have more $ into the place than it will ever be worth.

Thank ya'll for the help and info, I really appreciate it. You've clarified some things for me and also opened up some new questions for me... I really was hoping to stick with waterbased primer and paint...the small projects in the past with oil-based paints just seemed to end up messy with paintbrushes that I never could get clean. I'm sure I'm gonna need the knowledge of working with the oil-based stuff sooner or later anyhow. It looks like the materials procurement is going to be a chore in itself. I'm gonna have to do some long-distance shopping. Looking in my local yellow pages I come up with one paint dealer...a Pittsburgh Paints dealer. A problem that I run into is that I'm rural and have to drive roughly 65 miles to the nearest Lowe's. I'll probably have to venture up to Montgomery, AL to find a true paint store....that will probably be 130 miles roundtrip. It looks like several SW stores are up there but not many "mom and pop" stores...I'll see what I can find. Do the SW stores normally handle other brands of paint/primer??? PG, your view of caulking and the cost difference between good and mediocre brands makes sense to me...with your's and Faron's recommendations I'll be returning the Alex Plus and looking for something along the lines of Dynaflex 230. I went to Lowe's last night trying to see what sanding/scraping/etc. supplies they might have that will help me get the old paint off/sanded. I was going to pick up a respirator. They had two different ones in stock (can't remember the brands), one stated it was for sanding and insulation and teh other stated it was for painting and spraying chemicals. Reading the fine print both of them stated they weren't for use with lead. I didn't buy either one. I figure it was the basic "we warned you, don't blame us..." statement and that they probably would work fine...I'll keep a lookout for a 3M brand. Sanding equipment...I looked at different electric sanders and figured I'd get a *real* good dust bath with one of those...ended up simply getting some sandpaper and sanding block along with a couple of foam sanding blocks. I'll see how that goes...mostly will be used to feather edge the remaining paint. I'll be doing a lot of windows later on...if I do decide to pick up an electric sander would an random orbital or a 1/4 sheet finishing sander be better? As for the ceiling itself... In some places there are definite large gaps between the T&G pieces. I've already pulled some large strings of caulking from between some of the pieces. I agree that T&G should fit snuggly together. I don't know if the caulking was used when the house was constructed or if it was added later on...it's a silicone-type so I guess it would have to be of more recent year vintage. It appears that most of the caulking was used more toward the outside areas of the ceiling closest to the weather so it probably was used to fill weather-created gaps. ??? I'm curious as to whether it will be worth my while to order some caulking by the case...that big window in the pictures is one of sixteen that size or 2.5X that size. I may wait and see how much I use on the two windows under the porch and then order some accordingly...or hopefully find some locally (at least as local as possible). weed_cutter, you are right about the roof...flat and no ventilation to speak up between the metal top and the T&G. But, the reason for the bad condition of some of the T&G is pretty much due to several bad leaks that existed before the metal roof was installed. Thanks for the vote on the Duramax...it's supposed to be the one-coat/no-primer stuff but I still want to go down with a primer coating. In regards to windows...is DAP '33' good glazing material? I'm going to need to re-glaze panes in several of the windows. Well, I'm adjusting my shopping lists and will plan on a road trip to Montgomery. Thanks for the help! Ed

Lots of contractors did poor jobs of taping and sanding ceilings if they knew they were going to spray them. You may want to consider touching up the mudding job to hide the seams and imperfections better before you start painting. I've even seen some where they didn't even prime before spraying. Flat paint will hide imperfections much better. It's the light reflecting off the uneven surface that shows everything, so the glossier the paint, the more that will show. Your mother may have what is considered a spatter sprayed ceiling. It is basically the same thing but without any "popcorn" added. When sprayed on lightly it looks like what you describe your mother has. After the spatter spray is dry, you paint over that with your choice of paint. Spraying is often the best way to get a nice uniform look. BTW - I like sprayed ceilings, but my husband uses fine particles and we prepare the ceiling good enough to paint first. I also like glitter! Cathy

If it has not been painted before, then spraying is recommended. If it has been painted before with success, then either spraying or brushing/rolling will be fine. Spraying has a finer finish, but rolling is better at getting everything white. The sprayer sometimes does not get every angle perfectly, as often there are jagged edges. Using a 3/4" or 1" roller nap (depending on popcorn length) works very well to get into the grooves. Provided the popcorn doesn't come off, then rolling actually gives a slightly better and more complete look. Note: Brushing/rolling can be done if DIY, even if it hasn't been painted before, but be careful to make sure to test a closet or something inconspicuous first, to make sure the popcorn is not so delicate that it comes off with the brush/roller. Most of the time it wont, but sometimes it will. Other notes are obvious- sprayer covers more ground faster, but with sprayer you must carefully cover and plastic every last thing in the house and all surfaces, cover vents and shut off return system, etc etc, to avoid overspray mist getting onto things it shouldn't. If it is a smaller job, most companies/painters would roll, because a sprayer takes a lot of time to set up and clean hoses after job completion. This can substantially raise the cost of the project. If it is a larger job, most everyone who's qualified is going to roll- UNLESS the house is fully lived in and furnished. When homes are lived in and furnished with a lot of furniture, clothes, dressers, items, objects, picture frames etc around the home, then you simply do not want to spray indoors at all.