So here’s something we’ve never seen before: Tamara’s 1960 ranch house has a unique, embossed flower design seemingly stamped into the ceiling of the dining room. Fantastique! Tamara wants to freshen up the ceiling with a coat of paint — but first, she’d love to know if anyone has anyone run into a textured ceiling similar to this before so that she can use the correct paint and technique.
Tamara writes:
My 1960 ranch house has an intricate ceiling in the formal dining room. The ceiling material is hard, but rough/porous. The flower & leaf pattern is continuous, as though stamped in. The pattern is embossed deeply into the material. I have never seen anything quite like it. It needs to be painted, but I want to find out exactly what it’s made of before I started rolling on paint. I thought surely I could find some appropriate search terms that would bring up an image on Google. Wrong. I find many plaster ceiling images showing patterns that are shallow, knock-down designs that resemble foliage, but nothing similar to my very crisp, seamless pattern.
This is a room with no purpose right now, though I assume it was originally the formal dining room. The previous owners used it as a “tv room,” but that’s not a good fit for me. I had planned to use it as a library/game room, but I’m not sure that’s right, either. It’s a fairly big room, 16×20-ish, so I hate to see it used for nothing. Maybe the original purpose is the best use. Regardless, the room has wood paneling which has been painted. I’m considering removing the paneling and going with drywall since the damage is already done. If we’re going to start pulling down paneling, I feel like I need a plan for the ceiling. I’m hoping it’s a simple as some paint and a new light fixture to replace the fan. I’m hoping you or one of your readers has seen something like this. I really want to replace the dowdy ceiling fan with something else and make this nice and white again.
FIRST: Precautionary Pam warns:
Tamara, our vintage homes can contain vintage nastiness such as lead and asbestos — Job #1 with this ceiling should be to get with your own properly licensed professional to determine what this material and the paint is made of, so that if any issues are identified, you can make informed decisions.
Now… back to your question. Pam says that she’s seen a fair number of ceilings troweled with swirlies — many of them quite nice — and of course, we’ve seen ceilings blasted with aluminum glitter — but we have never seen a ceiling as intricately detailed as this. Considering its possible rarity, we certainly suggest you get good professional advice on how to repaint it. We’ll also add — if the house has other high-end finishes throughout, it’s possible the paneling is also nice and worth restoring.
This one: It goes in our woddity category. If we had this ceiling in our house, we’d consider ourselves super lucky (well, once we did the environmental testing and fingers crossed, it cleared!)
Jonny says
Just last week I sprayed new paint on a 110 year old stamped tin ceiling in an old building and the spray method really worked great. Used an airless paint sprayer. Seems to have lost no detail in the painting. Paint was necessary since several sections were transferred in from other areas of the building to fill in damaged or missing panels. I paint professionally, but it’s really not that tough and the equipment can be rented reasonably.
Two coats will be plenty, just make sure you spray your patterns in two directions (east-west and then north-south, or whatever) so you don’t see streaks and to hit all the “dimensions” in your ceiling.
It’s a neat detail, I’ve never seen anything like it either.
pam kueber says
Thanks, Jonny, for the tips!
Erin says
I’ve seen lay-in ceiling tiles with similar designs (Armstrong makes several still), but never a panel (or an in-place stamp! I can’t tell from the photos if there could be seams between sheets of something).
I agree with the others who say spray (and it’ll be worth paying a pro!) Also even if the ceiling is hot, which it may be, just adding paint won’t disturb the material. [Comments re asbestos edited — READERS, get your own professional advice; COMMENTERS, don’t give this kind of advice, I will edit it out.] It’s a good idea to get it tested [edited], if you’re going to do any other demo in the room (so you’ll know exactly how careful you need to be with the ceiling).
Brooke says
We mostly have icing style swirls in our living/dining room but we do have a large flower outline pressed into the ceiling around the dining room light (it’s used like a ceiling medallion).
Chances are it’s regular ceiling compound (sorry not sure what it’s called) sprayed on and then someone went around with a large stamp. It could still contain asbestos so be careful knocking it etc … [ADVICE edited by PAM — peoples, get your own professional advice on this — READERS, do not give advice like this — everyone needs to get with their own properly licensed pros ]… use regular ceiling paint (which is flat, so not gloss). If there are any ceiling stains you’ll probably need to use a primer in those locations.
The suggestion to spray is probably a good one as it’ll be quick and it’ll provide an even coat (I missed a few spots at my old condo when I was rolling my popcorn ceiling). You may also have issues getting paint into the grooves with a roller.
Brooke says
I didn’t think I was giving advice, simply warning someone not to accidentally bump the ceiling. I wasn’t suggesting she remove it, obviously testing should be done by a professional and if she was removing it to get it done properly.
Regular ceiling paint […edited…] (though again, obviously you should talk to a professional).
emma says
I was just curious if you had checked to see if that paneling was indeed wood? When we bought our house, we thought the panels in our living room were painted wood. They’re actually 16″ drywall panels…. it’s looks very similar to yours. We’re not touching ours, but if you’re going to be ripping into the wall, might be something to look into.
emma says
*Might be something to look into getting tested in case there’s nastiness there.
pam kueber says
Good girl with the Precautionary Pam-like advice!
Dan says
It’s a long shot, but any houses the same age with original or long time owners in your neighborhood you could ask about that ceiling? Our neighbor Betty is the original owner of the first house in our neighborhood (built 1953!) and her knowledge of their construction is remarkable.
pam kueber says
Great suggestion!
Diane says
I couldn’t tell from the photos, is it IN the ceiling or is it anaglypta? (either way, go with spray!)
Jay says
Interesting! I wonder if it was ever painted, looks like stucco in its natural state. Does the pattern have a definate repeat? It may have been done freehand. It certainly has a cementitious sand like appearance.
I agree on the testing, could very well contain asbestos; it was added to a lot of plaster ceilings for fire retarding purposes.
If deemed safe and paintable I think much detail will be lost when the paint fills in the grooves. Would like to know the story behind the ceiling, it’s very old world looking.
Kate H says
It is like a carpet, but for your ceiling. Very garden-ey and fun! After you figure out the paint, can you post pictures of what you end up doing with the rest of the room?
ineffablespace says
I think it is probably stamped, much like stamped concrete, with an interlocking pattern that is pressed into the wet surface.
I don’t think I would try to roll paint on this ceiling. I would hire a professional who uses spray equipment to paint it. I think a roller with a long enough nap on it to penetrate the depth of the pattern would add too much texture to the high spots of the pattern and ruin it.
I lived in a historic building with ceilings that had been cracked and had had ornamental medallions removed in some areas. They covered the ceilings with a moderately heavily sanded paint.
The ceiling in my first unit there had been painted a number of times and there were blobs and drips of paint hanging down like stalactites. It was so lumpy that I thought it had been sprayed with those Styrofoam beads.
pam kueber says
I agree — assuming it tested safe, I would likely get someone to spray paint it for me. Or I guess you could DIY this, if you had the proper equipment.
Alicia says
I agree with this commenter…a light even coat (or two) of paint sprayed on would probably be best. I think a roller or brush would likely deposit too much paint ruining the crispness of the design. Good for you for preserving it!
maria says
Agree, if you want to keep the pattern without it getting gloppy – spray it.
Chad says
My grandmother had a really heavy popcorn ceiling in her 1969 condo (a former rental apartment) and we painted it with a thick roller. It might soak up more paint than a normal ceiling and be harder to cover evenly.