Painting a wooden ceiling: Instructions and tips for professionals

Your next wooden ceiling renovation job is coming up? Customers often want you to paint or spray an old, dark panelled ceiling white. Such renovation can transform a room: Painting wooden panels lighter, makes the room feel bigger and more inviting. We show you how to paint a wooden ceiling easily and quickly. An airless paint sprayer and the appropriate water-based paint are best suited for this. Airless technology saves you time, uses less materials and ensures an even result when renovating wood panels. Water-based acrylic paint is healthier and environmentally friendly. In our instructions, we show you the individual steps for painting ceiling panels with a paint sprayer. You will also learn about the advantages of painting wood ceilings with an airless gun compared to painting with a brush or roller.

In addition to painting the wooden ceiling, it is also possible to apply a varnish or stain. Staining differs from applying paint as the grain of the wood is preserved.

By viewing the video you agree that your data will be transmitted to YouTube and that you have read the privacy policy .

Tips for coating wood

In our guidebook you will find more information on how to coat wood with our sprayers.

Wood coating

Painting kitchen fronts with the airless paint sprayer - all advantages

Many painters and decorators ask themselves the question: Should you spray or paint a wooden ceiling? Our answer: Paint sprayers with airless technology are perfect for painting wooden ceilings. The airless process is a special method for spraying paint onto various surfaces. The English term "airless" means "without air". A pump in the unit pressurises the material to be sprayed and delivers it to the airless gun via a high-pressure hose.

Working with paint sprayers such as the ProSpray 3.20 has many advantages when you want to paint wood panelling.

Whether working overhead or close to the ground: The output of the paint sprayer always remains constant.

Hard-to-reach places such as grooves are easier to reach with an airless sprayer. This saves you a lot of time even with small areas.

The potential applications for a paint sprayer are endless. Whether you are spraying large or small areas, exteriors, interior walls or ceilings: Paint sprayers are a very economical solution for applying paint.

In addition, you need fewer coats of paint than when working with a brush or roller, as the atomised material covers the entire surface. This means it covers all the imperfections and difficult to reach areas. This is a very important point, especially for protective coatings.

Painting kitchen fronts with an airless paint sprayer A step-by-step guide:

Step 1: Prepare wooden ceiling

After carefully masking off the walls, windows and doors, you can prepare the wooden ceiling for painting. Sand the wooden ceiling with a sanding pad . Afterwards, thoroughly remove the dust from the ceiling surface to obtain a smooth and clean base for applying the paint.

Step 2: Correct settings

Start the sprayer and adjust it as required. Make sure you choose the right tip size and gun filter. If you are still unsure which settings are ideal for your sprayer for the selected material? This is where our spray guide can help you.

Step 3: Put on protective equipment

Occupational safety is important: Always wear respiratory protection, safety goggles and gloves when using an airless sprayer. Only work in well-ventilated rooms.

Step 4: Carry out a test spray

A spray test on cardboard or paper prevents an uneven spray pattern. If the result on cardboard is still uneven, it is advisable to make changes to the spray pressure or use a different tip size. A worn tip can also be the reason for an uneven spray pattern.

Step 5: Prime wooden ceiling

When painting wooden ceilings, always apply a primer first. This will prevent any wood being visable and showing through later. Alternatively, you can also use a wood and metal paint that already contains a primer.

Step 6: Painting a wooden ceiling with a sprayer

Spray paint the wooden ceiling with the second coat at a constant distance of 10-25 cm. Horizontal passes achieve the best paint application for wooden panels ceilings like this. For an even result, allow the paint passes to overlap by approx. 30%. Hold the gun at a 90° angle to the surface to avoid paint mist in the air.

Step 7: Apply second coat

After the indicated drying time, apply a second coat.

Step 8: Tidy up and clean the airless sprayer

Once spraying is complete, the unit can be cleaned in a few easy steps. The exact procedure for this can be found in the appropriate operating instructions.

Which paints are suitable for renovating wooden ceilings?

What is the right paint for coating a wooden ceiling? For use inside enclosed living spaces, you should ensure that they are harmless to health and use solvent-free paints. Therefore, an acrylic paint is best suited for spraying wood ceilings. These paints are water-based and free from solvents. The paint should also be low-odourand resistant to sweat and saliva. Thicker water-based paints can be diluted with water by up to 10 % for an even application.

When choosing the colour, you should advise your customers to choose a lighter shade. Wooden ceilings make rooms look lower. Colours such as white, beige or light grey are recommended here. This makes the room look larger and more inviting.

Painting the wooden ceiling with the sprayer: Which setting is the right one?

With an airless sprayer, the tip size and the settings on the machine should always be matched. Another influencing factor is the material to be applied. The width of the spray jet depends on the angle of the tip. The flow rate of paint is determined by the diameter of the hole on the tip.

Carry out a test on cardboard before actually spraying. If the desired result is not satisfactory? Then check the following settings and make any necessary changes:

Change in spraying pressure
Dilution of the paint
Selecting a different tip size
In case of wear: also replace the tip

Which paint is suitable for each sprayer?

Find all the important information in our spray guide.

To the SprayGuide

Painting the wooden ceiling with the sprayer

Which machines are suitable for painting wooden ceilings?

The robust ProSpray 3.20is the perfect airless sprayer for painting wooden ceilings. Material delivery is ideal due to the proven piston pump technology and wear is very low. The paint sprayer is both compact and powerful.

The SuperFinish 23 Plus (AL) Enamel is designed for painting wood and metal objects up to 800 m² in size. One of the unit's strengths is its particularly simple and low-maintenance handling thanks to the multifunction switch and the brushless motor.

Also with the SuperFinish 23 Plus (AL) TempSpray , an even application of paint is possible without any difficulty. The special feature: Here, the paint is heated in the hose. This leads to an optimal viscosity without diluting and therefore a very good paint application. You can even spray highly viscous VOC wood and metal paint with this system.

HVLP & XVLP technology The ideal complement to airless sprayers

Paint spraying systems with XVLP technology are the perfect complement to airless machines in the product range of demanding professional painters and decorators. XVLP is a further development of HVLP technology driven by WAGNER. HVLP means 'High Volume Low Pressure' - the paint is atomised by a high volume of air, but spraying takes place at low pressure. This makes the spray pattern of XVLP units like the FinishControl 5000 particularly fine. This unit is also very easy to use thanks to its DirectSpray technology, as it can be operated directly from the gun.

FinishControl 3500

View product

Spray or paint the wooden ceiling?

When painting a wooden ceiling, an even result is essential. Therefore, spraying is the best solution. As the paint is applied without contact, the overall appearance is smooth and even. Working with the paint sprayer is also more ergonomic thanks to the optional handle extension - back pain after painting ceilings is a thing of the past. You can also paint slopes easily by precisely adjusting the paint nozzle. With a paint sprayer from WAGNER you work quickly, efficiently and with excellent results that will impress your customers.