Elevated ceilings make a room looks spacious and magnificent. Painting raised walls is always a great challenge to the painter but a ladder can be used to make the work easier. However, when the painter lacks a ladder or is in possession of a short ladder, there are so many tricks that can be applied to get the paint all the way up to the raised ceiling.
Using a ladder in such instances especially in painting a stairwell could be dangerous and unsafe to the user, therefore, some awesome tools like painting extender pole, telescoping extension pole, scaffold, Purdy power lock extension, texture terminator, and rollers are needed to replace the use of a ladder.
How To Paint High Places Without A Ladder?
#1. Use of a painting extender pole
Before a painting pole is used, a roller or edger is connected to the pole.
Steps in Using a painting extender pole
The following steps are considered when using a painting extender pole:
- The first step involves clearing the room to be painted by removing anything that may risk getting the unwanted coat of paint. The drop cloth is then laid on the floor under the wall to be painted.
- The painter then tapes the baseboards and any trim that can be reached with no ladder to make the work much easier. Painter’s tape which pulls up quickly without grabbing the paint or leaving an adhesive residue is used at this step.
- The screw on the extender pole is attached to an angled cut-in brush so as to be used along the ceiling edge of the wall. The brush connected to the extender should possess a threaded handle.
- The paint is then poured into the tray and the painting process carefully done starting with the border of the ceiling and the wall. When painting using a color that is quite similar to that of the ceiling, any unintended smears or streaks on the ceiling will scarcely be seen but when the colors are different, care should be taken to avoid imperfections during painting.
- The painter then switches to the roller and attaches the extender pole to it by screwing the threads on the pole into the connector at the bottom of the handle. The paint is then rolled on the wall from the top down while taking care inorder to unify the brush- painted area along the ceiling border with the rest of the wall to avoid the seams that may appear after the paint dries.
- The cut –in brush on the extender is then used to fill in high corner areas and a regular paint brush or the cut-in minus the extender pole for the lower part of the corners. The section along the baseboards is painted while blending it into the paint applied with the roller.Finally, the tape is removed as soon as the painting process ends to evade possibility of the paint sticking to the edge of the tape and creating a ragged line.
The painter should note that to start out the edger should be used and then the space cut out by painting the corners. The roller is then used on the pole to get any leftover on the already painted areas.
#2. Use of a Purdy power lock extension and 18-inch rollers
This equipment spreads the stripe of paint twice the normal width without the use of a ladder.
#3. Using a texture terminator
The texture terminator solves the problem of scraping popcorn ceilings which is painful and untidy. This equipment possesses a replaceable metal blade to make scraping easier and also a built container to catch the falling fragments. The adjustable length handle is designed in a way that it accommodates a range of ceiling heights.
#4. Using scaffolds
A painter can also make use of a scaffold when painting. Scaffolds are important to use when working at a height for continuous periods. They give a strong stand from which to work and allow the painter to have the tools and paint supplies at the working level for ease of use. They can be more burdensome and are not a practical application in comparison to the ladder therefore they are to be used only for specific projects.
Steps to be considered when using a scaffold include:
- Care should be taken before using a scaffold and before the user climbs it he/she should confirm that it is completely assembled and properly locked into poition. A scaffold with wheels should be properly locked or even made immobile to avoid risks of falling.
- The room to be painted should be properly prepared by protecting the floor and available furniture from spills form the paint. Any furnishings hanging on the wall should also be removed, ceiling fans and lighting fixtures are also to be removed. The painter must cover the floor with drop cloths or tarps. Upon clearing the room, you should wash the walls and ceilings with a clean cloth using warm water together with a detergent and thereafter let the wall dry before beginning the painting process.
- The painter then climbs the scaffold and begins priming the ceiling. The ceiling’s perimeter is covered with a painter’s tape to the point where it meets the wall. The roller is dipped in the paint in the deep section of the tray and then it is rolled back and forth in the shallow end to remove the excess paint. When the roller is completely covered, the sections of the roller are rolled on the ceiling. A chain of overlying is applied from the right to the left then repeated from left to right by the use of horizontal strokes to make sure that the paint is correctly spread on the ceiling. Less pressure should be used during feathering to prevent creation of a line when the paint overlaps from an altered square.
- After working on the ceiling, the painter then paints the wall by beginning with the coat to allow the paint to adhere better and last longer. When applying a primer, you should use an extension pole together with a roller. Painting commences at the top of the wall up to the bottom.
- Lastly, after painting the room should be cleaned up and closing all the paint cans the already used paint cans should be disposed appropriately. Paint brushes and roller covers should be properly washed and rinsed using warm and soapy water.
Ceilings fans are found in almost every home since they help reduce electric bills and keep the room cool during high temperatures. Their cleaning is always forgotten during regular house cleaning because they are above our heads and are easily forgotten since they are not regularly seen. Different strategies can be applied in cleaning ceiling fans:
- Use of a damp rag held on an extension tool/a long stick quickly removes the dust and dirt by rubbing wiping both sides of the blade with the rag to remove dust.
- One can also use a handheld vacuum with extension tools to wipe away the remaining dirt. Vacuum is majorly used to clean up large pieces of dust and dirt.
If you want to paint your kitchen then you can use telescoping ladder to do it.