Staining a wood plank ceiling

Just the idea of staining wood on a ceiling was a little daunting.  There do not appear to be any specialized tools for this task which makes me a little nervous.  Additionally, there is not a lot of help on the internet.  Most diy pages recommend that you stain and finish the wood planks before you put them up.  The idea is that staining is much easier on a flat surface.  I considered that option but of course I had not come close to deciding what color and type of finish to use at that point!  There are also a couple of problems with staining prior to installation.  First you would need a good deal of space to spread out all those pieces of wood to dry, or you would have to do it piecemeal.  Second, on installation the nailgun can make a dent and could remove some finish.  That would mean touching up stain.

Anyway, once we had raw wood on the ceiling we had to make a decision.  I finally decided to use a light gray stain.  There will be gray curtains and pillows in the room and I thought that would go well.  After shopping around and trying a few different options I ended up using Rustoleum in two colors: Driftwood (light) and Weathered Gray (medium dark).  I didn't like either alone and wanted something in between so I just blended them in even amounts.

My friend Sonia, a glutton for punishment, agreed to help me on this project.  I wasn't sure how much time would be needed between application of the stain and wiping of the stain so it really was a job for two people.  The first thing we did was to staple and tape up plastic sheets to cover the painted walls.  Given the amount of stain that ended up on them, this was definitely worth the 20 minutes it took.

We shopped around for many tools, not sure which would work.  I had no intention of staining and wiping by hand up on a ladder so everything needed to be on a pole.  I wasn't sure the best way to get the stain applied into the crevices of the tongue and groove planks.  We went through several options and we ended up using a lambswool pad that had a pole attachment.  Other than the first couple of swipes where I loaded too much stain, causing a waterfall from above, this tool worked very well.  Make sure you wear gloves and a hair covering because there will be drips.  Generally I would dip the pad into the stain, lightly, and make a first pass along the length of the pieces.  Then I would rub back and forth using some pressure and that was what got the stain into the grooves.


Now for the wiping.  Our concern was finding a tool on a pole that would allow for a long continuous smooth wipe from wall to wall.  Some of the options were too rigid and did not allow for different angles.  We also weren't sure how often we would need a new wiping pad so we wanted something that could be changed out.  We ended up using an old Swiffer I found at the house.  It had lost it's pad so we duct taped a folded kitchen towel to the flat part.  Then we used rags made from t-shirts over the homemade pad.  This "tool" had everything we were looking for.  You can see it in this picture.  Our only problem with it was that the head was a little too flexible and would flip up pretty regularly.  Luckily the stain was very forgiving and allowed for multiple passes to get it consistent.  Fortunately for me, I was not working the wiping tool so Sonia was able to get everything perfect.  I would recommend finding someone with a little perfectionism for this job, but not too much because you can drive yourself crazy!



All in all I would say this project turned out just the way I wanted it.  The stain goes on fairly dark but lightens as you wipe it.  Then once it dries it has a little of a paint quality that gives it a lightness like a pickling stain. I think Driftwood would be a good way to describe the color.  I will stain some trim pieces the same color and tack it around the room like crown molding to hide the ugly edges.

After this, I have a few electrical things to do in the room, including installing a ceiling fan/light.  Then I can install the wood floor and baseboards and the master bedroom will be ready for decorating.  Hooray!

Installing a plank ceiling

We finally finished installing the wood plank ceiling in the master bedroom.  It looks so much better when it is complete than it did halfway through.  Not, just that it's done, but you don't notice the flaws once you have a uniform ceiling.  It is great how much this type of ceiling can cover up.  We had old ceiling light boxes, seams where old and new drywall met, and three different types of ceiling material underneath.  That has all disappeared now. 

I thought I would go ahead and record some tips that we learned along the way:

*  The biggest thing we learned has to do with the timing of nailing.  For the first half of the room we were using the nailgun to nail two nails at each ceiling joist - one near the tongue and one near the groove.  However, we sometimes had trouble getting the next piece to fit snugly.  We found that nailing the first board tight to the wall made it hard to wiggle the next board into place.We figured out that if we only nailed the first nail (for us the groove side) and left the leading edge free it would give more flexibility to fit the next board.  Then once we had the next board in place we nailed the previous board and the first nail in the new board.  It's hard to explain but a pretty simple process.  This change allowed us to move more quickly and with less frustration.

*  I read some online tutorials about installing wood planks and many of them suggested that you needed to install nailer boards or that you needed to glue each piece in addition to nailing.  We did not do either of these things.  I guess only time will tell whether our method will hold up.  I think it feels pretty sturdy just using 2 inch finish nails shot with a nailgun into each ceiling joist along that plank.

*  Generally you should try to have seams on a joist to provide stability.  We staggered the seams as much a possible to provide a random look, similar to wood flooring.  Every once in a while we allowed for a seam between the joists but we made sure that the tongue and groove fit snugly.

*  If you are going to paint the walls, especially a bright color, it is best to do that before installing the ceiling.  This is mainly true if you are not painting the plank ceiling.

*  Many of the pine planks that we used had knot holes in them.  In order to avoid the holes showing the ceiling underneath we taped black tape over the back of the hole.  This just makes them look like knots instead of knot holes.

*  Plan to put a piece of crown molding, even a small one, to cover the edges and give the wood a finished look.

I will be staining the ceiling next and may have some pointers after that.