Painting - Alkyd Paint - What kind of roller?

Oh boy......I really should have listened. I painted a textured bedroom ceiling yesterday with latex ceiling paint and it was awful. Even though the house is 30 years old, it seems that the texture had never been painted, so I'd roll the latex on, and if I pressed too hard, little blobs of plaster (about marble size) would lift off the ceiling. It was horrible. And every half hour or so (the one ceiling took me about 5 hours!), I'd use a heavy comb (perm comb) to try and comb the plaster that was filling the roller, to the point that the roller couldn't really even hold paint because it was so filled with little bits of plaster. Seriously - It was like this heavy matted roller that, by the time I was finished, weighed a thousand pounds. Not a fun day.

Anyhow.......I have alot more ceiling to paint (living room/dining room/hall area) so I went to Cloverdale Paints and bought a gallon of Pro Fresh Stain Blocker Texture and tile Ceiling Restoration low odour alkyd, flat white.

Not looking forward to using it, since some of the painting I will be doing is up very high (about 20 feet) and above carpeting.

My question is: What kind of roller should I use for this? I never thought to buy a roller while I was at the paint store, so stopped at Canadian Tire on my way home, and the guy that is usually in the paint dept. wasn't there, so someone was filling in that didn't know anything. So I bought 2 rollers and don't know which to use.

One is like most rollers you buy (nylon maybe?) and is quite thick 240 mm (about 1"). It says it is ideal for rough surfaces, such as concrete block and brick.

The other one is split foam (3/4" pile).....The foam is actually split every quarter inch or so. It says it is ideal for ceiling tiles, stucco surfaces, blocks and any uneven surface. I've never seen a roller like this before.

Anyhow - which should I open and use?

Thanks for any advice.

Basically you would use the same nap roller for both latex or oil. Are your ceilings popcorn? I prefer to use lambswool covers and normally use 1" -1.5" for popcorn ceilings. Of the 2 you have I would go with the synthetic cover as I have no expierience with the split foam covers [I have seen them though]

I'd go with the poly (nylon looking one)
Go slow, and be careful of splatter

You'll sort of have to go by feel as to the nap length
It may seem large if you are used to working with 3/8" (many DIYers use them for walls), but for a textured ceiling with alkyd, 1 1/2" is not unusual



I've never used a block foam, but I suspect that wouldn't be good for your needs

I have no expierience with the split foam covers


I've never used a block foam

Wow, between us we have...a few years...lol
And neither of us have used them
I wonder who does?
I'll have to ask ProWallGuy if he's ever used them

Actually I had a paint rep give me one several years ago but I never used it. I think I gave it to a customer or maybe another tradesman. It is hard to spend time using something new when you already have one that works perfectly.

It is hard to spend time using something new when you already have one that works perfectly.
Lol....lol...
Isn't that the way

I don't really fear change or anything, but lots of times it's "why? this works great"
lol

I've used the split foam naps before. They work fairly well over the popcorn, but drip horribly.

The secret to popcorn is make one pass with the roller, and move on. If you try to re-roll a spot, it will peel off or fall on your head. After it dries, it will look like he11, but it will strengthen and solidify the texture, and allow a second coat much more easily. Make one pass, move on, and let it dry. Then make it look good on the second coat.

Or spray it. :cool: