Question about painting acoustical ceiling tiles

[gizardlizard]

Has anybody ever sprayed latex paint on acoustical ceiling tiles? I’m talking 2x2 tiles used in drop ceilings. I want to paint mine black, but am curious if they will curl while drying if I don’t paint both sides.

 

[TurnipTruck]

I painted my old drop ceiling in the theatre with a roller, but the panels are old and have Fiberglas insulation on the back. Took a lot of paint!

 

[Rusted Nut]

They paint fine with a spray gun, but they do **** up the paint.

 

[gizardlizard]

Curious why you didn’t want to spray them. How many coats did you have to roll? Did you thin the paint first?

 

[Youngandfree]

Curious why you didn’t want to spray them. How many coats did you have to roll? Did you thin the paint first?

Not everyone has a paint sprayer

 

[Zeke]

Use a PVA sealer first.

 

[TurnipTruck]

Curious why you didn’t want to spray them. How many coats did you have to roll? Did you thin the paint first?

Lots of reasons:
Wintertime, so windows closed.
No place to spray or to clean the sprayer.
Wife was in charge of surface treatments in this remodel, and I wasn’t going to get in her way.

She rolled three coats in between washing 50 years of nicotine and wood stove smoke from the panels and T-bars.

We have never thinned latex, even when we did spray.

 

[nadogail]

Kilz 2 and a roller.

 

[The Cobbler]

shouldn't need to both sides and yes, it will **** paint .
I'd experiment with your technique on 1 or 2 before committing to a plan .

 

[73fxe]

Also the panels will not be as acoustical. They will reflect sound a lot more as they are harder.

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[billconner]

Also the panels will not be as acoustical. They will reflect sound a lot more as they are harder.

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True. You can buy non-bridging paint that will not reduce their absorbing sound as much. Thinned down flat latex is almost as good as non-bridging paint.

 

[gizardlizard]

Not too worried about the acoustical value of the tiles. More worried about getting a good paint job on them without them curling.

 

[Zeke]

Kilz 2 and a roller.

If stained, very much yes because PVA will dissolve smoke and water stain.

 

[Norcal]

The one thing I hate about painted ceiling like what the OP is proposing is having to paint to match any replacements, spraying a suspended ceiling is pretty easy though.