What's the best way to paint a wall that meets a ceiling of stucco? I usually tape the edge, but cannot.?

Question

Stucco prevents me from taping the edge of the ceiling, is a trim guide the best way to paint the wall near the ceiling's edge (which isn't working well for me), or is there a better tool or technique?

Answer 1

Take a small paintbrush and paint around the stucco at the ceiling edge, then use a roller on the rest of it.

Answer 2

Another good idea is to use a spray shield. It's essentially just a thin piece of hard plastic with about a two foot long handle. It's pretty easy to use and you can just butt your paint brush up to it and then clean it off when you're done.

Just make sure to not trim out the wall too far ahead of time. You want it to still be wet when you go back into it with the paint roller. If that trimming dries before you have a chance to go back into it with a roller while it's still wet, you'll end up with a phenomenon called "picture framing". Essentially, you'll have two coats in the trimmed-out area and it will appear slightly darker in that area.

Good luck!

Answer 3

I have found that the flat, rectangular paint pads work very well in this type of situation, as you can run them right up to the corner.

Also, you might try applying the paint with a brush, but hold a wide putty-knife in the corner at a 45-degree angle between the brush and the ceiling. Then you can just clean off the putty knife afterward.