Newly painted ceiling very uneven in light

[Gerhardt]

We have recently painted a newly plastered ceiling in a room that is filled with sunlight throughout the day but it looks appalling when the light shines on it, looks like the walls of a Spanish villa with unevenness of the paint showing from all angles, apparently the best paint to use for a room with so much light is Johnstones perfect matt. My question is can I paint over the existing paint without sanding the ceiling first and achieve a smooth finish?

[SteamyTea]

I would think so.

I find the nicotine and tar stains hold the new paint in place.

[nod]

There’s nothing you can do when the light hits it like that 

 

[Discoeye]

Is that a mist coat or a full 2 coats of paint . Looks like the new plaster has drawn the paint in like a sponge and rolled in multiple  directions .Paint it like you would cut stripes in a lawn and keep the wet edge going by slightly overlapping your last roller line.

[Temp]

New plaster can soak up pait unevenly. I would give it another coat or two and see if t improves.

[MJNewton]

As others have said a long ceiling with a strong light source at one end will highlight even the slightest of issues, and many such 'issues' are perfectly normal given the construction method. In my experience the best paint to mitigate this is Tikkurila Anti Reflex 2, but you might never be able to make it perfect. It'd be worth a try though even if only for the extra coat(s) which will always help even things out. 

Edited May 15, 2023 by MJNewton

[TonyT]

Could be the ceiling flashing, you need to get a few bodies and paint the ceiling in one go, so someone cutting in and someone infilling with a roller.

[RichardL]

Straight lines to/from the main light source or main view - might help.

If it's not a kitchen a chalky paint finish, i.e. matt and then some texture,  might also hide some unevenness ?

[wozza]

As others have said it nigh on impossible to get perfect but I also highly rate Tikkurila Anti Reflex 2 - I have used it on all my celings.

 

[Big Jimbo]

I'd say that is poor painting, rather than plaster ripple. Nice missing house corner and lawn.

[Pocster]

Another option ( you won’t like it ) . Mask the universe out and spray it . You’ll get even cover with no brush / roller marks . But you will cry a lot .

[Gerhardt]

2 hours ago, pocster said:

Another option ( you won’t like it ) . Mask the universe out and spray it . You’ll get even cover with no brush / roller marks . But you will cry a lot .

You are right, I dont like it.

[Gerhardt]

3 hours ago, Big Jimbo said:

I'd say that is poor painting, rather than plaster ripple. Nice missing house corner and lawn.

I did the mist coat and my wife did the final coat, so yes there is probably an element of poor painting but she also did a room in the front of the house(north facing) where there is less light and you dont notice the unevenness at all.

[Discoeye]

Light is going to be your enemy there, however the ceiling looks thirsty still so you have nothing to lose by painting it with another 2 coats of something good Tikkurila Anti Reflex 2 as mentioned is a good choice .

[Big Jimbo]

3 hours ago, Gerhardt said:

I did the mist coat and my wife did the final coat, so yes there is probably an element of poor painting but she also did a room in the front of the house(north facing) where there is less light and you dont notice the unevenness at all.

Having been in many new builds with very large rooms i think i can say that from the photo, this does not look like rippling. In between the first and second light, to the left,i believe i can see where a circular hole was cut in the plasterboard,re fitted, filled,and painted. I'm not saying there are no ripples but, i think you can clearly see where the painting around each of the lights was done. That would leed me to the conclusion that it needs more paint, while trying to keep a wet edge.Plenty of paint on the roller, and dont over roll it.

[Conor]

Nice cantilever.

[Pocster]

33 minutes ago, Conor said:

Nice cantilever.

Girls say that too me also 

[Gerhardt]

Thanks for all the comments, I ended up painting the ceiling with Tikkurila Anti Reflex 2 and it looks so much better! 

[Discoeye]

Looking good.