# Find matching ceiling paint



## HomeLearner (Sep 27, 2014)

I'll need to paint a small area of ceiling, but I don't know which manufacturer/color of paint to use. How can I find out?

It's textured paint (see photo). But I'm not sure if using textured paint over a textured area will cause the area to be too densely textured. Shall I use flat paint instead?


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## Gymschu (Dec 12, 2010)

The only hope you have is if someone saved a can of the paint used and marked it properly so you know for sure, otherwise you have to paint the whole ceiling. Just use a flat paint in a ceiling white or a color you like.


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## DollarStretch (Jan 5, 2015)

I had a problem similar to this one time. I took a small piece of the color to a paint store to have them match it. The color they came up with still did not match. My only advice would be to not waste your money trying to get a match at a store. Just pick out a color yourself that looks to be the closest to it. It is very hard to get an exact match.


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## HomeLearner (Sep 27, 2014)

DollarStretch said:


> I had a problem similar to this one time. I took a small piece of the color to a paint store to have them match it. The color they came up with still did not match. My only advice would be to not waste your money trying to get a match at a store. Just pick out a color yourself that looks to be the closest to it. It is very hard to get an exact match.


The challenge is that paint seems to change color after being applied to the ceiling. The final color on the ceiling may not look the same as when it's in the container.

How can I find a color of paint closest to the color of the ceiling by the paint color in the container?


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## ToolSeeker (Sep 19, 2012)

The problem with ceiling paint is over time the paint fades and is never cleaned so it changes color. A lot of times this is not even noticeable till you put new paint on it. This makes it almost impossible to match the color. The best shot you have is probably the box store with a computer. Take a sample of the paint from the ceiling, not the can, and hopefully they can match it. You need a sample about the size of a quarter.

Yes to the flat paint all ceiling paints are flat I think, people use other sheens but I think the ceilings paints are flat. Also you didn't primer if you don't prime your patch will look different when you paint it.


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## HomeLearner (Sep 27, 2014)

ToolSeeker said:


> Yes to the flat paint all ceiling paints are flat I think, people use other sheens but I think the ceilings paints are flat. Also you didn't primer if you don't prime your patch will look different when you paint it.


My ceiling has a texture (see the photo in my initial post). Do I have to use textured paint? 

To clarify, I don't need to use primer. Correct?


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## 78Vette (Nov 25, 2009)

HomeLearner said:


> My ceiling has a texture (see the photo in my initial post). Do I have to use textured paint?
> 
> To clarify, I don't need to use primer. Correct?


No and No. Regular paint is all you need. You'll need a 15 or 20mm sleeve though


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## Gymschu (Dec 12, 2010)

Do NOT use textured paint. You will just make an absolute mess of your ceiling. Flat paint is what would work best. Primer is not needed if the ceiling already has paint on it.

Personally, I use a lot of Sherwin-Williams Promar 400 flat white for ceilings. It's one of the cheaper paints at SW but for some reason it covers well and is a dead flat paint (no angular sheen). I also like the Ceiling Paint from PPG.


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## HomeLearner (Sep 27, 2014)

Gymschu said:


> Do NOT use textured paint. You will just make an absolute mess of your ceiling. Flat paint is what would work best. Primer is not needed if the ceiling already has paint on it.
> 
> Personally, I use a lot of Sherwin-Williams Promar 400 flat white for ceilings. It's one of the cheaper paints at SW but for some reason it covers well and is a dead flat paint (no angular sheen). I also like the Ceiling Paint from PPG.


Where to get Sherwin-Williams Promar 400 flat white? Will they match my paint color on a computer?


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## Gymschu (Dec 12, 2010)

HomeLearner said:


> Where to get Sherwin-Williams Promar 400 flat white? Will they match my paint color on a computer?


At over 5000 Sherwin-Williams paint stores nationwide. They can match colors but don't expect miracles. They need a proper sample, something at least the size of a quarter. In the time it has taken to ask these questions, you could have had this ceiling done!


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## ToolSeeker (Sep 19, 2012)

I am going to disagree a little, since the rest of the ceiling was painted before I would still prime where you did the patch. May not be needed but I would't take the chance. If it's a small patch even a rattle can will work. Since your worry about matching I assume the ceiling is not white.


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## ToolSeeker (Sep 19, 2012)

I am going to disagree a little, since the rest of the ceiling was painted before I would still prime where you did the patch. May not be needed but I would't take the chance. If it's a small patch even a rattle can will work. Since your worry about matching I assume the ceiling is not white.

Since your question about texture paint you did re-texture your patch correct?


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## HomeLearner (Sep 27, 2014)

ToolSeeker said:


> I am going to disagree a little, since the rest of the ceiling was painted before I would still prime where you did the patch. May not be needed but I would't take the chance. If it's a small patch even a rattle can will work. Since your worry about matching I assume the ceiling is not white.
> 
> Since your question about texture paint you did re-texture your patch correct?


The ceiling is close to white color, but not bright white. I don't know how to re-texture the patch. Any technique you can recommend?


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## Gymschu (Dec 12, 2010)

This:

You will likely never get an exact match, but, pick out the Homax texture that is closest to what you have. Yours looks like a version of knockdown. The reason you can never get an exact match is that you can't replicate the conditions, etc that the original drywall guys used. They likely used a hopper gun attached to a compressor that sprayed it on the ceiling. There's no way to know how much they thinned it down or adjusted the mix to get it to spray.

The Homax product does a decent job of coming close. You can buy them at Lowes/Home Depot.


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## HomeLearner (Sep 27, 2014)

Gymschu said:


> This:
> 
> You will likely never get an exact match, but, pick out the Homax texture that is closest to what you have. Yours looks like a version of knockdown. The reason you can never get an exact match is that you can't replicate the conditions, etc that the original drywall guys used. They likely used a hopper gun attached to a compressor that sprayed it on the ceiling. There's no way to know how much they thinned it down or adjusted the mix to get it to spray.
> 
> The Homax product does a decent job of coming close. You can buy them at Lowes/Home Depot.


Cool!


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## jeffnc (Apr 1, 2011)

You can also water down some joint compound and flick it on there with a scrub brush. There was a USG video about this, but I can't find it now.


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