quarter round for wall/ceiling joints? (merged) - Contractor Talk - Professional Construction and Remodeling Forum

pmbarber · 04-11-2006, 12:53 AM

I'm in the process of building my own home and have run into a small problem of sorts. Where the ceiling and the walls meet in certain darker colored rooms I'm having a tough time cutting the colored wall paint to the white ceiling. The ceilings and walls are both knockdown texture, and it's really hard (for me anyway) to make that crisp straight paint line. I was thinking of running a straight piece of quarter round (1/2") around the ceiling to create the straight line look. I could paint it ceiling white or the color of the particular room to blend it in. Is this a viable solution or has anyone ever done this before? I don't really have the extra money for regular crown molding, but I don't want the quarter round to look cheap either. Any solutions or help would be appreciated.

Mike Finley · 04-11-2006, 01:15 AM

For me it would be using a paintable caulk with the tape, but the pro painters will be along, and those guys could paint it using a white washing brush on a 10 foot pole standing in the middle of the room and get a perfect line.

Redman · 04-11-2006, 02:08 AM

Are You Using A Top Quality Brush, And Are You Trying To Cut It In Perfect In One Coat?

King of Crown · 04-11-2006, 11:11 AM

1/4 round is very thin, and unless you are putting it against a wood beam, it looks like crap. also, becasue of how thin the 1/4 round is, it will expose how uneven the drywall is. so dont do it.

**ProWallGuy** · 04-12-2006, 02:44 PM

Without sounding like an a$$, the best fix for this is:

Hire a good painter.

johnjamesalaska · 04-12-2006, 03:02 PM

Thin your paint with water (assuming its waterbased paint) so its not so thick. Also it might be difficult but often the actual corner of drywall is uneven so even if you do go exactly in the corner it will still look uneven to the eye. So you may try staying away from the corner a 1/16 or an 1/8 of an inch. Look at the line of unpainted surface your leaving and not the actual paint line. As long as your ceiling paint was on your wall a little before you do this. They eye will see the line of ceiling paint on the wall as the straight line. So its what your not painting that is what your eye sees. The quality of these pictures are not very good. But maybe you get they idea??
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snapper21 · 04-12-2006, 03:39 PM

Or get a roll of tape?

AAPaint · 04-12-2006, 05:52 PM

I wouldn't recommend the staying away bit if that's what it looks like. It's absolutely blatantly obvious your line is run down on the wall, and IMHO, it looks bad. Cutting in a ceiling line properly takes proper perspective. You need to constantly watch as you drag your brush looking from one angle straight on at the ceiling and the other angle, straight on at the top of the wall. It's an art, and I agree with PWG...if you want it RIGHT, hire a professional. Those lines should look like this:

CarlW · 04-12-2006, 06:14 PM

I agree that running your paint lines down the wall a bit looks bad. Even when the line is perfectly straight, it still looks like the painter didn't finish painting the wall. If the drywall lines are bad, it's best to run your wall paint up onto the ceiling a bit and make your own line there IMO.

johnjamesalaska · 04-12-2006, 08:54 PM

I knew I was going to get some negative responses for that suggestion.
Its really easy to cut a straight line up to the ceiling for a painter but I guess one would have to see it in person to get the idea. Pictures dont really do it justice. I see alot of jobs were the painter cuts that perfect line up to the ceiling but because the inside corner is not perfect you can see the that its uneven ...even more. It just depends on the circumstances. It sounds likes a bad way to do it but 9 out of 10 of my customers really like the look. Its a small line that i'm talkin about. About this wide (arrow to arrow) ----- > <-------- .....Its an optional illusion

But really cutting into the ceiling exactly like the above post suggest is alot easier and alot better than quarter round. Juice up yer paint. Just a little.

AAPaint · 04-13-2006, 07:14 AM

According to those pictures, there is no optical illusion. It looks like a half inch wide line of white at the top of the walls, and is far from a professional finish. Your customers may be ok with it, but if anybody did that on one of my jobs I'd fire them. It looks like you completely missed the top of the wall, and the over-run of ceiling paint is way to obvious.....just going off your pictures, it sticks out like a sore thumb.

johnjamesalaska · 04-13-2006, 09:39 AM

Ya your right about the line being to thick on the second picture. Its my house and I wouldnt do it that thick on a customers home. But I did notice your paint line is uneven to the left side of your picture which is why I some times ..not in all situations ..come down a touch. I dont do this line on all walls. Just certain situations.

AAPaint · 04-13-2006, 07:27 PM

Actually, that line is straight, what you see is where the popcorn protrudes over which is common. There is a small gap behind the popcorn from the knife the texture guys used to scrape the walls...nothing more.

johnjamesalaska · 04-14-2006, 01:11 AM

Oh IC I was wondering what that was. Its hard to tell with digital pictures like on the inside corner ..it looks wavey but digital pictures can have that effect .