ᐅ Painting a (concrete) ceiling – is surface preparation necessary?

Hi everyone!

We have a precast concrete ceiling (Filigran slab) and since we decided to do the painting work ourselves, we also need to prepare the ceiling...

There are many different approaches out there.

Priming – filling (joints and surfaces) – applying painting fleece – painting is probably the most thorough and best method.
A friend told us that it’s often enough to just fill the joints and then simply paint... Is this a viable option? Has anyone tried this themselves?

Thank you very much
M4rvin

It depends on the color. Without a primer, you will probably need to apply three coats. The method described is the best approach, but not mandatory.

Hmm, okay, so you also think it might be possible to achieve a good result with primer and paint? According to Stiftung Warentest, Alpina with Katze would be the best paint. At least among those tested.

Skip the primer and instead apply a coat of cheap and/or diluted paint first.

It is possible to fill and paint joints. However, under raking light, this will be more noticeable.

Why not just have it plastered? Then you can easily prime and paint.

nordanney schrieb:

Why not just have it plastered? Then calmly prime and paint.

What do you mean? The entire ceiling, the whole surface?
I could do that, but it takes a lot of time...

guckuck2 schrieb:

Skip the primer, better paint first with cheap and/or thinned paint.

You can fill joints and paint over them. But they are more visible in raking light.

Is there an advantage to that? The primer is cheaper than paint...
Filling the joints isn’t easy, but I think with the right tools you can achieve a decent result.