How do I repair the bumpy area where the wall meets the ceiling?

LAlady
by LAlady

The kids’ bathroom is small with high vaulted ceilings. In certain places, where the walls meet the ceilings, it’s uneven, bumpy, etc. Being a vaulted ceiling, it’s difficult to get in a good position to really smooth things out. It’s very noticeable since the ceiling is white and the walls are painted dark. Any suggestions on something I can put along that angle to make it look neat?

  5 answers
  • William William on Dec 27, 2018

    Any chance it may be just the cutting in paint job that's off and not the ceiling/walls? You can install crown molding in the corners.

  • Kelli L. Milligan Kelli L. Milligan on Dec 27, 2018

    You can use a simple wallpaper border.

  • Oliva Oliva on Dec 27, 2018

    Some people install mouldings, some do murals, but if you want it absolutely flat, you'd need to rent scaffolding, then sand down the uneven surfaces and repaint.

    In the interim, you could prime well and repaint the lower walls in a lighter wall color to minimize the distinction.

  • LAlady LAlady on Dec 27, 2018

    Thanks, all! This might sound really odd but has anyone seen that L shaped rubber (I assume it’s rubber) that they say you can use where the tub meets the floor instead of caulking? Anyone think that could work on the wall?

  • Kc Kc on Dec 28, 2018

    You can create a new straight "visual edge" by lowering the ceiling paint down the wall about 3/8 to 1/2 of an inch.

    Use a thin straightedge long enough to span those irregular sags and dips. ( A 4' or 5' section of trim molding could work assuming it is somewhat rigid and won't flex too much).

    Lightly place the straight edge along the ceiling/wall corner (don't push it into position so hard that it flexes...you want it to bridge across those waves).

    Strike a faint pencil line along the length of it.

    Add painter's tape following just below the pencil line.

    Using the ceiling color paint, fill in the small gap between ceiling and tape.

    Remove the tape and you're done.

    If you're doing this from a ladder, all the steps can be completed in one position if you have a helper to hand things up and down.