Charcoal Shiplap Ceiling For a Big Impact

I wanted to create a fun element in each of my kids' rooms. For Little Buddy I shiplapped the ceiling and painted it a charcoal color. Oh how I love the dramatic impact it has in his room.

Supplies

MDF 8" shiplap
Chalkline
Nail Gun
Miter Saw
Jig Saw
Ladder
Crawford's Spackling putty
Sandpaper -150 Grit
Graco Paint Sprayer
Graco Extension tip
Paint - Peppercorn by Sherwin Williams in eggshell

How to Install a Shiplap Ceiling

Let me first say your arms are going to be tired and this is a 2 person job. Working above your head is a lot of work, but oh so worth it. Go slow and take your time!

Find Trusses or Floor Joists

You will need to nail your shiplap into wood so it will hold. If you nail it only into the shiplap it will sag. I used a stud finder to find my trusses along the ceiling.

Once we found the trusses we marked them with nails on each side and then pulled a chalk line across to mark them.

Hanging a shiplap ceiling

Again, this is a 2 person job. You want your pieces of shiplap to be as long as possible because the less seams you have to fill the better. We are using 16 foot pieces of shiplap. We used our Ryobi nail gun to secure the shiplap to the ceiling.

Here is how it looks after the shiplap was all installed on the ceiling. It took us about 4 hours to hang all the shiplap. To cut around the lights and vents we used a jigsaw.

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Prepping Shiplap Ceilings for Paint

After hanging the shiplap I filled in all the nail holes and seams with Crawford's spackling paste. Once the paste dried I sanded everything down until it was nice and smooth.

Use Crawford spackle to fill seams and nail holes

Painting a Shiplap Ceiling

I wanted a nice smooth finish on the ceiling. So, I used a paint sprayer. When spraying over your head overspray gets on EVERYTHING! Make sure you tape off anything and everything you don't want paint to get on.

tape everything off before spraying a ceiling with paint

My MDF shiplap ceiling was already primed so I went straight to the paint. I am using a Graco Magnum x-7 to spray my ceilings and an extension nozzle so I can spray it from the ground.

I did 2 coats going against the shiplap, this helps to make sure all the cracks in the shiplap are covered. And then I did 2 coats going with the lines in the shiplap. I used about 2 gallons of paint for this project.

The shiplap ceiling is done! I love the impact it has on this room. Check out what else I built in this room here