Seeing KILZ on white ceiling - any tips?

cpw

Charles
Corporate Member
As part of our mobile home renovation we are repainting.

My son was helping and hit some discolored spots on the ceiling with KILZ, and now I cannot see them clearly to go back over the treated spots with the paint. I don't want to repaint the whole ceiling, just the spots.

The KILZ is a brighter "white" than the paint it covered, which is a flat creamy off-white, but it still hard to differentiate visually. I tried a bright white LED flashlight I have but it is too bright and just bleaches everything out.

Does anyone have a fool-proof method to make the KILZ stand out?
 

DSWalker

David
Corporate Member
We just finished a remodel that included removing a wall. Of course, the ceiling had to be patched.

The only time I can see the lines are early in the morning when the natural sunlight is on that side of the house and coming thru the door and windows. No other times, with any type of light, am I able to see it.

Try looking for them when you get the most amount of natural light in that room. Move around to see it from different angles. May or may not work for the Kilz spots, but thats the only time I see my former wall lines in the ceiling.
 
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Phil S

Phil Soper
Staff member
Corporate Member
Shine light across the ceiling and that should help. Best to have one person hold the light at the ceiling height and a second person should see differences by looking straight up
 
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marinosr

Richard
Corporate Member
Did the same thing in my old house in Durham... if you can't see it, is it a problem? It ended up you could see it just slightly with oblique light, but we decided not to worry about it.
 
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cpw

Charles
Corporate Member
Did the same thing in my old house in Durham... if you can't see it, is it a problem? It ended up you could see it just slightly with oblique light, but we decided not to worry about it.

Eventually, the KILZ will yellow, which, of course will make it easy to find them, but we want to do the ceilings first, then the walls, then the trim, then install the new floor. That way we don't have to mess with drop cloths.
 

Gofor

Mark
Corporate Member
If the ceiling paint is aged, I think you may find that the new paint will stand out worse than the KIlz, requiring a full repaint anyhow. (Just speaking from experience).
 

cpw

Charles
Corporate Member
If the ceiling paint is aged, I think you may find that the new paint will stand out worse than the KIlz, requiring a full repaint anyhow. (Just speaking from experience).

We know it's likely, but we're going to cross our fingers. We'll probably only worry about it in the Great Room. In the bedrooms and bathrooms, who cares?
 

AllanD

Allan
Corporate Member
I have had this happen on walls before. I had to repaint the whole wall with Kilz and then top coat again with the finish coat. I was not happy but rolling walls goes pretty quick. In your case you may be happy with Kilz as the finish and not recoat with ceiling paint. I have no experience with that.
 

cpw

Charles
Corporate Member
If the ceiling paint is aged, I think you may find that the new paint will stand out worse than the KIlz, requiring a full repaint anyhow. (Just speaking from experience).
You called it! Wife reported that the new paint did not match well so she repainted the entire ceiling.
 

petebucy4638

Pete
Corporate Member
As part of our mobile home renovation we are repainting.

My son was helping and hit some discolored spots on the ceiling with KILZ, and now I cannot see them clearly to go back over the treated spots with the paint. I don't want to repaint the whole ceiling, just the spots.

The KILZ is a brighter "white" than the paint it covered, which is a flat creamy off-white, but it still hard to differentiate visually. I tried a bright white LED flashlight I have but it is too bright and just bleaches everything out.

Does anyone have a fool-proof method to make the KILZ stand out?

This is just a guess, but I would try a UV (black light) flashlight. It would probably isolate the new paint.
 

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