Painting over gloss paint on a Ceiling

BSR

We just bought a house and I am painting it before we move in. The kitchen has nicotine stains and semi-gloss or perhaps even gloss paint on one half of the ceiling. There is a crappy line that runs down the middle of the ceiling between the cooking area and the eating area where the paint changes from beige colored gloss paint to white flat ceiling paint.

I am cleaning the whole house with TSP to get the nicotine stains off.
The house was built in 1957 - so we are assuming lead paint and yes I am taking it very seriously. We will be doing a lead paint test - it just hasn't happened yet.
I know for a fact that the current coat of paint was applied after 1990 when the previous owners of the house stripped all the wallpaper and repainted everything.
The walls and ceiling are drywall.

My goal is to paint the ceiling with a lower sheen paint, preferably flat. Is there a primer out there that will cover or might it be safe to scuff sand the latest layer?

So, any suggestions for dealing with my bi-sheen, bi-color ceiling? Thanks

chrisn

1 coat of Zinssers Cover Stain, let it dry overnight and paint with what ever you want

really no need to sand anything, you will need to rinse the tsp VERY well,like 3 times

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sdsester

If the nicotine stains remain you will probably have to use something like BIN. They are tough to cover with regular stain blockers. BIN is alcohol based so use with adequate ventilation and a respirator is not a bad idea.

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Gymschu

Do as Chris said, no need to do a whole lot of extra work for a ceiling. The Cover Stain will seal in any remaining nicotine stains and give you an excellent base for ceiling topcoats. Chris convinced me to try Pittsburgh Paints Ultra Ceiling Paint & that's what I would go with if you want a nice clean, flat look.

chrisn

Bin will do it, no question about it and it would be what I would normally use but I have used Cover Stain over some really thick nicotine staining that I really did not want to wash off and it worked fine.If I had had Bin, I would have slept better that night( maybe even 4 hours!)

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ltd

zinsser recommends cover stain over bin for nicotine .plus am not saying its a joy to use but its a lot better than bin .covers better ,if you do get a splatter on something there's a fighting chance of getting it up,and its half the price . for nicotine its the champ

sdsester

Was not suggesting cover stain could not work and that it is not worth a shot. From experience, BIN has often been the only thing that seals in the icky orange tar and hideous stench though. And yes it is a pain and splatters are problematical if you do not get them quickly.

I do not recommend using BIN as a sleep aid though.

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BSR

Thank you all for the advice. I will go and get the Zinsser cover stain.

For those worried about the nicotine stains, they are coming off with the TSP just fine. I am debating whether or not to bother priming the walls because they cleaned up so easily.

I have helped my parents clean up rentals after a heavy smokers moved out, and this isn't nearly as bad as those were. No orange drips, just an even film covering everything. The main difference here was that my parents rentals were built in the 80s so sanding was not an issue and they never, I mean never put gloss paint on a ceiling.

I will have to see where I can get Pittsburg paints in my area.

Thanks again