How can I salvage my ship lap ceiling – should I sand it down to remove paint, stain it for a wood look, or simply repaint it white?
Asked by Avery Mitchell 
6 months ago
Last Updated: June 8, 2024
Hey, do you have any advice on how I could fix up this ship lap ceiling? I’m thinking I’ll have to sand it all the way down to get rid of the peeling paint. Ideally, I’d love to stain it to make it look like brown wood ship lap. But if that’s too tricky or too much work for the size of the area, just a fresh coat of white paint would be a big improvement, I think.
The easiest fix would be to scrape off the peeling paint, sand it down until it’s smooth, and then give it a fresh coat of paint. Removing all the paint would be a messy job, and there’s no guarantee that the material can be stained. Having a white ceiling would really brighten up the space.
You could consider covering it up with fresh bead board or stained carsiding instead, which might save you some time.
That’s actually bead board, not shiplap. If you’re thinking of a stained ceiling, it might be better to take down the existing one and put up a new one.