So you have a new home and everything looks fantastic. One day, late in the afternoon, you are late to meet a friend. You quickly put on your coat and head for the door. Going down the long corridor, you notice that the sun is setting and the light comes through the window, which makes you very happy to have such a beautiful house, but you also notice something that you had not noticed before; walls look rougher and uneven in some areas. On the way home, he begins to think about what he had noticed when he was on his way to his meeting, and wants to take a closer look at it when he returns. you have noticed, to your amazement, you can’t find them. Were you imagining things?
Not really; these are problems that newer houses now have. With the new larger windows located sometimes from floor to ceiling, and brighter lighting, the chances of this happening are much higher.
Welcome to the world of drywall finishing and critical lighting issues. A designer may develop a wall or ceiling surface for a particular design effect, or simply by coincidence, they may find sections of their home or office that fall into what are called severe critical lighting areas. These areas are located in areas such as a long corridor, foyer wall, or flat ceiling where light from any source comes through the wall or ceiling at the correct angle.
The combination of any type of gloss paint and smooth walls will make these imperfections even more exaggerated. This can make the perceived appearance unacceptable to the user or owner, even after the best workmanship. Light source, wall texture, and paint sheen are key factors that affect the appearance of drywall and the surface. As with any man-made structure, with quality installation and proper painting procedures, the end result is usually good, but let’s think about this.
The whole nature of drywall installation is crude at best. Four-foot-wide sections of drywall are butt-joined over the wood framing members, then nailed and screwed to the framing, and then drywall mud is applied to fill all nails and joints. All of this and the walls are supposed to end up looking like a single continuous smooth wall section, free from visual defects. As we said earlier, in most cases you won’t see any flaws, but we’re talking critical lighting areas, in which case you’ll see some flaws, even from the best drywall finishing job.
So now we know that walls aren’t perfectly straight, and there’s really no way we can make them perfect in some lighting situations. What can we do to make them look as smooth and flat as we can?
1. Move overhead lights a minimum of three feet from intersecting walls.
2. Walls and ceilings in critical light areas should have a small amount of surface texture, such as orange peel or brocade. This will split the light reflection in many different directions, allowing the walls to appear smoother and straighter.
3. Walls should never be painted with any type of glossy paint, not even velvet or eggshell glitter.
4. Add curtains that can limit or change the direction of light from large windows.
5. Use plants to break long walls.
6. Use a warm off-white matte paint on ceilings. Paint manufacturers make matte gloss paints specifically designed for ceilings.
7. Use light sources from many areas of the room to offset one large light source.
These are just a few suggestions. You will have to play with how you divide the lighting in these rooms. Remember that many light sources in a room will be better than one source. Painting of the John Howell House Vancouver, WA