Trevor Parscal's Studio

Live Room Paint

March 24, 2023

Over the last few weeks I painted the live room ceiling and walls.

I started by marking a line around the entire room where the gray wall paint would meet the black ceiling paint. I used a laser level atop some scaffolding to mark the line.

I kept the laser line consistent by leaving it atop the same spot on the scaffolding, only rotating it in-place as I worked my way around the perimeter.

I then transferred the line to the wall with a permanent marker.

The line was drawn at 11 ft. from the floor, which was as high as I could go while still being under the main HVAC supply vent.

I started with the ceiling, as black drips would likely be a paint to touch-up over.

I used a 3/4 in. nap 9 in. wide roller, allowing me to go from white to black in a single very thick coat.

Once the entire ceiling was black, the shape of the ceiling felt much more rectangular, which I was specifically going for.

The flat black paint absorbs a lot of light, making the entire space much darker as a result.

I then painted the anchor point D-rings and cut the anchor-point trim rings down.

The anchor points are significantly oversized, rated for 13k lbs. each. They are mounted with U-bolts, which are part of an similarly over-built system.

It was now time to install the anchor points, trim rings, vent registers, power outlets and lights. The vent registers have no grilles, reducing turbulence and making them quieter. The outlets are all special locking sockets so the plugs will never fall out. The track lights are for normal use, while the UFO high-bay lights are for equipment setup and teardown or cleaning.

While the track lights only produce 14 fc. of light, the UFO high-bay lights produce over 170 fc. for a combined blinding total of over 180 fc.

I spent a lot of time filling and sanding the walls to get them smooth, and it was now finally time to paint them.

I used a 9 in. roller for the smaller areas and corners along with an 18 in. roller for the larger areas.

After two coats, the place was starting to look close to finished.

The live room is a darker shade of the gray used in the lobby and loft, which itself is a darker shade of the light gray used in the smaller rooms.

The cable conduit that runs between the loft, machine room and live room was still hidden behind the drywall, so I cut a hole to expose it.

I also painted the inside of the conduit pipe so it blends in with the trim.

I made a little trim box which will eventually have a small door to cover the hole when it’s not in use.

I’m not really crazy about how the trim for the conduit came out, as I feel it’s a bit bulky.

Will came by and helped me get the perimeter trim up. I used long enough trim boards to cover most of the spans without seams, but one wall required a scarf joint.