Originally Posted By: bmwjohn
putting up new ceiling fixtures soon. Plan to paint ceilings as part of process. Old, yellowed, stained with ??? brown streaks, as if a heavy smoker had been close - but hasn't for 15? years, although gas stove close. Home Depot has good Behr regular paint, Menards ad has Dutch Boy in regular and ceiling paint. Whats the difference?. HD said no such thing as ceiling paint. Thoughts?
Stained ceilings as you described will more than likely bleed, especially if they are nicotine stained or water stained. If you want to do it right they should be primed, and not with "Self Priming Paint." Kilz or Cover Stain oil based primers would be the best choices, followed by latex paint.
The "difference between ceiling paint and paint" is ceiling paint is usually cheaper, higher in clay content, dead flat, covers well, hides imperfections slightly better than a wall paint, and is not designed to be cleaned. I'll [censored]ume "paint" you're referring to a flat wall paint, or flat wall and ceiling paint. Those are usually more expensive, can be cleaned and can be used on walls as well as ceilings. Even in a dead flat some "paints" have a slight sheen.