How to Cover Stained Ceiling Tiles - Instant Fix on the Cheap

Maybe you had a plumbing leak that has been repaired, or someone spilled something on the floor above that worked its way into your ceiling tiles below, either way they show water stains easily.

Obviously, you need to repair whatever is causing the leak, and then instead of replacing this ceiling tile, you can simply cover the stain.

2 Ways to Try to Cover Stained Ceiling Tiles

50/50 Bleach and Water

With this formula you need to wear protective gloves and goggles as you will be working above your head.

Mix the 50% warm water with 50% bleach and taking a clean cloth and start dabbing the stain with this mixture.  This works on drywalled ceilings too.  Just try a small area and see how it looks.

This is a bit more labor intensive, but if you have bleach in the house, then this is worth a try.  Don't spray the bleach as it will get on everything, it is better to try dabbing it.  This works well for a small area and will save you from replacing the tiles.  Another Option is a product designed for such issues.

Kiltz Stain Blocker

Check out the video below to use this product.

KILTZ UPSHOT STAIN BLOCKER

The beauty of this product, is it is fast and easy and is designed to spray upwards to instantly get rid of that ugly stain.

This product will actually cover all kinds of stains that paint will not.  This includes, markers, smoke, heat, grease and more, even on walls.  But for this post I was looking for an affordable way to cover old stains on my ceiling tiles.

If you have that suspended style ceiling with those tiles, you could replace them if the stain is huge, but sometimes it can be a pain especially if they have been cut around a vent or heat duct like in the video.  I swear it is always the most complicated cut tile that gets the ugly stain!

Another option is to take them all down and paint them, but this was too much work I was not quite ready for.

Use Newspaper to Protect Walls While Using This Product

This product is worth keeping on hand if you have these tiles.  Since most are sold as white, you should be able to cover it all up and it will simply blend in.

Try to keep the area ventilated while working with this product, and if it is near the corner of a room, take the time to tape up some newspapers to protect other areas from over spray.

Save Money and Re Use

I am always on the look out for ways to save money in my life plus to leave a little bit less junk at my curb on garbage pickup day.

If I can cover my ceiling tiles to extend their life at the same time as having my place look nice, then it is worth the effort.  It is quick and easy.



Saving Money, Less Construction Mess, Less Going to the Landfill ... a Win/Win in my book.

It is a bit smelly when you first spray it, so open a window, but it does work!

Sometimes it requires some creative measures to make your place look nice without breaking the bank.  My hubby just wanted to rip them down and start again, which was such a waste as most of them looked OK.

This way we had the budget for more important things in this basement renovation we were doing.  The tiles had been up for a long time, and were quite happy there, except for a few old stains here and there and some smoke stains as the previous owners had used an open fireplace for years.

So he was surprised when he got home from work and saw the stains gone.  For under 10 bucks you can cover stained ceiling tiles with this one can.  If the job is huge you can get this product in larger sizes, but the spray can goes quite far.

I hope this helps anyone out there considering ripping down entire ceilings simply because of a few stains!