painting an old ceiling

[Loghead]

Need to paint old fiber type ceiling they are 10 inch squares and stapled on.
my worry is that they will swell if I try to roll on paint.(in old lake cabin)

[Jim K]

I have been in exactly your situation and brush-painted the fiber tiles with ordinary latex interior white paint with good results and no swelling issues. This is in an old lake cottage.

I eventually took down fiber tiles in the living room and replace them with tongue and groove pine carsiding, finished first with clear water-based varnish and it looks great. Cleaning up the mess of the fiber tiles and pulled all of those staples was the worst part of the job.

Good luck!