I am planning to do the ceiling in the new room with a stucco paint job. I have never done stucco. Some one was telling me you just use a sponge and swirl it in a circle.

Is this a silly question but why do you want to stucco the ceiling? Sounds like hard work and worse than that would look tacky. Would the stucco stick to the ceiling anyway? What is wrong with a flat ceiling? You say it's new, or is it a 'new' revamped room and you are trying to hide cracks? If you are determined to put stucco on the ceiling you will need a high set trestle to lie on up there or else do it from a ladder with a chiropractor and ambulance on speed dial.

Was your question genuine or is it a euphemism for something else???

best wishes from a DIY Queen :P

Someone mislead you. There is a LOT of prep to do to prepare a ceiling for stucco. Whoever told you to just swirl a sponge never did it.

Are you trying for that "Acoustic Ceiling" texture? I need more details before I can answer.

The rest of the house is done in stucco ceilings. I was just thinking of matching it to the other rooms. Like I said I have never did before. I would rather appear dumb here than to regret it later or in real life.

More than just cracks in the ceiling. We're talking major gaps. I know some i will have to fill with wood filler since it is OCS fiberboard instead of sheetrock. I am even thinking of putting sheetrock over the OCS fiberboard if that will be easier and more cost effective. The room started out plumb and square.

Talked to a friend at work. Stucco is a pain. Changed my mind to doing thin panelling on the ceiling with lines in it. Thank y'all for your advice.

Not only is it a pain it is MESSY!

Yep. That is basically what my friend, Jamie said. He has been helping me lately. After he seen what I did he said we could just take it all back down. I probably should have listened to him because we had to custom fit each piece on the ceiling like this enormous puzzle. The quarter inch OCS particle board with the eighth inch panelling covering seems like a pretty good work a round. For the price I won't have to paint it. And Jamie said he had an pneumatic nail gun that could use the small nails. He said that it should go up fast once I get the material.