We recently bought a mid-mod with vaulted ceilings in the living room.  There is what appears to be fiberglass panels between each beam.  They look great, but they are stained with nicotine.  The previous owners were chain smokers and we've been able to successfully remove the scent from the majority of the house, but haven't been able to get the material in between the beams clean in appearance or scent.

The texture looks like this looped mat from DWR: http://www.dwr.com/images/zoom/zm_9221_3.jpg

We were considering sheetrocking over the material and installing the looped mats over the sheetrock to get the same effect.  The only problem is the neutral colors are sold out and I don't want lime green ceilings.

Does anyone have any ideas to fix this problem?  We could just sheetrock over it, but we'd lose the cool effect that is in place.  I have been told to Kilz it and paint over it, but the texture is pretty deep.  I don't think it would look even and it's highly likely that the paint wouldn't fully cover the area.

That material is in all likelyhood Tectum. A laminated fiber panel that is strong enough to span between beams, and the voids also absorb sound like an acoustic ceiling tile.

http://www.tectum.com/

Its a very cool texture - I love that stuff. So cool you have it in your house.

You want to paint it with a primer that will seal in the stains - like Kilz, but there are others out there. And I think if it is sprayed it will penetrate the exposed matrix. I'd get a pro to do it and talk to them about covering the stains properly, have them do some test areas to make sure it covers properly. Prime, and then a finish coat - probably white is what you want.

Thanks for the reply Gregory.  I looked at the Tectum site and am sure you're right.  At least I know it can be replaced if the painters aren't able to salvage the original panels.

Any recommendations for painters in the Dallas area?