Attached Garage - Wall Finishing Options

[pistolpete1313]

I have an 80's attached 2 car garage ~600sqft with drywall. Over the years it has acquired all sorts of holes, patches, odd textures, etc. A lot of members here take the very practical outlook of "who cares if it gets dirty? It's a garage!" I respect that but for me, this garage is an eye sore and it is time to fix that. Secondly, we have pretty mild weather in Colorado and having this a 3 or more season hangout area would be great as well.

So what I need help with is suggestions on how to proceed. I'll be doing all the work myself except for possibly the drywall.

Do I replace or patch the walls and re-texture them all to match? All the walls had texture at some point so will take a lot of prep.

I'm assuming that since it is an attached garage i'll need to have some sort of fire rating, so would placing wall panels over the existing drywall maintain the fire rating? I was thinking waist high bead board, slat wall, or one of the million other similar options. That's a whole different rabbit hole.

Remove all the drywall and go with tongue and groove walls? Would really give me the opportunity to re insulate and I like working with wood much more that drywall.

Thanks for any suggestions and advice.

 

[Shiftless]

Unless those walls are REALLY bad, and you REALLY want more insulation, I would just patch the little holes and skim coat the whole place. Tearing off the old sheet rock, disposing of it, paying for all the new panels, hanging and taping is a lot of work that will cost you thousands.

Especially if your garage walls will be partially covered with cabinets, workbench, vintage gas station signs, etc., the final level of finish doesn’t have to be luxury home level.

If you truly hate anything to do with drywall, get a few bids to just repair, skim coat, and texture those walls.

You can then seal and paint them yourself to save money, right?

 

[billconner]

Whether or not you need a fire rating or drywall on the common wall is hard to know. Based on the scope of work, it's my opinion it would need to meet the code at the time it was built, and that will take work. My opinion matters much less than your building department. I think ask them. If new today and per IRC, just 1/2" drywall on wall and, if "attic" is open to attic over house, 5/8" drywall on ceiling. And either is permitted to be covered with paneling, boards, whatever.

I'm big into rough sawn pine partly because it's cheaper than drywall around here. Just patching existing drywall and paint is also fine. Wainscoat, other applied trim, fancy paint job, etc all of one. You might like some soft materials so it's not so loud.

 

[BillK]

Not sure what you mean by 'Textured" walls but I cant imagine having them anywhere but especially in a garage. Some more details of how you plan on using the space would help. Just parking cars and hanging out would be totally different than having tools workbenches etc in it. My attached garage only had the ceiling and the attached wall finished with drywall. I insulatef the outer walls and finished them with an inexpensive wood paneling from Home Depot or some other store. But my walls are pretty much all covered with shelves and a long worki bench down one side.

 

[CraigStu]

I am with you on hating drywall work. But if I were in your shoes, I'd start patching the holes. For a garage the finish doesn't need to be perfect. Get rid of the hole, get the surface within 1/8 inch of flat. Rent a sprayer from HD or similar and paint the whole garage. It will look much nicer w/ fresh paint even if the surfaces are not perfect. 5 years ago we had a bay added on to the existing double attached and I said I would do the drywall. Installing was fun but then came the taping and mudding. The second day that I had to strip down to my undies so I could go into the house and shower changed by idea of what was acceptable. I bought a sheet of 1/4 plywood and set up my radial arm saw to cut strips 2-3 inches wide. All the wall to ceiling drywall joints soon had crown molding made of 1/4 inch strips. There was one long seem down the middle of the ceiling that I had mudded and sanded twice and still sucked. It got a 4 inch wide 1/4 inch strip. 2 of the inside corners got 1/4 inch molding too.

 

[pistolpete1313]

Thanks everyone for the advice. I should have attached pictures first but here is how it stands now. Moved in last year and am finally tackling this to make it usable and enjoyable.

After your suggestions and pointing me in the right direction, I think a combination of skim coat, some slat wall, and possibly some wainscoting is going to minimize the amount of drywall work I need to do.

 

[PoorUB]

Not sure what you mean by 'Textured" walls but I cant imagine having them anywhere but especially in a garage.

Thanks everyone for the advice. I should have attached pictures first but here is how it stands now. Moved in last year and am finally tackling this to make it usable and enjoyable.

After your suggestions and pointing me in the right direction, I think a combination of skim coat, some slat wall, and possibly some wainscoting is going to minimize the amount of drywall work I need to do.

My garage walls and ceiling are taped and textured, no issues and would do it again. No idea why someone might think it is an issue.

To the OP, just sand down the texture where you need to patch, tape the seams and mud over it. Take your time, an extra mud you put on the wall needs to come off, so several thin applications are better than globing it on. When you get the repairs done, then buy or rent a texture gun and have at it. The garage is a good place to practice as it doesn't have to be perfect.

Another option is to just glue up fiberglass reinforced panels over the sheet rock. FRP is tough and resists punctures and easy to just wash off, but fairly expensive.

 

[NuthinFancy]

I'm in a similar situation with my garage - patched and unpatched holes, etc. in the drywall (1960's home).

I plan to simply cover it with something like LP SmartSide to dress things up a bit.
No. it's not cheap, but it looks nice, is able to handle Wisconsin weather, and will look nice for a long time.

I'll be doing the work, so at least that part's cheap.

HTH

 

[mepstein]

This is garage journal. Do it up, make it nice and enjoy your new space.

 

[K'ledgeBldr]

Keep the drywall-
Patch and repair as needed; re-texture. If you want a wainscoting, just go with the beaded ply and cap with a backband/wainscoting panel moulding, run baseboard over @bottom.

Easy, peasy! And it's "still" a garage!

 

[Zeke]

The existing texture is going to inhibit a simple skim coat. Best to knock that down with a rented drywall sander first. You will have plenty of bite for a new surface. All purpose mud is ideal for this. There are a ton of videos on TY. On the west coast we generally use a pan and drywall knife or blade. In the east they like a hawk and trowel. Trained with the pan, I've learned to like the trowel.

If you skim the whole thing, all you need over any patch or seam is some fiberglass tape and one embedding coat. If you get good at re troweling as it sets up with a little spray water, you won't need to sand. Just wait for it to DRY, not just harden, and paint it first with cheap PVA sealer and then your choice of top coat. PVA will hold out even oil based wall paint and certainly any water based that you want, gloss to flat.

Note: there is a process of spraying a combination of a paint like material mixed in with mud much like a block filler paint, but w/o the fibers. That's why it will spray. It results in a cloud like finish that is as smooth as the prep will allow. It evens out the differences on the bare wall and covers sand scratches. It's sorta in between a texture and a thick primer. Good stuff. IDK about pricing.

 

[nadogail]

you could cover your existing walls with 3/8" drywall and have Texture shot over the combination of your new top layer and the existing drywall. This should have the effect of increasing your Fire Rating.

 

[rharman]

I don't think the 3/8" has any type of fire rating. You can get 1/2" fire rated but it's not commonly stocked (that I've seen). 5/8" Type X is the most common.

 

[drmarkr]

Patch, skim coat, hock and trowel texture, and then paint it semi-gloss white. That will look legions better than knock down, plus it won't catch near as much dust.

 

[billconner]

The IRC does not require the 1/2" gwb to be type X. Chart from 2018 edition:

SEPARATION​	MATERIAL​
From the residence and attics​	Not less than 1/2-inch gypsum board or equivalent applied to thegarage side​
From habitable rooms above the garage​	Not less than 5/8-inch Type X gypsum board or equivalent​
Structure(s) supporting floor/ceiling assemblies used for separationrequired by this section​	Not less than 1/2-inch gypsum board or equivalent​
Garages located less than 3 feet from a dwelling unit on the same lot​	Not less than 1/2-inch gypsum board or equivalent applied to the interiorside of exterior walls that are within this area​

 

[Zeke]

If the drywall is existing (per the OP), then it's likely already fire rated where needed. This thread is about finishing.

If you must discuss adding more layers, know that only 5/8ths Type X is one hour rated. Adding 3/8ths or 1/2" over 1/2 does not qualify. You want 2 hours, you add Type X.

 

[billconner]

By the IRC, no "rating" is required. Just 1/2" drywall or 5/8" type x if habitable space above. There's a lot more than just that in a wall or floor/ceiling barrier to achieve a specific rating.

I think covering - paneling, drywall, boards, whatever - would be easier and better looking - I think a priority based on op - but patching and skim coating followed by painting would.