Block Filler when painting exposed block?

[Onewolf]

Our detached garage will have about 100' feet of exposed block on the interior walls of the garage area. The guys who built the block walls recommended using 'block filler' before painting the exposed block. Does anyone have advice/recommendations on using block filler? Does it make the painted block walls look much better? Any recommendation on which block filler to use (Kilz, Sherwin-Williams, etc)?

My garage build thread.

Thanks.

 

[JACDes]

Bare concrete block is VERY POROUS.

Block filler is a thick primer designed for that purpose (painting CMU) apply it per the instructions. then you can finish paint.

 

[Toxicscrew]

As JACDes said, block is very porous you'll have to keep applying coats of paint as it will keep soaking it in. Filler is thick and fills the voids and seals it the CMU so it doesn't do that anymore. It will give a somewhat smoother appearance as well.

I'm a SW guy mostly.

 

[boiler7904]

Definitely need to use a block filler before finish painting.

I'm a fan of Sherwin Williams paint. Sign up for their preferred customer program and you'll get emails when they are having sales. They have a couple of 40% sales every year that I try to time my projects around.

 

[iskuta]

Block Filler

So just like toxic and boiler said it fills in the block to make it smoother. At least at SW I know that the block filler I sell in interior/exterior. It doesn't really cost that much and during a sale its even cheaper. You can also have it tinted to lighter colors.

 

[Dennis Leigh Henry]

Re: Block Filler

So just like toxic and boiler said it fills in the block to make it smoother. At least at SW I know that the block filler I sell in interior/exterior. It doesn't really cost that much and during a sale its even cheaper. You can also have it tinted to lighter colors.

As the others have said... block filler is the way to go. I worked for a painting contractor through high school and college (and a few side jobs with my father).. Its tough rolling it on a wall, but that's the best way to get it to fill the pores correctly. I've seen it sprayed and its not as good. Rolling it will wear you out, but the end product is worth it imho. I don't remember ever painting a block wall that wasn't already filled and or was primed first with a good block filler..

Dennis

 

[METALMOVER]

I used watertite waterproof block paint made by zinser,I was getting a little water seepage threw my raw block and it took care of it, applied it with a 3/4 nap roller, I did it on the interior and exterior,worked great, second coat went on way quicker. I had it tinted my Menards to the closest color I wanted and will paint it this spring Hope that helps MM

 

[BillK]

wolf,
We used it in the building I am in now and it made a huge difference in the amount of paint needed for the finish coat. Also, you might want to look into using a semi-gloss paint, makes it a lot brighter and a lot easier to keep clean, especially for me in the machine shop. Also, don't skimp on the quality of the paint, especially if you think you will be needing to clean it on any regular basis.

 

[theoldwizard1]

Our detached garage will have about 100' feet of exposed block on the interior walls of the garage area.

Check into renting an airless sprayer.

 

[METALMOVER]

I used a wagner paint stick

 

[RegeSullivan]

You might consider using UGL Drylok as your primer. I used it in a garage with high moisture but no water coming in that I could see. I figured it was worth a shot since I was painting to brighten it up anyway.

I don't know if the Drylok had anything to do with it or not but the garage seemed warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer. It did eliminate the moisture issue, which I think was caused by the cement block wicking water in.

Drylok has a dull finish so I ended up painting it with a gloss white that was easier to clean after a couple of years.

 

[WNYflyer]

I have a detached block garage that is about 60 years old. Garage is not heated or air conditioned thus subjected to temperatures anywhere from say 10F to 90F depending on the season.

Interior was never painted until I painted it 2 years ago. Prior to painting I spent a lot of time prepping by cleaning and also patching any holes and cracks that had cropped up over 60 years. For my garage painting was the easy part , the prep work was the tougher and time consuming work. That being said I bought good primer since the bond of the primer to the 60 year old block was most important to me

I end up using Sherwin Williams "Loxon Concrete & Masonry Primer/Sealer" as a primer on the bare block and topped that with Sherwin Williams A-100 exterior paint in satin finish. The spec on the Loxon and similar fillers say that they can deal better with the low ph nature of the block than normal primers and paints. I used exterior paint for the top coat since I figured it might handle the temperature changes better than interior paint. The A-100 is not their best paint for sure but good enough for my needs since it is not exposed to any weather.

I rolled my paint on and touched up with a brush since moving/covering all the stuff in the garage was not an option. Sherwin Williams seems to have many more sales than they use to, probably to better compete with Behr/Home Depot etc. I always buy during the sales. So far so good.

 

[dutchgray]

I have always just given blocks a cement wash to fill the holes up.