Finishing garage walls

[dvg]

I am looking to finish and paint the walls in my garage. I have a couple questions before I get started.

There is a gap between the stud that the tracks are mounted on and the adjacent wall. What is the best way to fill this gap? Similar situation on the other side - filled in with a piece of sheet metal for now.

The track mount is right where there should be a piece of tape. Should I close the door, remove the track and mud, tape, and paint this section? Or should I just paint around the track?

There is a gap between the foundation and the drywall. Right now it is just caulked. Is there some sort of cheap baseboard I could get for this to make it look pretty?

The garage is pretty narrow. It would be easy to bump car doors into the foundation or the hose bib. Is there any kind of foam pad roll (preferably yellow for visibility) that would prevent this?

Pictures attached..

 

[78RS_to112SS]

1 x 4 strapping worked for me... Paint same as wall...

 

[dvg]

Also - do people typically parge the foundation?

Im not looking to have a showroom garage but I do want it to look properly finished. There are some amazing garages on here and Im not sure how much further you guys take it / how much work is involved.

 

[jimbbski]

At the very least I would coat the foundation to smooth it out and then paint it.

 

[Beemer533]

"properly finished" is a very relative term... It really depends on what you are looking for.

Personally I wouldn't bother parging the concrete from what I can see in the photo.

As far as the ceiling, if there is an untaped seam there it may be a good idea to tape it up just to seal things up, but other than that, it is strictly an aesthetic issue for how far you want to go with it.. ...

But, since my garage is currently unpainted OSB on 2 sides, I'm probably not the best person to give advice here, lol..

 

[matt_i]

My guesses are either the bottom air gap was purposefully left to keep the drywall from wicking up moisture from the concrete...or...it was a conundrum in fitting a 48" wide sheet to a 49" opening, and the installer didn't bother ripping a 1" wide strip, and then talking the boss into purposefully choosing choice #1 above.

I would not fill it in, I would acquire wood or PVC trim and simply attach it over the gap. Never have to worry about moisture, plus a finished edge can be had.

 

[gregtwojeeps]

Looks like you already have a piece of vinyl cove base laying on the wall that will work well for the wall/block juncture. Painting the block wall would make it look better. The space by the door tracks, piece of vinyl or wood trim maybe. For car dinging door protection, the wall door bumper strips can be bought and glued on exactly where your car doors will hit when its parked. Or even swimmer's noodles kids use cut in half. jmo

 

[dvg]

great suggestion regarding vinyl cover - I have seen it before but didnt know what it was called, so thank you. Although thats a piece of sheet metal on the wall

Yeah I think Im going to need to cut some wood to fit to fill the gaps at the door. Or I might cur a piece of drywall and just screw it to the wood thats there.

I found some different bumper guards on amazon, Ill keep searching since this one is pretty spendy. But it looks like there are options available.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004V5G09U/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[dvg]

There are some areas where the concrete foundation is about 1" away horizontally from the drywall. What is the best approach here? Should I just angle the cove base so it covers the gap?