Garage Paint

[zdech123]

I am finishing up my garage storage and dry wall and am planning to paint in a few weeks. It is a 3 car attached garage. I am planning on using a sprayer, for the first time, and priming and then finishing with an egg shell white. The garage will mostly be used to park the cars but I will be doing light mechanical work. I have 3 sams club 4 ft LED's so the place is pretty bright.

Any tips or helpful hints? I haven't painted anything outside of a bedroom before. I am assuming their will be a lot of spray dust, for lack of a better term. Should the doors be closed and open a window with a box fan pulling air out? I will move everything out and tape off the doors and windows, etc. I am planning to coat the floor next year, should I be worried about any paint on the floor or will that be negligible since I will be cleaning the floor to put the coating on? Should I paint the ceiling as well? The whole space is drywall, tape and mud right now.

Located in Ohio so it will be warm but not too humid, not sure if this matters.

Any input is greatly appreciated, thanks

 

[PWC Repair]

I am personally not a fan of spraying. Why not just roll it on?

 

[NUTTSGT]

I'd rather have the door shut to keep the overspray off them and the man door open with a fan to draw out the overspray. However, I'd be afraid of getting overspray onteh outside of the man door and garage siding.

Personally, I'd probably do like PWC mentions and roll it on.

 

[RegeSullivan]

Absolutely paint the ceiling use "ceiling white". It will be more reflective than white paint for a wall and it will be much brighter. Paint the ceiling first so what drips/spatters on the wall will not be an issue.

I would roll it only because in a big open garage I could do it much faster with a roller and an adjustable extension handle working right out 5 gallon bucket using a paint screen (https://www.thehardwarehut.com/cata...2wt-eGim5Iy_a4h6lbVF2-6IECDj1BmN3saApCM8P8HAQ) attache to the bucket. My suggestion is to cover the floor.

 

[zdech123]

I am not opposed to rolling, just thought spraying such a large flat area would be easier.

Thanks Rege. That's the info I was looking for.

 

[Nowater]

Absolutely paint the ceiling use "ceiling white". It will be more reflective than white paint for a wall and it will be much brighter. Paint the ceiling first so what drips/spatters on the wall will not be an issue.

I would roll it only because in a big open garage I could do it much faster with a roller and an adjustable extension handle working right out 5 gallon bucket using a paint screen (https://www.thehardwarehut.com/cata...2wt-eGim5Iy_a4h6lbVF2-6IECDj1BmN3saApCM8P8HAQ) attache to the bucket. My suggestion is to cover the floor.

Working out of a five gallon bucket is fast and easy. I would roll it too, rather than spray.

 

[maxpower_hd]

I sprayed mine. I would cover the floor with paper or drop cloths. Otherwise you will be going around with denatured alcohol cleaning up the over spray. You will still have to roll it out for best results anyway. I would just roll it if I were to do it again.

 

[nadogail]

IMHO, an experienced painter with an airless spray rig is the most efficient way to paint a garage, especially one with exposed trusses, studs, purlins and beams.

Trying to get a brush or roller into all those nooks and crannies will drive you mad.

You don't need a Rembrandt, or a Picasso, just somebody that can knock out an apartment cheaply.

 

[Ben7203]

24 x 36 garage. I rolled it twice. That 9" roller gets unbelievably heavy about halfway through. I live in the middle of 4 acres, all fenced, large dog and retired. The doors are open allot. The first coat was white ceiling paint over Kilz primer, looked like **** in a short time. Scrapped and sanded that off and went back with primer and gloss white exterior, looks a ton better. I recommend exterior paint in the garage.

 

[NICKS]

After my new garage build I sprayed everything with primer, sprayed white on the ceiling and then rolled the walls.

 

[RegeSullivan]

IMHO, an experienced painter with an airless spray rig is the most efficient way to paint a garage, especially one with exposed trusses, studs, purlins and beams.

Trying to get a brush or roller into all those nooks and crannies will drive you mad.

You don't need a Rembrandt, or a Picasso, just somebody that can knock out an apartment cheaply.

I agree, an experienced painter with a professional spray equipment would paint faster and maybe better than a roller. I believe the OP said his only experience was painting a bed room.

That said, I did not consider they might be unfinished walls and open ceiling. That being the case I probably would not paint the ceiling at all and would try the sprayer on open stud walls but have a couple of 3/4 or 1" nap 9" rollers as a backup plan. For finished walls and ceiling I feel pretty sure I could do it better and faster rolling it on.

 

[ItsNemo]

I'm in the process of doing mine...1 coat of drywall primer/sealer, 2 coats of semi-gloss, ever so slight hint of grey (one shade off white). Ceiling and walls, all rolled and brushed corners/edges. It takes a fair bit of time to do, but works well. Rolling is less prep to keep overspray off of everything and is cheap equipment wise. 2 coats of paint after the primer is just for durability. Semi-gloss because it'll work ceiling and walls, is reflective, and offers easiest cleanup.

 

[zdech123]

The ceiling is finished. I need to mud and sand the walls one more time and it will be ready for paint. I had planned on kilz and then ceiling paint on the ceiling and spraying semi gloss interior paint on the walls. After the responses though I think I might prime it and then roll an exterior white gloss on to it.

I have not used a sprayer at all yet, I have one but have yet to use it. I figured the garage was a good place to learn but if it isn't worth it in time and mess then I can roll it on.

Question- If I plan on coating the floor next year and I move everything outside and tape off the doors and such, would there be that big of a mess with the sprayer? Would it not be quicker than rolling or for someone with no experience with a sprayer is it just not worth the time and effort?

Thanks for the information.

 

[scottydosnntkno]

I have everything from a graco cheapie x5 to a finish pro 595 aaa to a 1095 pc and several inbetween.

In a garage, especially an empty one, spraying will be much much faster than cut and roll.

In a finished house, it usually works out to be slightly faster spraying due to the excessive masking and prepping time. The actually spraying goes very, very fast.

In a garage with only a couple Windows (maybe) then it will be a lot faster.

Assuming your using water based paint the overspray is minimal. If you do it on a warm day it will be mostly dry or dry by the time it hits the ground. There's no need to worry about it getting on your exterior siding through a door unless you spray it right out the opening. Air floating droplets will not stick they will be too dry.

when spraying you need to back roll. But it's a ton faster than regular rolling since the paints already on the wall, your just working it in and adding a little texture to help with touchups. It's a quick top to bottom of the wall one pass on each section. With a helper the could roll as fast as you can spray.
I would just cover the floor with 1/2 mil plastic sheeting. The edges with have a slight dusting from paint bouncing off the walls, and the center may have a slightly dry dust from the falling paint. It wouldn't be terrible without it if your going to epoxy it but take the fifteen minutes and lay out some plastic sheeting and tape the edges.

When it comes to masking the garage door, tracks, etc think of spraying like powers washing paint on. Any surface not getting painted needs to be taped, papered, plasticed, or shielded. Any exposed surface has the chance of getting paint on it so mask well

 

[NUTTSGT]

The ceiling is finished. I need to mud and sand the walls one more time and it will be ready for paint. I had planned on kilz and then ceiling paint on the ceiling and spraying semi gloss interior paint on the walls. After the responses though I think I might prime it and then roll an exterior white gloss on to it.



Thanks for the information.

BTW, if you are using oil based Kilz, it does smell and will give you headache if you stick around too long. Get the paint on and either open the overhead doors or get out of the garage.