Metal ceiling paint options

[afazz]

I would like to paint the ceiling in the basement of my garage. This is the steel decking below a concrete slab for the garage above. It was originally painted gray when it was built in 2001, but I would like to paint it white to brighten the room a bit.

I don’t have a lot of experience with interior painting. With all of the beams, conduit, strut, pipe and other obstacles it seems like renting an airless sprayer is my best option? I have a 30 gallon compressor, is there anything air powered recommended to spray interior paints? Do I need to scuff the surface or just wipe, prime, and paint? If I choose to hire it out, what kind of price range should I expect? The room is about 10’x35’

 

[sierradmax]

We have good results with STIX primer. Just wipe down with acetone and apply the STIX to bare metal. Can be sprayed, rolled, rattle can, etc. Then just use a good quality interior latex.

 

[Hot Rod Grampa]

Nice installation. Your best results will be with a sprayer, but airless may not be suitable for acrylic enamel paint. Your 30 gallon compressor would have a hard time keeping up with a hvlp gun. Cost might be negotiable depending on how much prep work you were willing to do. I can see a lot of time masking off pipe and conduit, existing walls and items in the room etc. I would get 2 estimates. One they do everything, masking cleaning, painting and cleanup. The second estimate would be preparation of surface and paint. You do the rest. Then with those numbers you will have a good idea of what your time will be worth.