Painting an open garage ceiling/rafters

[1921runabout]

Hello Everyone,

Has anyone here chosen to paint their open rafter ceiling rather than finish with drywall? I've seen some modern tire shops and restaurants that leave their ceilings open and are generally painted a shade of grey. I've been considering doing that to my ceiling. The ceiling is pitched. The roof is an 8 X 12 pitch, so it's pretty high to the interior peak. I plan to install vintage green porcelain lights and industrial ceiling fans to give it the old industrial garage look.

Anyone have photos of this type finish to share here.

Thank you,

Orlando

 

[NUTTSGT]

I'm guessing that your ceiling is not insulated nor do you have plans to ?

 

[raddksn]

I like the look you talk about but as nuttsgt
said what about insulation?

 

[LB-1911]

There is a short article on the topic w/ a few photos @
http://diydithering.blogspot.com/2014/03/painting-garage-trusses-and-shingles.html


How is it ventilated -

Gable end, soffit and roof or soffit and ridge?

Is the roof deck plywood, osb or skip sheathing ?

 

[WildCJ5]

I did my small two car years ago. What a pain. If it isn't going to be the same color as the walls do the rafters first. Keep touch up paint handy, with all the different nooks I was finding spots I missid for some time.

When I did mine I was just a pup and thought it would look really cool done in flat black. It does, raffters just disappeared, so did all my reflective light.

 

[1921runabout]

Thanks for the replies. If I go this way, I didn't plan to insulate the ceiling. I have roof vents and four windows up high along the south wall that allows good air circulation in the summer. I also generally have the garage door up when tinkering in the garage or around the house. If I have the windows open early morning, it keeps the garage at a fairly comfortable temperature throughout the summer day, but I have experienced it pretty warm in there in the middle of summer if all is closed up.

No doubt that insulating will help. I've had the garage two summers now.

 

[hippie2cams]

I have a hybrid pole barn that has 5 trusses with 2x6s on edge for purlins spaced on 24in centers that form a cathedral ceiling that I insulated with r-19 on the inside with e-foil on top under the metal. On the wall it is 2x6 running horizontal for wall girts. I also used r-19 there all spacing is 24 in centers. My garage is a 30x40x10 with a 16x8 door centered in the front with a 8x8 door offset in the rear for ease of use and air circulation, alas it's too hot in the summer so I added a 3.5 ton heat pump to take care of summer and winter problems. I ran 1/2 in plywood cut into a pattern small enough for me to install on the sloped ceiling by myself and just used clear urethane to bring out the grain and add some shine to reflect light, that worked out well, but I still have not painted the rafters or trimmed out the ceiling yet. Neither have I finished painting the walls just primer so far. I guess I need to get out
there and take some pictures but thats just not my forte.

 

[finn]

The factory attached to the R&D facility where I worked was originally built by the government as a WW2 defense plant in 1939 and operated by Buick to assemble and test Pratt And Whitney Radial aircraft engines.

After 50 years of machining, welding and painting construction equipment and diesel engines, the ceiling of the repurposed defense plant was black, and lighting was poor.

The ceiling was repainted white by a painting contractor, and it made a world of difference. Twenty years later, it probably could use another coat of white.

 

[sms1974]

Rent a paint sprayer and some extentions. there's a paint called dry fall that is made for just that and does exactly what it's name implies the over spray is dry by the time it hits the floor. When your done you can just sweep it up...

Glidden makes it as well as other companies.

 

[Blown454ss]

Rent a paint sprayer and some extentions. there's a paint called dry fall that is made for just that and does exactly what it's name implies the over spray is dry by the time it hits the floor. When your done you can just sweep it up...

Glidden makes it as well as other companies.

I've painted quite a few commercial diesel repair shops over the years as side jobs for my dad (dealer general manager). This last time I used sherwin Williams dry fall and what a pain in the ***. Makes more of a mess than it's worth. It's collects on the bottoms of your shoes and makes you feel an inch taller. The clean up takes way longer on the machines using it than the machines using request latex we use on the walls

 

[hoyt]

The factory attached to the R&D facility where I worked was originally built by the government as a WW2 defense plant in 1939 and operated by Buick to assemble and test Pratt And Whitney Radial aircraft engines.

After 50 years of machining, welding and painting construction equipment and diesel engines, the ceiling of the repurposed defense plant was black, and lighting was poor.

The ceiling was repainted white by a painting contractor, and it made a world of difference. Twenty years later, it probably could use another coat of white.

When my shop was empty and I was painting the walls, I wish I had painted the ceilings white at the time.

 

[HotrodHR]

If you go this route buy or rent a sprayer.

I bought the Graco Project Plus (about $250) at Lowes or HD (can't remember which) to paint my shadow box fence... after I attempted to roll and brushed 3 sections. Should have bought it first! It made painting the nooks and crannies easy.

Used and opaque latex exterior "stain" that was essentially paint and had no problems. No need to thin the paint as the airless pump pushes the paint out just fine. You can use latex or oil base paint... But I recommend latex water base for ease of clean up. It will shoot oil base (a friend borrowed mine). Inspite of his best efforts to screw the gun up I managed to get it cleaned out and working again. He didn't realize that there is a filter in the gun handle that needs cleaning!! I have no idea how he was able to use on three different occasions without pulling it out. I guess running thinner through it was good enough at the time.

 

[HotrodHR]

If you go this route buy or rent a sprayer.

I bought the Graco Project Plus (about $250) at Lowes or HD (can't remember which) to paint my shadow box fence... after I attempted to roll and brushed 3 sections. Should have bought it first! It made painting the nooks and crannies easy.

Used and opaque latex exterior "stain" that was essentially paint and had no problems. No need to thin the paint as the airless pump pushes the paint out just fine. You can use latex or oil base paint... But I recommend latex water base for ease of clean up. It will shoot oil base (a friend borrowed mine). Inspite of his best efforts to screw the gun up I managed to get it cleaned out and working again. He didn't realize that there is a filter in the gun handle that needs cleaning!! I have no idea how he was able to use on three different occasions without pulling it out. I guess running thinner through it was good enough at the time.

 

[xyster101]

I did my garage attic with white. It will use a lot of paint. I think I shot 15 gallons in this 46'x26' area in about 6 hours with a paint sprayer. You can rent them for about $75 a day. Remember that each side of the rafter adds up. A 2x10 by 20' is roughly another 40 square feet of painting surface.

 

[Jolly Roger]

i have pondered this same idea...except painting everything black to give that industrial look...I just don't want to put in the work!

 

[Colin Len]

Figured I'd bump this thread instead of starting a fresh one... The idea of painting my exposed/open ceiling popped into my head earlier and I'm very tempted to go for it so obviously started searching here I'd be interested to see if anyone has any other pics or insight. Here are a couple thoughts/comments:

1) Currently my open ceiling looks terrible because it's a combo of original skip sheathing and rafters, new radiant barrier sheathing, and some new bracing that was added because the roof was sagging. I have longer term plans to spray foam the underside of the roof - can I apply that over paint? If it's anything like the stuff that comes in then the can then I'm sure it'd be fine as that stuff seems to stick to anything.

2) My neighbor is a painter and I'm sure would spray the whole garage ceiling (small 2 car) for cheap or more likely just a case of beer so my only real cost would be materials.

3) Seems like the consensus is to go with white, which makes sense for reflectivity but seems like black would just look nicer. So is a white ceiling really that big of a difference even if all the walls are white?