Painting Drywall

[Beowulf]

Ok, I am going to paint the garage. I have a thread about Gloss, Semi-gloss...etc on GJ, but this question is different.

The garage only has drywall up and the most basic of tape jobs. I plan on lightly sanding the big globs, but that is it. Do I have to do any type of base coat, or can I start slapping on paint?

 

[info2x]

Prime first. Two coats of finish. If you can feel/see imperfections paint will show it too as you go up in gloss level.

 

[Barnuba]

Yup - you will want to prime with PVA primer to seal the drywall prior to painting.

 

[signcrafter]

Ok, I am going to paint the garage. I have a thread about Gloss, Semi-gloss...etc on GJ, but this question is different.

The garage only has drywall up and the most basic of tape jobs. I plan on lightly sanding the big globs, but that is it. Do I have to do any type of base coat, or can I start slapping on paint?

"The most basic of tape jobs" and "lightly sanding the big globs", was the garage just drywalled and a quick tape job to meet fire rated codes? What level of finish are you going for? after paint you will see all the imperfections if the joints are uneven or ridges.

After you get the taping done to the level you want you need to prime. Then two coats of paint and you will be good to go.

 

[Old Steamer]

Definitely prime before painting.

 

[Al Bundy]

If you aren't going to finish the mudding you're kind of wasting your time painting. It's going to look like do do.

 

[Beowulf]

It looks like do do now.

 

[rsanter]

I painted my garage with very little prep work to the existing job they did with the tape and mud.
I skimmed some more mud on the notable deficient areas and a little sanding and that was it.
yes you can see that its not a good job but it looks way better than it did before.

bob

 

[liquidcougar]

Roughly based on reading your post, it sounds to me like you want it to look halfway decent with a minimal amount of work. If that's the case, go ahead and toss two or three coats of semi-gloss on it and be done with it (making sure of course, to wait at least an hour between coats).

If that's not the case, then definitely do a primer coat first. You could always use a primer-and-paint-in-one, but I'm not fully convinced those are everything they're hyped up to be.

Personally, I don't need my garage interior to look like anything special. Not that it matters, my walls are covered with so many pictures and posters and tools and other random **** that you can't even tell what they look like. My garage looks like.. well.. a garage. A shop.

Super clean and neat shops worry me.

 

[blazentrout]

Def primer before paint. the guy that i had do my drywall recomended using USG First coat for the primer. Its water based. I got it in the paint section of menards

http://www.usg.com/sheetrock-first-coat-primer.html

 

[NUTTSGT]

Like the other members have said, prime first. I'd stay away from glossy paint paint if you don't put a nice finish on the drywall, it will show worse.

If you have no experience with finishing drywall, you may want to take this opportunity to get some experience in the garage before you ever tackle something inside the home.

 

[Spudland_Dave]

Yup - you will want to prime with PVA primer to seal the drywall prior to painting.

Really? I'm getting ready to do this so I'd like to get to the bottom of the primer issue...A paint pro I spoke with said PVA Primer is really just meant for Drywallers to slap up and cover up their work...looks good when they leave and when he shows up he has to re-prime as topcoating over PVA is a PITA. he told me to forget the PVA and go with a good quality primer and top coat. That advice was backed up by 2 paint houses...

If you have a very rough job on your mudding...I'd go as flat as you can for a sheen on your paint..shiny shows imperfections. Using a Semi-Gloss would make your tape work look TERRIBLE.

 

[blazentrout]

Really? I'm getting ready to do this so I'd like to get to the bottom of the primer issue...A paint pro I spoke with said PVA Primer is really just meant for Drywallers to slap up and cover up their work...looks good when they leave and when he shows up he has to re-prime as topcoating over PVA is a PITA. he told me to forget the PVA and go with a good quality primer and top coat. That advice was backed up by 2 paint houses...

Funny, my drywall guy said the same same thing

 

[gunguy]

I'm with Eric on this one; use it as an opportunity to learn, hone, practice some finishing skills. And if it ends up less than perfect, well it's a garage.

But to answer your question - prime then paint. Raw drywall ***** up paint like a sponge.

Jim

 

[Barnuba]

Really? I'm getting ready to do this so I'd like to get to the bottom of the primer issue...A paint pro I spoke with said PVA Primer is really just meant for Drywallers to slap up and cover up their work...looks good when they leave and when he shows up he has to re-prime as topcoating over PVA is a PITA. he told me to forget the PVA and go with a good quality primer and top coat. That advice was backed up by 2 paint houses...

If you have a very rough job on your mudding...I'd go as flat as you can for a sheen on your paint..shiny shows imperfections. Using a Semi-Gloss would make your tape work look TERRIBLE.

Funny, my drywall guy said the same same thing

I've had good luck using PVA primer - sprayed on with an airless sprayer and backrolling. I roll on 2 coats of the primary color afterwards and it turns out great. To each his own I guess

 

[dr bob]

I'd take some time to fix the patches and seams. Invest in a wide taping knife, and use it to knock off the high spots on the patches and seams now. Then skim with the same broad knive and some lightweight taping/patching compound, applied thin and feathered well. If there are marks when it's dry, you can knock them down with the knife again. Hard edges feather with a damp sponge.

-----

I did some plumbing work in a garage wall that's shared with the pantry. Me working on the pantry side finishing the plumbing and drywall work. K on the other side decided that the garage wall needed paint before the patching was finished out and texture applied. (!!!) It was like that for about a year before I decided to grind off the unfinished patches and start over. The paint meant that the patching couldn't be finished with a sponge anymore. So cabinets came off the wall, whole thing re-patched and finished, textured, then prime and paint. Looks great, but would have been a LOT easier to do it right the first time.

---

Texturing hides a lot of sins, but none bigger than the texturing is thick, so you need to have a pretty good wall before you spray. It absorbs/dries at different rates on drywall vs patched areas, so a coat of PVA first is always a good idea. The bag of wall texture itself is really cheap, and you can rent a gun or buy a cheap one. Garage wall is a good place to practice and learn. Plastic sheet where you don't want it to go, cleans up with water.