Painting Ductwork / Plumbing?

[89MustangGX]

I'm almost done with drywall in my garage and getting VERY close to the point of being ready to texture the walls and paint. My furnace and water heater are both in the garage, which means I have natural gas piping and air ducts, along with the hangers for the garage door opener and tracks.

I've been tossing around the idea of painting some or all of this stuff. And maybe even texturing it before painting. Maybe trying to get it to blend in a little.

Is this do-able? Advisable? Any tips or tricks or ideas on how to do it?

Thoughts about it?

Anyone have pictures of this done?

Thanks,

Adam

 

[Steve in Mi]

If you do decide to paint any galvanized metal be sure to prep appropriately to prevent peeling. I painted the conduit runs and boxes in my attached garage and even with the galvanize primer etchant I got some peeling - it doesn't look good.

 

[rodnok1]

I wouldn't paint any exhuast piping, box them in if too ugly(with proper clearacnes of course) and paint away. The few garage door rails I have seen painted looked like hell, paint chipping, runs, uneven coveage. I replaced one at a rental because it had been painted and really looked bad. I did see someone encased their racks in wood in a magazine and stained it out, looked like a wood track. As for the hangers, you could design some better hangers or change to non gal steel and paint. I saw a round bar hanger setup that was cool once. I would consider putting a plastic laminate over the furnace air vents, less work, no worry about paint peeling/cracking.

 

[Jack Olsen]

I'll paint anything. For a garage, I want it to look good from ten feet away.

But why are you spraying on texture? In a garage, that's going to hold on to all kind of dirt -- or maybe I'm mistunderstanding.

 

[89MustangGX]

Starting to sound like painting this stuff might be more trouble than it's worth. I'm still interested, but I don't want to have to fight this stuff to get it to look good.

I'm texturing the drywall because I think it looks nicer, more finished. Also think it cuts down on the imperfections that will show, but mostly I like the look and how it can hide imperfections.

Keep the thoughts coming...

Adam

 

[larry4406]

I would think a textured finish in a garage will be nothing but craters for dust and debris to hang on. If you can't finish smooth drywall, find someone who can. Prime the drywall, point it up using high power lights applied at a shallow angle to find the defects, prime again over the point up, then final coat. As mentioned, build bulkheads around your ductwork. The ductwork sheet metal has an oil film on it from drawing/stamping.

Here's a picture of my garage with bulkheads around the furnance and ductwork.

 

[redsky49]

A thorough wipe down with vinegar will generally be sufficient to prep galvanized ductwork for paint. First of course, you must remove dust, dirt and grease.

Should any of this ductwork be insulated?

 

[redsky49]

I also have a textured ceiling in my garage, and have been less than impressed. It is far harder to keep clean, and very difficult to easily touch up if you make any changes to the ceiling.

Given a choice, I would select a smooth surface in a low lustre (not flat) white finish.

 

[Jack Olsen]

With walls, it's even worse. A constant rain of dust particles lands on the high side. Some of it can be blown off with an air line, but some of it adheres and is there until you paint it again. Especially if you do any sanding, grinding or painting in the garage, it'll end up looking pretty bad.

Semigloss on a smooth surface for a garage.

 

[PurdueSD]

Textured walls and ceiling...puke. I am eliminating popcorn ceilings inside my house one room at a time. What a mess, and it wouldn't have taken much more work to do them right in the first place. 1970s idiots!

I am with these guys, avoid the texture like the clap!

 

[trade-n-games]

I like the texture look myself. I just did my updated theater room in it and its much better sound. Yes its a little harder to clean but its the ceiling so not much floats up? I use a shop vac and clean some webs off it every now and then. I also did not install all of my garage ceiling myself only did some patches so its not perfect and the texture hides all that.
I would never do walls in texture.

 

[89MustangGX]

Thanks for the info and ideas guys.

BTW, I was never referring to a "popcorn" type texture, just the basic "orange peel" type texture that I see in most new houses (including mine).

Adam

 

[egdede]

Textured walls and ceiling...1970s idiots!

I am with these guys, avoid the texture like the clap!

The textured ceiling in the house I grew up in had glitter added!

 

[Jim Sideways]

Wipe it down with Vinigar and water ( Galvanized Duct). I install duct work and had to do this before... Hope You read this in time.