White Walls-Gloss?

[red vette mike]

I soon will paint the walls of my new garage (31x54x12). I plan to paint the walls white (with a gray bottom and red stripe). My question is as regards the white paint. For better light reflection should I use a gloss white? Walls and ceiling? The walls and ceiling will be a wood material.
Thanks,
Mike

 

[SCOOTER]

Red..I would go semi or gloss, Just make sure it's easy to clean...I had flat in a previous garage and it was a ***** to keep clean

 

[PatrickW]

For better light reflection should I use a gloss white?

Gloss white will be "glary" in that light sources will be reflected. Imperfections under the paint will be more visible with the gloss.

You could consider eggshell white. Look for the kind that is washable.

I faced the same question about a year ago, and as it turned out one of my wife's friends is an interior decorator, and she recommended a light blue (think "light baby blue"). I questioned it at first, but it actually looks very nice.

- Patrick

 

[DaveL.]

I used flat white upper(actually painted all the walls flat white first) and a good gray Sherman Williams semi gloss lower.

 

[snorvet]

My detached garage has off-white eggshell. Its very easy to clean, but shows a few minor imperfections on the ceiling. On my attached garage, I'm going to use a brighter white - thinking of flat on the ceiling and eggshell on the walls. I do believe that the eggshell ceiling in my detached helps reflect the light, but the off-white color darkens it a bit.

 

[dboat]

I used semi gloss (doesnt matter the color, you choose) because it keeps the spider webs to a minimum.. it seems to be too slick for them to get their webs to stick very well.. have done this in several garages.
Dana

 

[oldgoat]

Used a semi gloss antique white in my garage. I think that gloss is too much shine. Never heard of the spider theory before. I'll ask the son in law if he has. He works for a paint store and he and his family have been painters for generations. I hate saying I want a certain color like white or brown because he brings over a color chart with dozens of shades of each. When I asked for white the card deck had 45 shades and that was just from one company.

 

[red caddy]

In my new shop,(bare block) I used high gloss, brilliant white, Flexbon brand latex. 2 coats, over a good block sealer. very bright, but the rough block texture kills the shine a little. I do worry about reflected UV rays from welding, but so far, it hasn't been a noticible problem. RED

 

[oldgoat]

When I was in the Navy they had gloss white bulkheads in the weld shop and were wondering why the guys were getting eyes burned. Finally got a commander that would listen to guys and they changed it to a flat gray and the problem went away.

 

[indyjps]

oil based paint would make clean ups a breeze, drywall inperfections dont concern me terribly in the garage too much, the walls will inevitably get knicked up anyway, im pretty hard on my garage.

 

[astroracer]

I went with a latex semi-gloss. Mostly for easy clean-up and price. The full gloss paint was almost three times the price as semi-gloss... I got this stuff at Home depot for $8.97 a gal.
I didn't spend anytime mudding the cracks. It's just a shop but the white paint really brightened things up...
Before...

And after...

Mark

 

[D-Cal]

I used a flat titanium white. Just wash with a damp cloth, cleans up fine. The only areas that really need it are doors and light switches.

 

[SILVERPLATE]

I did my walls in gloss, a two-tone color scheme. Had the yellow mixed from my Corvette color chart at Lowes. Good match.

 

[camarojoe]

I went with flat white, in the brightest white available...I was originally going to use eggshell for the walls and bright white for the ceiling, but was worried that the eggshell might make the garage look dingy and dim. I've found that the brighter the paint, the brighter the garage seems, and the more effect your ceiling lights will have. (Lots of lights will help too!) In addition to not showing any imperfections in the walls or ceiling, the flat white has been easy to wipe up any scuffs, etc... and if you ever nick it, etc. you can spot brush in a place, because when it dries it is completely invisible... usually when you spot in an area with gloss or even semi gloss you can see the spot because it dries to a different sheen/gloss level. By the way, I like your thinkin' ;-)... my shop has a gray bottom and a red stripe too...