Painting Garage Interior Walls

[ThePenIsMightier]

So, my garage is fully drywalled with mud and tape. The thing is, they only used one of those quick mud & tape machines so all the seams are still pretty rough and should certainly be sanded before painting for optimal appearance. But I don't want to... Not even a little bit. It's going to make a fucking huge mess. The ceiling is quite high, so it will suck to do. It's a garage, not an art gallery. And, I know it's not that small of a job because pros want something like $1,500 to do it properly and then paint it.
It looks like this right now:



Why don't I just paint it white and be done with it? I want the garage to be better lit with white walls and ceiling. I don't really care that much of all the seams are visible.

Please convince me that this is a huge mistake and that I'll hate my life for doing it and that I'll never be able to fix it after.

[colsankey]

If you could live with it, I'd suggest just priming the walls and calling it a day.

I'm anal enough myself I'd want it done right, cheap enough to want to do it myself, skilled AND stupid enough to do the basic mudding and taping myself.

Fulling knowing white is bitch to paint, and will look like shit if not done right; I'm also a hypocrite who has someone in the basement at 11:00, doing this exact job, right now - but the basements gotta be done soon for the wife, and I do no house jobs quickly.

[ThePenIsMightier]

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If you could live with it, I'd suggest just priming the walls and calling it a day.

I'm anal enough myself I'd want it done right, cheap enough to want to do it myself, skilled AND stupid enough to do the basic mudding and taping myself.

Fulling knowing white is bitch to paint, and will look like shit if not done right; I'm also a hypocrite who has someone in the basement at 11:00, doing this exact job, right now - but the basements gotta be done soon for the wife, and I do no house jobs quickly.

So, you're still suggesting zero additional sanding; but, only white primer and not fully painting it?

[ThePenIsMightier]

Oh, and here's a video of what I mean by that machine they used.



The 60-120 second portion shows it working and then the single pass with the trowel.

[ExtraSlow]

Spray two costs of a "high hide" kinda primer. I think the paint store may have a different word for that, but they'd know what it meant. Some dudes say paint IS primer. I dunno.

[Darell_n]

White drywall primer is impossible to screw up, but will need 3 coats to cover completely. Fortunately it dries in 5 minutes so you can just keep lapping the garage until done. My garage drywall isn’t even taped or mudded and honestly haven’t thought about it in 10 years until now.

[colsankey]

You mentioned not being interested in the work involved, so I think if you could live with it, just priming it white is the way to go for a garage, if you dont care that it looks perfect.

If you do want it to look good, you are going to have to sand it all flat, probably do another layer of mud in the low spots, sand that. Clean up all the drywall dust in every nook and corner, then prime. Followed by at least 2 coats of white paint, but likely 3.

[ThePenIsMightier]

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You mentioned not being interested in the work involved, so I think if you could live with it, just priming it white is the way to go for a garage, if you dont care that it looks perfect.

If you do want it to look good, you are going to have to sand it all flat, probably do another layer of mud in the low spots, sand that. Clean up all the drywall dust in every nook and corner, then prime. Followed by at least 2 coats of white paint, but likely 3.

I know, right! Sanding sounds like as much fun as prison rape.

- - - Updated - - -

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Spray two costs of a "high hide" kinda primer. I think the paint store may have a different word for that, but they'd know what it meant. Some dudes say paint IS primer. I dunno.

Spray??? I was planning on rolling.

[killramos]

Would it be worth renting one of those orbital vacuum sanders for walls and giving it an 80-20 just to smooth it out?

Renting the tool will make it as easy as humanly possible is my thought process.

I just did a room with a pole sander with the vac attachment and it was pretty annoying but could have been worse.

[ExtraSlow]

Someone smart settle this. Roll or spray?

[killramos]

I’ve always rolled, but I do like the look of sprayed for some finishes.

[FraserB]

I just rolled. Two coats of a light grey paint/primer since it’s just a garage, might do another coat next year to touch up the scuffs

[Buster]

proslat

['93 SR-V]

Our house was just like yours and all we did was slap white paint up. If I was doing it again I still wouldn’t bother to do the joints. At the end of the day you can still see them but they aren’t nearly as noticeable.

[The_Rural_Juror]

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proslat

This is the best method but will also be maybe 10x more expensive than simple paint?

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I know, right! Sanding sounds like as much fun as prison rape.

This is correct. Blasting 4 Non Blondes on loop helps tremendously.

[Xtrema]

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This is the best method but will also be maybe 10x more expensive than simple paint?

I remember it's around ~$100/4x8 if you catch it on sale. Then there are the accessories. But the easy cleaning and look can't be beat.

[The_Rural_Juror]

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I remember it's around ~$100/4x8 if you catch it on sale. Then there are the accessories. But the easy cleaning and look can't be beat.

Costco.ca has the kits on sale once or twice a year. The price isn't really that much lower but you get more accessories. Delivery is handy because those kits are heavy.

[jwslam]

Am i the only one that likes seeing the joints so they're easy to find studs?

[B.Spilner]

I would give all the mudded areas a quick scuff with a sanding block so you dont have chunks of mud coming through the paint or getting stuck in your wet paint which would make it so much worse. Should keep the mess to a minimum.

2 coats of a hi-hide primer in white will be enough for a good coverage. I'd personally have them tint it a light grey just so it helps hide some dirt down the road.

This is going to brighten up your garage like crazy! Ill see if i can find my before and after pics.

Also dont spray In this case, spraying makes a huge mess compared to rolling it plus uses alot more paint. You would also need to back roll if spraying.

[JRSC00LUDE]

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Am i the only one that likes seeing the joints so they're easy to find studs?

Am I the only one who sheets the whole thing in 3/4" plywood under the board so studs don't matter?