Garage Interior Painting

Finishing the room you walk through every day

Painting garage walls and ceilings makes the space brighter, easier to wipe down and less dusty. For many families the garage is the front door they use most, yet its walls are often bare taped drywall, builder primer or raw block.

Safe Choice Painting paints garage interiors as part of our interior painting work, on their own or with the rest of the house.

Drywall garages

Attached garages are drywall in most homes because building codes ask for it: the International Residential Code, section R302.6, calls for at least 1/2 inch gypsum board on the garage side of the wall shared with the house, and 5/8 inch Type X board on the ceiling when there are living rooms above. That board is a fire barrier, so we paint it and patch small dings, and we do not cut openings in it or take it down.

Garage drywall is often only taped, with one coat of mud and no texture. Paint will show every seam, so the walkthrough sets the plan:

• Taped only. A primer coat, then the finish. You will still see the tape lines, which is fine in most garages.
• Finished and textured. Primer where needed, then two finish coats, like any other room.
• Damaged. Holes from shelving, bike hooks and car doors are filled and spot-primed.

Concrete block garages

Older and detached garages are sometimes concrete block. Block is porous and rough, so the first coat is a block filler that closes the pores, followed by a masonry or acrylic finish. White powdery deposits, called efflorescence, are brushed off and their water source noted before painting, because paint will not hold over them. New block waits about 30 days to cure before priming, by Glidden's directions for its primer.

Choosing the paint and color

• Walls: an acrylic in eggshell or satin, which wipes clean better than flat. Lower parts of the wall take bumps from bins, bikes and car doors.
• Ceilings: a flat white, which reflects light down onto the work bench.
• Color: lighter colors make a garage with one window feel much brighter. A darker band along the lower part of the wall can hide scuffs.

Our paint sheen guide explains how sheen and cleaning go together, and the ceiling painting page covers garage ceilings with stains or patches.

Heat and garage painting

Garages in North Texas and southern Oklahoma get very hot in summer, and paint has a temperature range on the label. A closed garage in July can run well past it. We start early in the day, keep the big door open for air flow and pick days that suit the product. Hot surfaces dry too fast and show lap marks, so walls are painted in sections with a wet edge. The garage door stays open and the door into the house stays closed while we work.

What the job looks like

1. Clear the walls. We ask you to move cars out and bins, bikes and tools to the center of the floor or into the driveway.
2. Clean. Cobwebs, dust and oily grime come off, since paint will not stick to them.
3. Repair. Holes and dents are filled, and nail pops are reset.
4. Prime. Bare drywall, patches and block filler go on.
5. Paint. Ceiling first, then walls, then the door into the house and its trim.

Garage ceilings with an attic hatch or pull-down stair get the hatch frame painted along with the ceiling. Areas around water heaters and other appliances are kept clear, and we do not paint over vents, labels or the appliances themselves. Shelving, pegboard and hooks can come down before we arrive, or stay up and be painted around.

New homes and first coats

In Hickory Creek, about 76 percent of homes were built in 2000 or later by Census estimates, and many garages there still have the builder's first coat or bare taped drywall. Our new construction painting page covers first coats in a new home, and the Hickory Creek service area page lists what we do there. The outside of the garage door is covered on our garage door painting page.

Nearby

• Garage interior painting in Denton, TX
• Interior painting
• Garage door painting
• Ceiling painting