Thursday, February 11, 2010

What is the best way for me to paint my garage walls that have drywall tape on them? And what type of paint?

I would like to paint my garage walls before I expoxy the floors, but I do not know how to go about it. I heard an exterior flat paint is the best for this job, but I am worried about seeing the drywall tape through the finished job.What is the best way for me to paint my garage walls that have drywall tape on them? And what type of paint?
Is there no putty over top of the tape, normally you would putty and sand the seams. But either way first you need to prime the drywall with a plain white primer, put on a good coat of it let it dry and then paint over top, the primer will seal off the drywall and prepare it to paint and it will also help seal off that tape. Yes I would go with a exterior flat paint as well, the exterior paint is a little more tough than interior and you don't want shiny walls so a flat paint is perfect.What is the best way for me to paint my garage walls that have drywall tape on them? And what type of paint?
I would suggest using Top Secret Coatings Seal-It over the tape and then priming it with Top Secret Coatings Primer, then paint it with Top Secret Coatings One Part Epoxy. These coatings not only will last, but they will prevent mold, and not chip, peel, wear off, or bubble. For your floor consider Top Secret Coatings Super Fleck Kit, it comes in over 200 colors and the paint actually has solvents that become part of the concrete. There is no other product on market where the paint becomes part of concrete so it is made to last!
One thing you haven't mentioned is whether or not there is drywall compound on the walls already or if there is only a self adhesive drywall tape on the walls. If there is only tape or tape and very little drywall mud, then you will need to finish this first. Start with a 6 or 8 inch spackling knife and apply a thin coat of drywall mud to the joints. Allow this to dry and then use a 10 or 12 inch knife to apply another coat, making sure you feather out the compound so it blends with the rest of the wall. After letting this dry, you can either use a damp sponge or a special drywall screen to smooth the joint compound. After doing this, make sure you remove all dust from the walls before you paint.





As for the paint, I would recommend using a good quality primer first. This will seal the drywall and the drywall mud so that nothing bleeds through the top coat of paint. Most latex primers only take about an hour to dry. If this is an unheated garage, then I would use an exterior paint. It will better withstand the temperature changes more than an interior paint.
You don't say whether the taping was ';finished'; with drywall compound, which usually involves a 3-coat finishing process. From the sound of things, it wasn't finished. You need finish it first before painting. Most home owners aren't real fussy when it comes to the garage interior, and many builders will tape the drywall joints and not finish them because this isn't a ';live-in'; area. Use the joint compound, finish the tape joints if you are concerned about the tape not showing. Or - simply paint it now and be satisfied that the taping will show. As for paint, I'd suggest an inexpensive low-lustre satin finish paint which will wipe off and clean up better than an ordinary flat paint, use an exterior grade such as Sear's Weatherbeater.
sounds like you have a home where they did the minimum fire code treatment to the garage walls. What's left to do for a decent finish look are several coats of mud over the tape. use successively wider thin coats of drywall mud (you can buy it premixed at home depot or lowes type places). let it set almost firm and then gently rub a damp sponge over it to knock down the lines left by your mudding blade. Use a wider blade each time if you can.





Then when the final coat is dry, you can just add some sand to the paint to get a texture that will be good enough for a garage. If you were doing the interior of a house, you would want to rent a texture sprayer, but for a garage, just mix in a carton of paint sand and roll on the paint.
The drywall process is not finished if you can see the tape you need two more applications of joint compound with progressively wider compound applicators sanding after each coat. Then use a product like Kiltz water base before you paint. I use an egg shell finish paint, glosses show every imperfection.
If the tape is already floated and sanded, you can paint, if not, you should get someone to float and tape for you. If the paper has been up for some time, and is buckling or bubbling because it's been exposed to the humidity, you might have to re-tape it. There are three types of paint you should use in a garage, cheap, cheap and cheap. Honestly, I would just use a cheap primer...
You will need to texture the walls with something in order for the tape to not show through the paint. You can buy a texture mixture to add to the paint, it goes on as you paint.
Any water based emulsion will do but a plaster board/drywall skim coat needs to be applied to give an entirely smooth surface.
you need drywall mud over the tape to hide it. then prime the walls before painting. a flat exterior paint would handle the time change.

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