There’s no project quite like a garage cleanout, but once it’s done, you’ll have a huge sense of satisfaction. You might even feel like taking it a step further, and painting the interior. Before you do, though, you’ll want to do a bit of planning – figure out how you’re going to approach the project, and also consider the materials you’re going to need.
The other thing you’ll need to think about is where you’re going to put all the stuff that you have in your garage. Your car isn’t a biggie – just put it in the driveway. But if you’re also using your garage for storage, you might have things that could be vulnerable to the elements. So find a friend or family member who can lend you some storage space, or if that’s not possible, consider a short-term rental on a storage locker.
Once the planning is finished, the most important thing is to stay calm, cool and collected. That way, you won’t feel discouraged if things don’t go as quickly as you thought they would, and you can be sure of a successful project.
Do the prep work
Probably, the inside of your garage is drywalled, and that’s a good thing, because drywall is really easy to paint. You should make sure to get rid of any nails, hooks, and other hardware, though, and fill the holes using drywall compound. If anything needs to be cleaned or de-greased, now’s the time to do it as well. In short, approach the painting of your garage in the same way you would the interior walls of your home. Also, be sure that everything is dry before you start to paint.
Wall and ceiling paint
Before you actually apply the pant, use a base coat. This provides a good foundation. Also, consider what type of paint is already on your walls and ceiling. As a general rule, you can put latex paint over alkyd (oil) paint, but you can’t do it the other way around. Make sure, too, to go with a good quality paint – this is going to be a pretty big job, and you don’t want to have to do it again a few years down the road.
As far as color goes, you could, if you wanted, go with something deep, dark and dramatic, but generally speaking, you’re better off with light colors in your garage. So use a white tone on the ceiling. If you do a lot of work in your garage, you might want to choose a paint for the walls that will conceal dirt. In this case, grays and browns are your best options.
Clean the floor
Garage floors take on even more dirt than walls, so you’re going to really want to do a deep cleaning here. You might even need a degreaser, if you’ve been parking vehicles or equipment in your garage. You could go with a commercial cleaning product, but you can also make your own using one part of ordinary household bleach to three parts of water. Whatever product you go with, make sure that you ventilate the garage properly before using it.
If there are cracks in the floor, you’ll need to use patching compound in order to fill them. Work it into the cracks, and then take off the excess using a grinder. Then, apply a sealant if the concrete is stained. Now you’re ready to paint the floor.
Painting the floor
You’ve probably heard that you have to use epoxy paint on your garage floor, but this isn’t really true. You can actually use an acrylic latex paint with polyurethane. It’s cheaper than epoxy paint.
If you do go with epoxy, you’re going to have to work with a catalyst as well, and catalysts make for very fast drying. If you’re not sure you can do the whole job at once, divide the floor off into quadrants and take them one at a time. Sure, it will take longer, but you’ll be much happier with the result.
Use a thick coat, and make sure to give it enough curing time. You should wait at least 24 hours before you walk on an epoxy floor, and about a week before you actually move your car back into the garage.
Okay, that’s about it. You planned, thought, and made the right choices. Now you’ve got your garage all painted, and you didn’t have to pay a pro to do it!
There’s one more thing, though…
Since you’ve already expended all that effort, take a look at your garage door, too. Does it need a tune-up or maybe even to be replaced? If you think it does, then contact us at 705-721-7909.
We’ll send you out a quotation via email, or if you’d rather, we’d be glad to come and visit you to take a look at your garage door and talk about your options. We’ll consider your needs, your budget, and your individual tastes, and we’ll never try to sell you something that you don’t need. If you’re thinking about a new garage door, you can also make use of our design center or see what other people have done by looking at the pictures in our image gallery.
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