Hi, All –

After spending the winter organizing my tools, I'm ready to plan my next project, namely to spruce up the garage itself. Currently, the garage is sheetrocked and taped, though much of the tape is coming off. There are also quite a few holes of varying size in the rock.

My plan is to:

1. fix the holes
2. patch the cracks and gaps in the sheetrock (there are plenty)
3. fill in the dimples made by nailing the rock to the studs
4. prime
5. texture
6 paint

I plan to finish the job by painting the foundation and tiling the floor.

First question: do I have steps 4 and 5 in the correct order? I'm planning on going with a spray-on texture (I'll have to invest in a spray gun for this).

I've never done much work with sheetrock, but I think I can handle this. Can joint compound be used to fill in the nailing dimples and other small holes, or do I need a different material for this?

I'm planning on texturing and painting the ceiling as well; is there anything I need to know about this (other than covering my head and ducking a lot)?

Given the amount of stuff I have in there, I'm probably going to have to do the job one half at a time, moving all my junk to the side of the garage I'm not working on. I've also got some decisions on how "correct" a job I want to do, vis-a-vis how much stuff to take down from the walls (surface conduit, pipe for my compressor, moving the water heater temporarily, etc.). Any suggestions are greatly welcomed.

Thanks...when I'm done, I'll post some pics!

 

You do have to texture before you paint; example, you paint your garage toolbox red, then texture. While the red may (probably will) show through (thin spots) the texture is normally an off white.

I textured (popcorn through use of gun) the ceilings in my house when I bought it and all I can say is Plastic, plastic, plastic! I was shown by a friend and we tented the walls on down and covered everything, I came up through the center of it and we basically tied the plastic (loosely) around me. I also stood on a tarp (hardwood floors). Yes you can use joint compound, and at my brother-n-laws old house, they used plaster and a trowel to texture the walls. Have also seen people sloop joint compound on walls and brush.

Try different techniques on a scrape piece and see what you like.

 

mz...first thing is to re-tape. If the joints are failed, anything you do will fall apart in 2 years. BTW, joint compund would work fine for filling in the nail holes.

For good finishing after taping, use a wide (8-12") blade to feather out the spackle. The big hint is to use "torsion" when applying it over the tape...if you're spackling the right side of the tape, "twist" the blade clockwise (or, left side CCW). This helps to firmly imbed the spackling compound and, with alot of practice, eliminates major sanding. Another key is to use multiple layers of spackling, lightly sanding after each coat, rather than just trying to do it in one thick pass (it'll crack).

I'm not sure what you have in mind for "texturing", but IMHO anything other than smooth walls will be a dirt magnet in no time at all, and your 'spruce up' will look like crap in 6 weeks! For durability, keep the walls smooth and paint w/ a scrubbable semi-gloss (flat paint scuffs easily).

And finally, it may be difficult to accomodate, but it is best to just move everything out and do the job...if you don't, you'll be cleaning compound sanding dust off every surface of every object for the next two years!

 

I would NOT texture a Garage, as mentioned above. Go smooth.
But if you do decide to, you can "prime" the drywall first if you choose. Our drywall trades do this before texturing in case you decide to not paint the finished texture. The priming helps create one solid color, so the drywall board doesn't show through the texturing.
Of course if you're going to paint the texture then there's no need at all to prime.
And I highly recommend painting with a semi-gloss exterior paint, too. Durable, easier to clean up.

 

A quick and easy and cheap texture for this type of thing is to just used watered down drywall mud and a short nap roller. After you get all the holes fixed and the taping done, just water down some mud till it's just a little thicker than the consistancy of paint, and paint it on the wall. It'll hide a lot of imperfections, (which you'll probably have), and makes the painting easier later on. Much less mess than spray on texture and most of the time you can skip the knock down step.

In the corners and places the roller won't reach, take a whisk broom, dip it in thin mud and run your hand over the bristles while holding it upside down. The idea is to splatter mud on the wall. You'll have to knock this down later to match the rest of the wall.

It's not really cost effective to buy a texture sprayer for just a room or two, but you need some type of texture, because just priming will show every tape line and nail hole on a flat wall.

Brocade ceilings are easy and in style. Popcorn is kind of out, (I've seen oatmeal used in the old days. Yep real oatmeal. A lot healthier than the old asbestos popcorn.)

 

I have textured 2 garages that get fairly regular use, nothing like painting or a mechanics garage. But they are both still white/bright and clean. Anything that makes a huge mess, such as power sanding and such should be done outside unless you have a good mask so don't worry about the dirt. Prime before you texture, to help seal the drywall and even out absorbtion of texture. Paint with a semi-gloss and enjoy your spruced up garage.

 

When I did the same to my garage, I permanently marked a small arrow done low by the molding to mark the placement of the studs. After smoothing the walls, it was tough to see the nail holes and when you are installing shelving and racks in a garage you need to find the studs. It beats trashing the walls with nail holes to find stud centers. I just line up a level vertically or a plumb line with the arrow mark on the floor and I save the painted wall from unnecessary damage. It seems faster to do it that way than messing with a stud finder. Besides, every time I power on a stud finder it lights up anyway.....because it found one. HA.

 

Wow...what a pleasure to come downstairs this morning and find so many good responses to my post. I LOVE FTE!

To texture or not to texture: if this were virgin drywall, I could see just leaving it alone, but I think I need the texture to hide some of the bigger screw-ups. There have been prior patch jobs with the aforementioned very thick coats of mud which have indeed cracked, plus lots of tape that's loosened, etc...I think I need some kind of texture, otherwise the paint is just going to magnify those spots. My drywall has remained clean over the years; hopefully the paint will do so as well.

One thing I've always wondered about is: what exactly does the tape do? Is it to hold the mud in place?

I'd love to move everything out and do it all at once, but I'm in a townhouse with nowhere to put anything. Besides, I'd have to wait unti May or so to be reasonably sure of some dry weather...I'm eager to tackle this this month.

I'm grateful for the input, guys...keep it coming!

 

Hey MZ, the tape covers the seams between the drywall sheets. If it were not taped, then any spackling would crack along that seam, almost immediately after drying. It's used anywhere there's a joint (or seam) between sheets (along the wall, inside corners, and wall-to-ceiling junction).

You're right that just painting over the existing patches will highlight the previously-shoddy work! I was thinking the surface was somewhat decent and that's why I suggested a smooth finish.

Howdy's suggestion of rolling on thinned-out spackle would be the best and most economical approach, and dffay's idea of marking the studs is a great one.

Good luck with your project!

 

Ah...well, that certainly explains why the mud looks so cruddy around certain areas that have been "repaired" before. I think I'll have to knock some of those areas out and re-do with tape.

Can I use that gauzy, sticky tape for this?

Yeah, most of it's in pretty good shape, but there are enough uglies to make a difference. Plus, I figure, if I texture, I won't have to do as much sanding beforehand.

Thanks!

Is spackle synonymous with joint compound, or at least close enough?

I'm trying to not get too carried away with being a perfectionist on this...the wife's already starting to give me lip service about painting the inside of the house...

 

Use non-adhesive drywall tape. Spackle and joint compound are same thing.

For taping, lay a coat of spackle down using a 3 or 4" blade, lay the tape in the fresh spackle, then imbed the tape by going over it with the blade again. You want to be firm but not heavy with pressure, smoothing out the spackling til it's level. Let it dry and recoat with another thin layer, and keep doing that til it's nice and smooth.

To get a better idea, browse through one of those DIY books at Home Depot, or wherever you buy your supplies.

And maybe you DON'T want it to be perfect....if you do too great of a job, your wife will have you redoing every room in the house!

 

Don has a point if you do it like a pro then you are opening yourself up to a lot of honey do's. Also, if you are going to texturize then your joints don't have to be as smooth as with paint. How big is this garage? I did a 2 1/2 car garage, we used a popcorn texturizer and did 2 thinner coats. With the new flourescent lights that were installed you could have performed surgery in there. Also, watch the humidity when you are texturizing as that will effect it similar to painting.

 

I'll wait for a dry spell before I apply anything "serious," though I'm going to get started on the joint repair and patching pretty soon.

I just came back from Home Despot...they sell two kinds of joint compound: one called "general purpose" and one called "topping" (I think). Cost is similar, and the instructions look identical. Which do I want for what I'm doing? Since I'm going to buy 5 gallons, I want to get it right.

So...just plain tape...that seems easy enough.

What exactly is a "popcorn texturizer"?

If I decide to texture using a thinned spackle, do I thin it with water or mineral spirits, and in what ratio?

Thanks...I think my first step (pulling off a ceiling panel that needs replacement) is only a few hours away...

 

Get the general purpose joint compound. That is what I call it, it looks like a HVLP sprayer sorta. You add the mix to the hopper and the crompressor shoots it out of an adjustable nozzle for the desired size of bumps. Any rental house will have a ceiling texture sprayer, same thing. You can buy a bag of ceiling texturizer, that has small ***** similar to styrofaom that you add water to and then spray through the previously mentioned machine. Kinda messy, gets all over, but when you are done looks great. Just make sure you cover everything that isn't supposed to get texturized.

 

You lost me on this one. Are you saying that you use the compound in a sprayer? Someone earlier said to roll it on. I'm willing to get a sprayer; it would be nice if I could use it for ceiling as well as walls.

While I'm at it: any tips on how to cut drywall away from the ceiling, leaving a clean cut at the middle of a rafter?