Garage Finish Project

First you want to clear the garage of all items big and small, fussing with moving things will only add to time and issues. Once you have a clear work area, you want to clean the cobb webs and dirt off the ceilings, walls windows, and floor. It is a great idea to paper off the floor and plastic the windows and doors before the next few steps.

Bringing your drywall up to paintable surface is important for a long-lasting professional looking paint job. Most garages have drywall hung and taped. This is standard across the Boise area and meets building codes for fire safety. There are many neighborhoods on the Bench, Downtown and in the North end where the drywall is not taped, this would need to be done first. 



When you paint a drywall surface the joints in the drywall need to be taped and the tape needs to be coated with drywall compound, sealing it, and providing a paintable surface. Otherwise, the tape will show through the paint and be prone to cracking, blistering, and peeling off. 

Now that the drywall is brought up to a “level 3 finish” or paintable surface, you will want to prime the drywall with a PVA primer, this seals in the drywall and compound creating a surface which is more consistent for the paint to absorb. This can be done with rollers and brushes or with and airless sprayer. Depending on which method you employ you might need to do a bit more prep work protecting the garage openers and fixtures from the paint spray.

We recommend spraying the primer and paint for time efficiencies and overall finish quality. Once you have the area prepped you should be able to spray the primer in a matter of 45-60 minutes. Where a manual paint application could take 4-6 hours.

After spraying the primer your prep work might need tightened up as the paint spray rig has a ton of pressure and tends to blast poorly taped plastic off. Either way fix it up and get ready for the paint coat.

We usually use a specific latex paint which is durable and easy to clean. Contact us for a recommendation or at your local paint store to find the paint and the color(s) you want to use.

Consider what activities will be going on next to each wall and how that might need a different type of paint or wall surface. An example would be if you had a wood shop and next to the north wall was the saw.  You may consider a diamond platting surface or some other hard paneling. If there is a lot of oil or other fluids being used, you may consider a specific paint allowing for ease of cleaning.

If your gong to build it, do it right!



Once the paint is applied, again we recommend an airless paint sprayer, give it plenty of time to dry. This allows the paint to cure properly before obtaining any wear and tear on the new paint. Depending on the paint and the surface you may need 2-3 coats for a long-lasting durable finish, allowing proper dry time between.

Once the garage is painted and looks great, its time to clean up all the plastic and paper. Cleaning the area and getting ready for the cherry on top, the Epoxy Floors.

 As a full-service painting company in Boise, we often help with epoxy flooring. Coating your garage floor with an epoxy provides a safe, easy to clean, surface that is durable and attractive. There are several epoxy products on the market which come in a variety of colors. Even DIY Epoxy Floor kits for the brave.

Epoxy flooring has a lot of benefits with the main downfall being the installation process. Of course, you can do it yourself but for a professional long-lasting epoxy coating, we recommend hiring a professional painter or epoxy coating company.

To properly adhere the epoxy for a durable finish the concrete needs to be clean of all oil, solvents, grease, and debris. Often requiring a concrete grinder to properly prepare the concrete for the epoxy. Once the concrete is prepared the application of epoxy can take several coats with cure time between depending on the desired look and product used.

Finishing your garage can be an extremely rewarding project providing another functional space in your house. As with all home improvement projects, you can always go a DIY route. To get the most out of your garage finish project for many years to come, we recommend hiring a professional painter who can help with every step of the process.