Thoughts on painting the shop.

[Marty Weatherup]

I am going to start painting the shop soon, one wall at a time as I can clear room to do so. I am going to go with white but wonder if I should go with semi-gloss, satin or flat for the walls and ceiling? What has worked for you? Is semi gloss to much for glare? I have pretty good light and am planning to add some more. to better light a couple areas of the shop. Should I shoot some texture on the walls first? They are taped, mudded and sanded. Thanks.

Marty

[David Christopher]

Marty, I would use the simi gloss or gloss. I have gloss on my shop walls and have no glare and it is really easy to clean. not that I clean it regular but you can blow it off with a air hose and nothing sticks

[Gary Lange]

Semi-Gloss or Gloss for the ceiling and the walls as it will reflect the light around the room. Will be easy to wipe off too.

[Don Bullock]

I painted the ceiling and walls in my shop with gloss white. It really brightens the place up both during the day and night.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I painted my shop ceilings and walls in a semi-gloss white. As Don said...it's bright which my aging eyes appreciate.

[Ben Franz]

I used semi-gloss off white and it did brighten up the space a lot. I sprayed a medium knockdown texture to hide the mediocre tape job (mine) but I think it's entirely up to you if it's worth doing. I had a hopper gun already so minimal $ to texture.

[Bob Slater]

I am going to paint mine pretty darn bright and colourful. I figure I will make it bright by putting in a skylight and flooding the space with $$power. Might as well make it cheery. My ceiling is flat ceiling paint. The ductwork is next. It has been 100% white since I took the place over 2 years ago.

[Rollie Meyers]

Gloss will show imperfections more and flat cannot be cleaned worth a hoot, can't go wrong with a eggshell or semi-gloss finish.

[Mike Hutchison]

I just finished getting OSB put up in my shop this weekend.
Shop size 12' x 24'
Used OSB for a number of reasons: price, resistance to moderate impact/s
as opposed to drywall, the material's ability to hold bias cuts & miters/bevels (I spliced drops to make up full runs vertically in the corners a couple places). I think it is helping on temperature.
Now to the question: I am somewhat concerned about formaldehyde
emission. They say any building material nowdays gives off bad stuff but I can see where the OSB might be a little worse than others. What would you guys spec as a fume sealer on OSB? I have read polyurethane but you could get whacked out putting that much poly on walls in an interior application to exceed what the untreated material would put off over time.
Would primer and paint be enough to handle it?
Thanks for any input.

[Chris Damm]

My shop walls have been covered with OSB for about 10 years now and I have never had a problem with any outgassing. The shop is very well insulated and extremely airtight. The walls are painted white mainly because it makes it so much brighter for these 60 year old eyes. I used a Kilz primer and the cheapest Ace latex paint. It still looks good a decade later.

[Craig Summers]

Marty
I would stay away from drywall texture stuff, it will tend to gather dirt and dust, especially the walls. And that dirt/dust will diminish the light reflection of the paint. As someone else said, it hides a bad tape job, but its a workshop not a living room. Finally, texture will look and feel like sandpaper, and with use in the shop, any wall scrape will damage that look.

Mike H
Any water based paint is relatively low odor. You might try the water based Kilz (or generic Equiv) for stain hiding as a primer. Might have to first spot paint any nails with oil primer, as the water based paints will bleed rust. If you have enough to paint, rent the sprayer. Its alot faster, and with the texture of OSB, it will spread better.

[glenn bradley]

I went through this same thing (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=68044)back awhile. Most of the advice I got here was for gloss or semi-gloss. I went semi-gloss white. As I was painting OSB and drywall, I could have gone gloss without the fear of "defects" being highlighted. That is to say, the whole wall was anything but smooth. Most of my wall (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=74783&d=1194402269) is covered with a cleat storage (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=107656&d=1232573981)system but even those parts that are exposed help bounce the light very well.

P.s. No texture; dust grabber. Use an appropriate primer and you'll save yourself a lot of work. I also marked where my studs were along the top and bottom edge with a marker before painting. Now I never have to search for a stud.

[Marty Weatherup]

I plan to use water based Kilz as a primer and then go over it with the appropriate paint. The comment about the texture is good. I didn't think about the dust collecting on the texture but you are right. We have a family room with very heavy texture that is a bear to keep clean because of that. I will leave it as is and just paint it. Thanks.

Marty

[Rob Cooper]

Ther is a poly based floor and porch paint sold at Lowes. Not too expensive in the 1 gallon size. It should seal the OSB, but you going to want serious ventiliation while it cures.

[David G Baker]

Mike H,
I use PVA (poly vinyl acetate) to cover OSB prior to painting it with white semi-gloss or white gloss. PVA is the product that is used to prime sheetrock prior to painting.

[Chris Padilla]

Like most everyone here, I painted my shop walls white. Since I found a deal at the board, I picked up a 5 gallon bucket of exterior-grade semi-gloss white. It is probabaly the most boring mind-numbing color to paint but it reflects the light very very well.

I doubt one would noticed a significant difference between gloss and semi-gloss. Dust will still gather a bit here and there on the walls thanks to our arachnid friends....

[Mike Hutchison]

Thanks for input regarding sealing OSB.
I will look into the PVA sealer next time I go to Home Depot.
Don't want to be paranoid about fumes; but, since I have my letterpress
and the woodchuck shop in there, I spend a fair amount of time in the
little shop.

[Burt Alcantara]

A while back I made a tool rack and wanted to paint it. The paint guy at HD told me gloss paints are more durable. I took his word and painted the rack gloss. It held up very well. No scratches or dings. I ended up tossing the rack because it wasn't efficient but the paint sure was.

Burt