White Shop Walls - Gloss or Semi-gloss?

[glenn bradley]

Getting close to painting time for the shop walls. Those of you who have done this, did you go gloss or semi-gloss and do you wish you'd done the other?

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Glen....I am painting mine with a white Exterior Satin finish. The white satin reflects the light without any glare. I was stunned how painting the ceiling and walls increased the light and the ablility to see in the shop. This week I hope to get the east half painted.

Then I have these two crates to open......lathe and b/s.

And since Joel Sauder is going elk hunting Thanksgiving, I hope to have it done before Thanksgiving!

[Gary Keedwell]

Gee Glenn..Ya got me thinking (not an easy thing) so I went down and took a look at mine. I did it around 3 years ago. I painted all my walls in egg shell(don't ask) white. After I painted them I decided to implement a cleat system. What I did was purchase a bunch of straight studs and 24" wide 1" thick white hard foam insulation. I used a .22 gage ramset and anchored the studs every 24" and then put the foam between them. I then went back and painted the studs white also.
The thing is that the foam is white but is incased in a clear plastic that reflect light, which I found distracting. I did this on 3 walls being the fourth wall had all the plumbing drain pipes.
By the way Glenn it was real easy to anchor the cleats on the studs with screws and it makes them portable. (I'll take them with me if I move;) )
Hope this rambling make some sense.:)
Gary

[David Duke]

I went with semi-gloss on mine simply because I already had 10 gallons and it saved me some $$, but to tell you the truth I see no advantage between a semi and gloss however I think that you would get better light reflection using either of those instead of flat.

[rich murray]

i agree with gary about glare being distracting which is why i opted for flat white. made a world of difference for the better. gloss might have a harder finish.

[Greg Pavlov]

When thinking about this, the tradeoff seemed to me to be over the semi-gloss causing glare as weighed against - I'm guessing - shedding dust more easily and being a bit tougher and thus holding up longer.

[Steven Wilson]

I used semi-gloss. It's easy to clean, reflects the light nicely, and you don't have to have perfect wall prep. A high gloss wall would look a bit wierd unless you had a flawless skim coat of plaster on it.

[Harold Beck]

When I moved into my new shop (a garage at my mew house) it was already painted in a light colored flat latex. It holds every bit of dust, cobwebs, etc.

Stick with a finish smooth enough to be able to brush off with a broom. The next coat of paint will be semi-gloss enamel.

HB

[Deck Reagan]

Glenn,
I actually picked up paint this weekend to paint my garage. I live in a split level so I have 2 block walls and 1 sheetrock wall. The ceiling will also get painted, which is sheet rock. I decided to go with a semi-gloss exterior latex. Two reasons, first for durability and second, because of the block walls.

deck

[James Carmichael]

Assuming ease of maintenance gets the nod over aesthetics, gloss. Tougher and easier to clean.

My "shop" is my garage, which is textured drywall under the Abominable Snowjob, aka a popcorn-textured ceiling.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

flat.................

[Chris Friesen]

I vote eggshell or satin. Enough of a sheen to make it easier to clean, while not causing specular highlights (ie. glare).

Stay away from gloss, whatever you do.

My ceilings are flat white.

[Denny Rice]

The only reason mine are the color they are is because when I went to purchase paint, I found a color that was very close to what I wanted, but the store had mis-tinted the color and sold me the 5 gallons of paint for ten bucks!

[Jason Roehl]

I wouldn't want semi-gloss (or shinier) shop walls, even if they are easy to clean, simply because of the glare they would produce. Glare is not good in a work environment, you want light diffusion, not reflection. Diffusion helps scatter light around the area and reduce hard shadows, making it easier to read tape measures and machine settings in any area and orientation. Flat would seem to be uhhh...flat out since it holds dust terribly, but there are ways around that particular drawback--go to either a high-quality interior matte or velvet matte that is considered washable, or a mid-quality or better exterior flat paint. Dust and such will likely still settle on whatever texture the wall has, but should brush or blow off easily.

In general, the progression of sheen is (some companies vary slightly):

flat, matte, velvet or velvet matte, satin, eggshell (not the color), semi-gloss, gloss, high-gloss

Most lines of paint will come in 2-4 of the above sheens.

(Painter by day...)

[Lori Kleinberg]

I used an off white satin paint. It really brightened the shop and is easy to clean without a glare.

[SCOTT ANDREWS]

Hot pink semi gloss

[Jim McCarty]

Hot pink semi gloss
Fabulous!!

[David Cramer]

I am in the minority for sure. I bought Behr Ultra White just last week. Expensive, about $100 for 5 gallons on sale, but I love the way it goes on. It is the whitest white that you can get. I don't plan on ever doing this again and yes, I like the fact that it is easy to clean.

Part of my shop is already done and I can't explain why, but I have no problems with the glare "being a problem". It is interior/exterior high gloss enamel and I absolutely have no regrets. I don't stare at the walls and whatever glare that there is has not affected my work in any, way, shape or form. I can blow the dust off with an air compressor or get real anal and wipe it down.

The shop is clean and bright and I really like that look. I also have the 8 foot 110 Watt High Output Bulbs (15 fixtures!). That may or may not make a difference in reflection. I truly have no clue on that one. But this I know, flat or eggshell is not for this guy. Thanks and have a great day!

Dave

[Greg Robbins]

Glen....I am painting mine with a white Exterior Satin finish. The white satin reflects the light without any glare. I was stunned how painting the ceiling and walls increased the light and the ablility to see in the shop. This week I hope to get the east half painted.


Agree with Ken. To much reflection with semi-gloss or gloss.

[David Weaver]

I voted semi-gloss but I would use satin or eggshell - the texture that's scrub-able - but with the least sheen - would be my choice.

[Danny Thompson]

Split the difference--go eggshell.

[Prashun Patel]

I'm a fan of the 'scrubbable' types of flat finishes.
BMoore makes a Matte which is about $2/gal more than flat but takes a decent ragging.

The thing I like best about it is how it goes on. It covers extremely well and is very forgiving to wall imperfections. I've found it to cover far more than reg flat. The prob I have with semigloss is that it dries kind of quickly and is a bugger for leaving brush or roller marks. While it resists future marks better than flat, it highlights any existing wall imperfections.

[Gary Keedwell]

We are talking about walls, right? I think I lost my train of thought there for a second. And we're still talking about our shop walls, right? Just a little curious....how many of you all scrub your walls? I can't remember the last time I ran my vacuum up and down the walls.
What are you guys doing in the shop that the walls get that dirty? I think Ill go down to my shop and take another look.:confused:
Gary

[David Weaver]

I can't say that I scrub the walls too often, but i do clean them off behind a couple of tools. I want the option to be there if I get something on the walls - especially if the walls are white.

In terms of the comment above regarding hardness of brushing semi-gloss paint, once I sprayed paint on with an airless gun once, I'll never brush again. At most, I would spray on and run a roller over the surface. It's just a lot easier to keep a wet edge running a sprayer and having someone run a roller behind you if you aren't satisfied with the sprayer results outright.

EDIT: one other PITA with flat walls is that if you scrape the vacuum attachments on them or bump into them with anything, they seem to abrade the plastic or whatever and you get a big black mark.

[Rob Will]

I voted semi gloss because when you say "full gloss" I think of sprayable enamels and automotive finishes.

My shop walls are painted with latex semi-gloss exterior house paint.

Cleanable semi gloss sheen with no glare
Tough, chip resistant, flexible surface
Easy to apply and easy cleanup
Latex paint does not fade, amber or yellow like oil based
Heavy bodied exterior product helps to cover minor imperfections.Most paints tend to lose a bit of thier original sheen (especially oil based).
As far as the glare issue goes, I try to stay away from pure white. Instead, I prefer a light touch of color. It's easy on the eyes.

Rob

[Dan Lyman]

I also used the Behr Ultra White, HIgh Gloss on the walls and cielings. No trouble with Glare and it really brightens things up. My shop is in the garage and by the time I got all the stuffon the walls, it just wasn't a problem.

[Brian Austin]

I also used the Behr Ultra White, HIgh Gloss on the walls and cielings. No trouble with Glare and it really brightens things up. My shop is in the garage and by the time I got all the stuffon the walls, it just wasn't a problem.

My shop is a dedicated building but I have a similar setup and no reflections/glare.

I find the whole "glare" argument somewhat interesting, especially as a semi-pro photographer who deals with this with flash photography. Glare is generally present only when there is an imbalance in light. In other words, one source of light overwhelms any other local sources to the point where a reflection is visible.

Controlling these reflections is relatively easy: balance the light. In my 14x24 shop, I did this with four banks of 8' 5500K (daylight) fluorescents, equally spaced. Task lighting tends to point straight down or at such a high angle that I've never been bothered by a "glare". Add three windows and two overhead skylights, facing north to avoid direct sun (bad in AZ summers), to finish it off.

No problems.

[David Cramer]

Good God, I'm not the only one!!!

Again, I can honestly say that I have "no glare problem" whatsoever. I have no regrets buying the ultra white high gloss which I put on both the walls and the ceiling like Dan mentioned he did as well.

As far as the cleaning comments go, if you have a spot that gets more sawdust attracted to it than other areas (near a lathe or drill press) and you choose to clean it, it is simple simon with this paint. It wipes or blows off in a heart beat and looks like the day you put it on. I have OSB over 2 by 6 walls and I am happy that I put up the OSB and that I painted over it with the Behr Ultra White High Gloss Paint.

Brian may have given a great explanation:) of why I don't have a glare problem, but irrelevant of that, I still wanted, and got, a nice bright shop to work in. Combined with the 110W H.O. tubes that I've got, it is a joy to work in and is one of those choices that I can honestly say, I wouldn't have done anything different. Good luck:) in whatever paint choice that you choose.

Dave

[glenn bradley]

Thanks to everybody who posted. Here is part of one 30 foot wall, white semi-gloss. The other wall can wait a few months . . .:D

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Glenn....A couple of weeks ago I painted 1/2 my shop in white semi-gloss. I could not believe how much brighter it seemed to make the shop. I've got the other 1/2 ready to paint and hope to have it done by this weekend.

[Gary Keedwell]

Thanks to everybody who posted. Here is part of one 30 foot wall, white semi-gloss. The other wall can wait a few months . . .:D
Ouch...I had to put my shades on to look at the Picture:eek: :D
Gary

[glenn bradley]

Glenn....A couple of weeks ago I painted 1/2 my shop in white semi-gloss. I could not believe how much brighter it seemed to make the shop. I've got the other 1/2 ready to paint and hope to have it done by this weekend.

I'm with you Ken. The first real increase in light came when I switched to T-8 fixtures (still have some old style ballast T-12's). The wall made a definite difference as well. Once I get the cleats up, hang the stuff that is all piled against the other wall and move the larger tools back to their positions I'll probably get inspired for wall number two.

This was a project that was way more effort than money; sub-panel, wallboard, primer and paint. The payback makes it really worth it. Happy, happy.