Just curious…. sometimes driving around I see homes with their garage doors open and the inside drywall is taped but 99% never painted.
I guess it is not a code issue or requirement to get a CO?
Even new houses around here selling for $500K and up – not one that I have seen has the inside of the garage painted.
How much more could it cost to paint it? “Gee, I can save $250 off my $645K home by not having the garage insides painted”.
Can any home builders here explain why they don’t paint the garage insides? Or why people don’t have the garage painted?
Replies
Not just not painted, how about not even any drywall? And this is common in these $500K to $1.5M houses. Also 2 bare bulbs in the garage for light and fiberglass tubs in the bathrooms. I just changed out 2 garbage disposals in 2 of these houses. The old disposals were about as big around as a drinking glass! Absolute junk.
Don`t have a definitive answer for you, but I would imagine its one of the things that gets axed from the project when trying to keep costs down.
In and of itself its not an incredibly expensive option. But added with other less costly and less important portions of the project it adds up.
Closet shelving is another relatively low cost option initially left out. It doesn`t take too long to convince someone to add it back in as an extra as the project winds down though...especially if its within the budget.
Many new homes are built with partiallly finished basements. Windows and often patio doors are included, while drywall, trim and the like are not.
Homeowners are likely to prioritise as the years go by as to which of the unfinished projects gets attentioned. Finishing that basement off and gaining living space would likely be towards the top of the list. Emptying out the garage to throw a coat of paint on probably aint too high up on that list though.
J. D. Reynolds
Home Improvements
"DO IT RIGHT, DO IT ONCE"
It's strange to see the $80K BMW or Range Rover parked inside a garage where the unpainted drywall has turned a brownish color.
Those 2 lightbulbs would seem brighter in a white painted garage.
I do. Taped, textured, painted.....with the same quality paint as the interior. Also insulated with the same R value as the house.
However, most people don't give a &^% and won't pay a dime extra. That's why I never make any money :o)
Interesting trend in the recent HBA Parade of Homes. High end houses had epoxy paint on the floors and the newer garage systems for storage.
ShelleyinNM
cost money to paint..
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
I can save $250
That's why, cheapness.
HOAs around here will send a nastigram for leaving a garage door open.
May also be that so few people have seen the difference just one coat of white primer can make (because so few garages are painted, yada yada yada . . . )
Yeah, garages are neglected.
Then you have overkill, like the raised panel wainscotting in my garage...<g>
I hear ya Mongo. Mine is 1x4 T&G planked on all walls *and* the ceiling. I guess they did things differently in 1924.
My guess is they are just meeting fire code.
Drywall is not a great wall material for a garage anyways. Too fragile and fussy.
Prefer just open studs or plywood (paint optional).
It's a utility space.
paint it once, and you have to repaint it when it peels. leave it alone and it never needs maintenance. it's a zen thing.
SHG
Why would it peel (drywall OR plywood)???
It must be drywalled and taped for fire code around here on attached garages. But only the walls common to the living area need it. That is why a lot of garages are half drywall and half studs. As for painting, I think it would suffer too much abuse and you would see white nicks and chips in your walls.
nicks and chips
Then that would happen anyway, which on painted drywall still looks better than tape and spackle with the dirt-brown color drywall facing turns in a garage.
And the brighter white walls help you see in there anyway.
Just my $0.02
Well I guess because it is just a garage and its not for looks like a living area. The money spent to finish coat, sand, prime, and paint would be of more use somewheres else. Plus on most garages I have seen theres so much clutter you dont really see the walls all that much. Maybe they should just do the ceiling.
I hear ya.
Every Fall I straighten out my garage to fit the cars when it snows. By June 01 each year the garage looks like a bomb went off in there.
The garage I drywalled, I just did one coat of tape & spackle. Then painted white over everything. No sanding. Like ya said it is not living space.
I have wall-to-wall carpeting in there. Pieced together remnants from when they did the house. 3 different colors.
my father always told me that a drywalled garage adds to your property taxes. true or not I dont know but others may believe that also.
"my father always told me that a drywalled garage adds to your property taxes. true or not I dont know but others may believe that also."
It might, but then it might not.
I my area and many others the tax assesors don't know what is inside the house. They only go on sq ft, and the type of house, and neighborhood (average selling price).
Funny this question was posted as I just finished the insulation, drywall, taping AND painting of my garage less than a week ago. Infact, last night the gas fitter just finished hooking up my 40,000 BTU unit heater so it's toasty warm now.
Like many of you reading this though, my garage will be dual purpose - parking and working. Also, like many of us here, contractor or weekend warrior, we are a detail oriented group who can't stand things to be 'unfinished'. Not to mention a taped and painted garage must surely be more air tight and efficient for heating than one with the inevitable gaps of untaped drywall?
I'm assuming most of the unfinished garages are for people who don't plan on doing much work in them except for parking. Don't know how I managed with the dark, bare OSB walls for the last couple years and cold winters but I did....
As far as taxes...the folks from city hall came by this summer and asked if I had finished my garage or completed any other upgrades - the garage was not finished at this time. This means the next tax assessment won't be for many years to come.
Mike
I just finished and moved into my house within the last year and thought I would save some by eliminating the smooth plaster for the slightly coarser garage or closet finish. One wall on an attached needs firerated anyway.
The last house I had I did smooth finish in the garage so that there would be no problem with cleaning sawdust or dirt on the walls. I never regretted it. Could sweep the walls clean with a push broom. The new owners are turning it into a 30 x 30 great room and the walls are still pristine. I'm not a plasterer so its never cheaper to get a little more than when you're building it.
Around here (CT) a 2-car garage adds "X" number of dollars to the apprasied value of your house. Doesn't matter if it's a 24' square dirt floor, open stud garage or a 30' by 70' showcase.
Unless someone asks for paint , the only requirement for the builder is to have a one hour separation between the garage and living space. This is achieved with one layer of type x gyp. bd. firetaped on garage side. Anything beyond that is money out of developer or builders pocket. For an additional amount you can get finished walls in your garage. Most buyers prefer to spend the money elsewhere.
OK - let's really be cheap while we are at it. Try $95 toilets in $500K houses! And $6 towel racks in the bath. My daughter has a house in No. VA (DC Area) that will sell for nearly $700K. She is still fighting the problem of a $6 towel rack that keeps falling off the wall under the abuse of her slightly sub-teen daughters. Their master suite bath has the same cheap, crummy bars in it. Conversely, we put $40 solid brass bars in our house, and the grand urchins could do chin-ups from them. They are held to the wall w/ something other than the normal plastic inserts.
DonThe GlassMasterworks - If it scratches, I etch it!
Edited 10/29/2004 5:38 pm ET by Don
The light fixtures that came with my house are 2 for 7 dollars at the stores
Use to put those in the section 8 rehabs to give it the class when replacing the '60s painted over chrome ones.
I think it was the nice crisp line separating the glossy gold from the antique white drywalled ceiling that really grabbed their attention.
Don't feel bad. This week I had to fix an add-on garage deal for a company's warehouse building. Gloss white outside on plywood walls and a flat rolled roofing seamed 3 inches with 2x4 joists.
Man, I felt right at home. Roar!
To meet fire code as others have said but the code only calls for the joints to be taped. It has not been three coated and sanded. A homeowner would have to apply the finish coats and sand before painting. That's a lot more expensive than just painting.
Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
We drywall the garage for firewall, if homeowner wants rest of gargae done we will. Cost to spry the inside of garage when spraying the rest of inteior , minor, so we do and roll it into drywall cost of garage
500k houses without
many many ( read not all) builders are in it for the money. thats why you can see some totally upperend homes framed with minimum wage workers, 2' oc, materils pushed to thier limits with code and span
but boy the drywall mudders, trim guys, slabers ( granite installers) the "gingerbread" sure looksgood and sells the home
drywall the garage, shoot if they didnt pay for it, why do it , why should I sacrafice, that might eat into my bimmer payments
Drywall in a garage is a complete waste of money and a pain to maintain. First, except for the drywall on the fire wall, it serves no purpose. Second, it costs money to install. Third, it doesn't hold up to the daily use of bikes, tools, etc. Fourth, when scuffed and dinged it looks bad. Fifth, it makes it difficult to create shelving, storage for tools, etc. Sixth, it's aesthetically painful because it is visually incongruous with the purpose and function of the room. Drywall in a garage is like blue walls with orange carpet.
Due to a recent job move, I had to purchase a new home. The builder drywalled it, but didn't sand the compound nor paint the drywall. It looked ugly with the brown stains on the gray background, the garage door hardware poking through holes in the drywall ceiling, the wiring for the garage door opener festooned across the garage like a clothesline in mid air. It cost me money and time to fix it all. I asked a bunch of my friends whether they like a garage drywalled, and every one of them to a man said no. I don't understand why spec home builders do it.
Wayne, your not thinking about who actually owns and buys those spec houses!
Go back and ask the ladies!
I'm willing to bet that 90% of the woman would prefer drywalled garages.
Remember, the man only sleeps there...the women live there.
blue FRAMING ADVICE ALERT!!!! DON'T TAKE ANY FRAMING ADVICE FROM ME. I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT IT. IF YOU WANT GOOD FRAMING ADVICE, JUST ASK GABE. DON'T ASK ANYONE ELSE....JUST ASK GABE! REMEMBER, I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT FRAMING...I JUST BS ABOUT IT.
END OF ALERT!
Let me take exception to that. I like to say," if you want it done Right, Do it Your self!"
Plus when the Dw is real pissed its a nice place to be!
I only prime out a garage. I tried painting them two coats to match the house. The thing is you come back a year later and the walls look like hell, after all it is a garage. Better to prime out, it takes a beating and still looks OK and costs so little.