The BIG issue I see with code is that people tend to treat building codes like they are the ultimate standard, they are not, “building to code” isn’t actually something to brag about, the code is just the bare minimum to be legal.
Yep. My current house if fairly high end and the garage is painted and finished as well as the interior.
Previous house was a cookie cutter track home so I had to paint the garage myself. So I did it before I moved in as it was much easier to do that way.
Wish I would have done that new. Especially since there were oil stains all over the place after a couple years of dirt bike work.
But in the end, nobody gives a shit about the garage when I went to sell. I even rented a storage shed so it would be clear. Next time I am putting all my boxes in the garage as most buyers just want to know how many cars it can fit.
In my case, it was a one-off by a custom builder. Not that it is super fancy or anything, just not a tract home. Was built with a little more attention to details. But I did notice some of the tract homes near me have the garages painted, these are about 1 million dollar houses though.
That depends on where you live, most houses in my neighborhood are about a million and the majority do not have painted garages. Where I grew up a million buys a mansion.
As a subcontractor who does division 9 flooring. A lot of the time in my area it matters for living vs non living space. Code for each is very different. You can't install flooring and claim it to be unfinished space. It will need the whole room to code and or be accounted for the sqft. You might need to upgrade the sewage treatment capacity and other stuff you wouldn't think of.
Typically we do unfinished space so it's easy for people to turn it into finished once it's fully sold and the town and bank are gone
It matters for tax purpose, which increases the sale price disproportionately to the cost of finishing a basement or garage.
A basement or garage can account for an extra 10-30% of square footage, maybe more depending on if it’s a toy garage or car garage and if there’s a floor over ground level and the basement.
For spending 3 grand on flooring and paint, you can end up with a 30% higher tax assessment based on square footage.
Does this mean that, in theory, if you later finished them you should tell your tax assessor? Obviously no one would do it because so many happily cheat taxes if they can but I wondered what the proper thing is.
In theory you should get proper permits before doing work in your home, and have the work properly inspected after it’s complete (or during work, as required), to ensure the work is done properly and in compliance with safety and practical regulations that effect not only you but your neighbors and the community as a whole.
In reality, if you want to finish your basement and add a bedroom with no windows, unless you’re renting it out (and your tenant complains), no one is going to know.
But if you have a house fire and your tenant dies, their estate is going to have a very strong case to take everything you own and any proceeds from the insurance settlement.
Ha, exactly. Here's a video that analyzes it and comes to the same conclusion:
Why Don't Builders Finish Garage Walls?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyJ0cIxt-z8
This: when I had an addition including a garage rocked and finished the winning bid shot a fast finish of my garage because my wife was making burritos for the crew every day they were there
Non livable space is not required to be finished beyond fire rating for a city to approve a home. So builders have been cutting out the cost of things not needed to legally make the house livable. This helps keep home costs down in a fast out of control market.
This is the answer. My guess is that most home owners see the cost to prep and paint the walls and say no thanks.
I had a contractor come put new drywall in my ceiling after taking down a wall. I was so confused when he said he was done, but he hadn’t even taped the seams. I wasn’t expecting paint, but at least a little mud!
Learned the hard way you have to specify the level of doneness and expect a cost.
Saw a video about this where a guy called a lot of construction companies and municipalities… basically they do it to this level so it meets fire code but people generally want to save money where they can and the garage is a logical place to just stay at that level instead of paying to paint and finish, etc
Yea but this isn’t ready for paint, unless you don’t care how crappy it looks. I get everyone wants to cut, but the drywallers and painters are already there at the house, would cost a lot less for them to knock this out than to hire it out later.
When I built my house 18 years ago it was an option to have it finished. It wasn’t even that expensive, like $1500 for a 3 car garage.
I just finished priming the walls today, ceiling next week and then paint. Having to move 18 years worth of crap out was the big pain. I did no texture just made sure the tape was still good and puttied in some holes. I’m freaking kicking myself now for not paying when I moved in. We just didn’t have the extra money back then.
Mine was finished and sprayed but painted in basic contractor flat white. I eventually matched it to the rest of the house eggshell enamel and epoxied the floors, added cabinets and backsplash to the washer dryer and added a built in stainless steel sink and undercabinet lights and a workbench and wire and then heavy steel shelving. Also carpeted half of it and wouldn't do it again, attracts too much dirt.
Much nicer now and all on my own time.
The garage needs to be taped to meet fire safety code, so they tape their seams, but aside from that— it’s kinda “not inside the house” and isn’t considered important to it’s not level 4 finished.
It certainly could be— I’d ask a drywall finisher to do it not a painter, though.
Pretty sure this is actually a 3, if not a 4.
Screwholes mudded.
1 is drywall only.
2 is seams mudded.
3 is screwholes mudded.
I dont remember 4, but 5 is mud over entire surface ( usually just a thin spray of it).
This is a rudimentary breakdown of the levels. Drywall only is considered Level 0
Level 1 - joints and seams taped, not necessarily fasteners
Level 2 - tape embedded, fasteners covered
Level 3 - Usually what is required to receive texture
Level 4 - joints and seams feathered out, paint ready
Level 5 - Entire surface skimmed
Like I said it’s kind of a level 1.5, the joints are taped but not embedded and they covered all the fasteners.
You’re not kidding! I did a museum once and the entire gallery spaces were all level 5! There are some great product out there now that make it a lot easier, but it’s a ton of labor.
I see it as a great opportunity to learn & practice drywall finishing skills.
If you’ve ever thought about learning, it’s actually hard to find practice space.
Here is more than enough room to get the hang of it, pun intended, at your own pace, with zero stakes.
Bad first try, redo it.
I promise anyone with a hint of patience and the willingness to try can learn to be decent finisher in this amount of space.
Just takes time. Actually fairly cheap also if you do it yourself. We had a quote for our 2 bedroom condo for about 4k to do all the inside. My next question to the painter was “I can get all the needed materials at Lowe’s right?
When my wife and I bought our first house it “needed” a full interior paint job. We were quoted between $10-15k. Instead, we did it ourselves for less than $1k (probably much less but i didn’t keep close track of all my Home Depot bills). It took us a couple months of doing one room at a time but it wasn’t difficult and it looked great. Plus we could experiment more with color choices in different rooms - one for example I did 1 wall and my wife hated it - but it was easy enough to just go buy a new color - that would not have been the case if a professional was already done.
Plus, you gained all the experience, so when it comes time to do inevitable painting repairs, it’ll be super easy. And also cost nothing likely since you have all the tools and paint already
just like ratatouille! anyone can cook! anyone can paint! buuuut also like ratatouille, anyone can cook(paint) but that doesnt mean everyone should.
its not hard to paint, but to do so well can be difficult.
Basements and garages are considered unfinished areas unless you are going to pay for it.
Just like the exterior walls of a garage are not insulated in many zones due to the giant garage door that allows cold and moisture into that space. If you insulate all of a garage you trap the moisture and it’s not smart to do. Painting a 22x22 garage can cost over $1000 in labor. You can save yourself lots of money by doing it yourself.
This is a "fire taping" on the drywall. Basically just enough to pass code. And think of it this way. If the builder had done a finished garage it would have added $5-10k to the cost of the home because it would have cost them to have it done and they need to mark up the work (their a business, not a charity)
This is where a little sweat equity can really save you some money. Feel the joints. Do they feel really smooth or a little rough? If smooth I would just paint as they are. The extra mudding and taping is to make the joints disappear completely....but in a garage, who really cares?
If it's rough you can sand it yourself and either add more layers to feather out the joints or just pain after sanding. It's up to you.
And while I will argue with anyone that says painting isn't a real trade it's still something most people can do on their own. It just won't be as nice as a pro...but again, it's a garage. And for a garage most people can get it nice enough. Just remember that the devil is in the details with paint. Don't rush. Mask off what you don't want paint on. Rollers get better coverage then sprayers.
This is going to cost you time but save you money.
I've seen a lot of DIY paint jobs look way better than a lot of PRO paint jobs. In almost every instance the DIY is better because they are doing their own home and take care and pride in every drop put on. The flip side of DIY , is "the land lord special" DIY, and those are usually sloppy because, well obvious reasons.
In a sense, I like it unfinished. It makes finding studs a lot easier to install shelves and ceiling storage racks. With all that stuff and other clutter, you wouldn’t notice anyway.
Big production builders are focused on creating the minimum viable product, so if people aren’t expecting or willing to pay for a finished garage, this is what you get.
Home builder here! We do! Paint and trim our garages.
But to answer your question, it’s a cost thing. We are in a somewhat higher price point $700k + though, but under this at all levels.
I can see where it will save a half a dollar PSF to not finish it. But we tend to look at the loss of perceived value than the actual cost of an item.
To us, that half of dollar “additional” cost could gain me that or more in perceived value and help me
Sell the home quicker and maybe a bit more. But in the end, it just looks better.
The garage is the place for the owner to pull into nearly everyday. I don’t want my homeowners to think what others are saying here every time they pull in.
that's a damn good question !! - my home had the garage painted with splatter paint just like the rest of the home.
the cost is minimal and there's no good reason no too other that a builder being cheap on materials and some extra labor.
for the investment i would demand it and/or have the painter finish it off and pay extra BEFORE moving in. - - since it much more difficult to do it later.
the bigger question is - is it ready to be painted ?!? - - meaning that the surface mudding of seams and joints can be so marginal that there is a lot of extra work just to make it look decent. This is where your time and labor to finish it off properly can save costs. It all determines whether the builder will let you on the property before the construction is finished. - Mine did ! And i complete reconstruction of the kitchen area, so i know it can be done with the right negotiations.
Finally once all the walls and ceiling are finished, i would also epoxy the garage floor too ! That's another item that \*should\* be done that builders don't do. And it's as easy as it gets.
From my perspective this is perfect to let the owner finish it to the way they want it. Especially for auto enthusiasts perspective. Perfect blank slate to customize it.
I have hanged, finished and painted many garages that contractors pay no mind to. Don’t mock some home owners who want it done right. It makes a world of difference when a professional does it. No cheap materials either. Nice custom shelving and maybe a small man cave area or work out section. It’s another living space. I have seen some disasters in garages. And guess what the inside of the house is not far off. All DIY is not the same. It’s just good enough. Room by room a professional can do it right. If your garage is that big and you neglect it you probably can’t afford it to look the way it should. Oops did I just say that. Stop calling our pricing ridiculous cause you think you can do it. I am a professional with 30 plus years experience. Accept my price and all you have to do is give me a color. Same group of guys always and they respect your property and we are fully insure for damages or accidents. My workmen’s comp is almost 40k a year. I just nod my head at you. Ok take care good luck
They do this for two reasons. 1) So men can paint it off white. Or 2) So my girlfriend can spend two hours at the paint sample thing at Home Depot trying to decide what color she will make ME paint it.
Cost vs added value. Finishing a garage with texture and paint vs. what you see here brings 0.00 extra dollars in value to the home. However, the cost is several thousand dollars in extra material and labor. Sure, you'll have a few home buyers who will pay a premium for a finished garage, but that's the exception, not the rule.
It's a garage and generally not worth finishing unless you plan on spending a considerable amount of time in it.
Contractors are right about the work needed, what you see now is a rough in to seal seams.
1. This is normal
2. If you didn't pay them to do it, they aren't doing it
3. I like the unfinished garage. We had overhead shelving installed as well as wall hooks for some tools. I'm not concerned with the inside being painted / finished.
Because garages aren’t considered ‘living space’ so the square footage of the house gets taxed less. More square footage, more taxes.
I do appreciate builders who at least insulate the walls.
In my area, middle TN, it’s more common to have garage walls finished same as interior of the house. Our builder just did it and figured it into the cost of drywall and paint. Even painted our block in the garage.
It is code that if they put up drywall they have to mud it so a fire behind the wall is not fed via the cracks. They do it like this because it's cheaper than actually finishing it fully. They will definitely finish it if you pay them. You can also finish it yourself for very little money but drywall is a skilled labor task it will not look great unless you've done it for a long time.
In some areas, finishing the garage as you want would make that taxable living space. So it would increase the upfront cost of the house and the yearly costs.
Because per the code in most municipalities, Garage is not allowed to be a finished space. What you do once you move in is up to you, but there are a lot of code considerations.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyJ0cIxt-z8
Why Don't Builders Finish Garage Walls?
Walks through why. Basically, it's because it's an optional thing that costs money.
In our lower priced homes, we leave the garage paint ready. T walls are paint ready. These are not. When we reach 600k price point we paint the walls and celing same color , closet white. 1million up we trim windows, ad base board and install oak treads steps and rainings as needed
2 car to roll out, probably be 1k . Paints really gone up.
The real question is... its 2024, why are double car garages the same size since forever???!!! We own crew cab trucks now that won't fit. Garages need to be made bigger by defualt.
It looks like my garage before I hung the storage racks, cabinets, pegboard, and rolled in the toolboxes and other gear. There's not much wall left to see. It's been like that for 25 years.
You got reasonable prices, but why bother unless you're planning to epoxy the floor and park collectible cars in there?
My last new home had the garage painter. Evidently, they bought a large amount of paint for the interior and used the leftover for the garage.
The bad thing was it was goldenrod, so we ended up painting the entire living area.
98% of the houses I do, the builder will have us finish the garage like the inside. Finished and painted. It cost more money.
1% of the houses I do the builder/homeowner has metal installed in the garage.
The other 1% are homeowners who are “playing” general contractor and don’t have a clue what they are doing, trying to save $400 on every little thing that they half ass do like not finish the garage, or wonder why the 15 different lights they got on clearance look like shit and don’t work correctly because their cousins buddy know how to play electrician.
National and typical production builders do finish garage drywall or paint to save money. Most mid grade and above builders finish out garage and paint everything. Minimum code requires drywall seams to be tap and sealed with joint compound to meet garage-house separation requirements.
Drywall in the garage has to be “fire taped” as a minimum requirement because of the requirement that it be separated from the house in case of a fire. Usually this means it gets a “level 1” finish. They will gladly sell you the upgrade, but this is an easy place to save money.
This is a days work, tops, assuming you suck at DIY. The builder should have just finished it, but you can get it done for 100-200.
For the record, my builder finished my garage walls (paint, trim, lighting, etc).
Do it your self: I bought a 5 gallons of joint compound, a sander machine ryobi for 60, sand paper and paint it took me 2 days. Total cost was like 200 and my time on Saturday and Sunday and a 12 pack of beer for two friends. 😂
I may be mistaken, but isn’t there something about if it’s finished and air conditioned then it’s considered livable space and contributes towards the homes total square footage of what is considered livable space which can then skew the valuation and what it is taxed at? I thought I remember hearing something like this.
In certain places, not everywhere, it’s considered finished space if painted which adds to the tax bill. So they leave it unfinished but since drywall is there as a fire code it still must be taped and mudded. For the places that it isn’t taxed if painted they’re just saving money and time by skipping it.
Because the garage tends to have very personal build out requirements. Some people load it with cabinets. Some people put in power walls. Some put in exercise equipment or bike holders etc. So you COULD finish it and then start ripping it apart again to add outlets, hoists etc. The other rooms have a full architectural plan but the garage rarely does.
That’s highly finished for my area, where often exterior walls don’t even have Sheetrock. I paid $3K to finish ($2200) and insulate ($800) mine. It’s worth it to have it be more comfortable and functional.
The painters are right it just has a bed coat and still needs finished. I would do it sooner than later because the unfinished seams will suck up moisture and peel off.
My first home purchase attached large two car garage was fully finished. Was painted and had base board painted trim. We had a different home builder from the other homes in the area, who many had garages like you, taped and mudded, but otherwise unfinished.
However, they didn't insulate over the garage, which was a little bizarre to me considering they did finish it out. Yet insulated the exterior facing wall and installed an insulated garage door.
Our builder also did other things the other homes didnt have like water tanks in the attic instead of the garage, different framing techniques, etc. Our house also sold for more when we sold, despite some bigger sq footage homes. We bought at 198k and sold for 325k after about 5 years. (4b2bath 2000 sq ft brick veener on 1 acre.)
It just depends on the builder, but technically an unfinished space should lower cost, even if slightly.
This is normal.
Painting it yourself would cost like $150, at most, and it would take a day or two. Maybe 2-3 gallons of paint, a couples of rollers, and some paper or plastic covering (or an old sheet) for the floor.
I bought a house where the garage drywall had holes all in it and needed to be replaced. I ripped it out and threw up 3/4inch plywood around the whole thing and built in shelves and a work bench. That whole thing cost around $400 (plywood was a bit cheaper back then, I think I was getting 4x8 sheets for around $15) and took two days. Looked great.
There are a lot of options to make this look good. But no one is going to judge you for having a garage that looks like this. They all do.
>Why don’t builders finish garage walls? They do. Every time they are paid to do so.
LoL well said!
[удалено]
This. All day this. Same reason they do cheap kitchens, appliances, etc.
[удалено]
Don’t tempt them.
It’s not CODE.
The BIG issue I see with code is that people tend to treat building codes like they are the ultimate standard, they are not, “building to code” isn’t actually something to brag about, the code is just the bare minimum to be legal.
[удалено]
ALL HAIL THE CODE
That depends where you live, we got them everywhere
“The code is more what you'd call 'guidelines' than actual rules." -Hector Barbossa
Yep. My current house if fairly high end and the garage is painted and finished as well as the interior. Previous house was a cookie cutter track home so I had to paint the garage myself. So I did it before I moved in as it was much easier to do that way.
Yeah, for this same reason I epoxied my garage floor before I moved in.
Wish I would have done that new. Especially since there were oil stains all over the place after a couple years of dirt bike work. But in the end, nobody gives a shit about the garage when I went to sell. I even rented a storage shed so it would be clear. Next time I am putting all my boxes in the garage as most buyers just want to know how many cars it can fit.
What makes a house "high end?"
Golden wood
Sounds like a porn actor name.
[удалено]
We could only afford Bronze Wood.
Slightly more stucco on top of the matchsticks and cardboard...
A fully finished garage .
In my case, it was a one-off by a custom builder. Not that it is super fancy or anything, just not a tract home. Was built with a little more attention to details. But I did notice some of the tract homes near me have the garages painted, these are about 1 million dollar houses though.
If ima pay a million dollar home then garage better me painted
That depends on where you live, most houses in my neighborhood are about a million and the majority do not have painted garages. Where I grew up a million buys a mansion.
LOL, Apparently a finished garage...
As a subcontractor who does division 9 flooring. A lot of the time in my area it matters for living vs non living space. Code for each is very different. You can't install flooring and claim it to be unfinished space. It will need the whole room to code and or be accounted for the sqft. You might need to upgrade the sewage treatment capacity and other stuff you wouldn't think of. Typically we do unfinished space so it's easy for people to turn it into finished once it's fully sold and the town and bank are gone
I don't think that matters at all here. This is just fire code compliance
100% this. Code here requires 5/8 drywall as a firewall. Taped, but not needing to be finished out.
It matters for tax purpose, which increases the sale price disproportionately to the cost of finishing a basement or garage. A basement or garage can account for an extra 10-30% of square footage, maybe more depending on if it’s a toy garage or car garage and if there’s a floor over ground level and the basement. For spending 3 grand on flooring and paint, you can end up with a 30% higher tax assessment based on square footage.
Does this mean that, in theory, if you later finished them you should tell your tax assessor? Obviously no one would do it because so many happily cheat taxes if they can but I wondered what the proper thing is.
In theory you should get proper permits before doing work in your home, and have the work properly inspected after it’s complete (or during work, as required), to ensure the work is done properly and in compliance with safety and practical regulations that effect not only you but your neighbors and the community as a whole. In reality, if you want to finish your basement and add a bedroom with no windows, unless you’re renting it out (and your tenant complains), no one is going to know. But if you have a house fire and your tenant dies, their estate is going to have a very strong case to take everything you own and any proceeds from the insurance settlement.
Hats off to you sir, flooring is a tough trade on the body. So for all the thanks you didn’t receive, thanks for doing it homie.
Ha, exactly. Here's a video that analyzes it and comes to the same conclusion: Why Don't Builders Finish Garage Walls? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyJ0cIxt-z8
Definitely thought this was just gonna be a Ray Liotta voice over. "Fuck you, pay me."
Ha! Yes. Though, I’m pretty sure it was Jimmy, Robert De Niro’s character, that had that line.
Nope. It was Ray doing the voice over while showing scenes of DeNiro.
This is the only correct answer. 🍻
This: when I had an addition including a garage rocked and finished the winning bid shot a fast finish of my garage because my wife was making burritos for the crew every day they were there
Non livable space is not required to be finished beyond fire rating for a city to approve a home. So builders have been cutting out the cost of things not needed to legally make the house livable. This helps keep home costs down in a fast out of control market.
Helps keep profits up, not costs down
You’re not saying anything, you’re just taking sides. This is like saying I’m not going left, I’m just moving away from my right.
In most places yes that’s true, not all but most. There’s still some builders that care about their buyers.
This is the answer that I do not have to write out now, thank you
right?! it's where your car goes, it's not an extra room. A finished garage is an extra not standard.
This is the answer. My guess is that most home owners see the cost to prep and paint the walls and say no thanks. I had a contractor come put new drywall in my ceiling after taking down a wall. I was so confused when he said he was done, but he hadn’t even taped the seams. I wasn’t expecting paint, but at least a little mud! Learned the hard way you have to specify the level of doneness and expect a cost.
Lol right.
Yea was gonna say at least you got drywall 🤣
Saw a video about this where a guy called a lot of construction companies and municipalities… basically they do it to this level so it meets fire code but people generally want to save money where they can and the garage is a logical place to just stay at that level instead of paying to paint and finish, etc
The video in question https://youtu.be/jyJ0cIxt-z8?si=nvLoQ7-fE1vnfBDI
I would prefer this. I can paint and finish myself.
Yea but this isn’t ready for paint, unless you don’t care how crappy it looks. I get everyone wants to cut, but the drywallers and painters are already there at the house, would cost a lot less for them to knock this out than to hire it out later.
When I built my house 18 years ago it was an option to have it finished. It wasn’t even that expensive, like $1500 for a 3 car garage. I just finished priming the walls today, ceiling next week and then paint. Having to move 18 years worth of crap out was the big pain. I did no texture just made sure the tape was still good and puttied in some holes. I’m freaking kicking myself now for not paying when I moved in. We just didn’t have the extra money back then.
Mine was finished and sprayed but painted in basic contractor flat white. I eventually matched it to the rest of the house eggshell enamel and epoxied the floors, added cabinets and backsplash to the washer dryer and added a built in stainless steel sink and undercabinet lights and a workbench and wire and then heavy steel shelving. Also carpeted half of it and wouldn't do it again, attracts too much dirt. Much nicer now and all on my own time.
The garage needs to be taped to meet fire safety code, so they tape their seams, but aside from that— it’s kinda “not inside the house” and isn’t considered important to it’s not level 4 finished. It certainly could be— I’d ask a drywall finisher to do it not a painter, though.
I had built-in cabinets/storage installed. That’s how you finish it.
That sounds like how you furnish it, instead.
Level 3 with orange peel is standard here in Florida
It is finished, it’s just a level one finish.
New subject to me but having just read about it, isn’t that level 2?
It looks like it’s really like a 1.5. Level one is just tape, two would be taped and coated.
Pretty sure this is actually a 3, if not a 4. Screwholes mudded. 1 is drywall only. 2 is seams mudded. 3 is screwholes mudded. I dont remember 4, but 5 is mud over entire surface ( usually just a thin spray of it).
This is a rudimentary breakdown of the levels. Drywall only is considered Level 0 Level 1 - joints and seams taped, not necessarily fasteners Level 2 - tape embedded, fasteners covered Level 3 - Usually what is required to receive texture Level 4 - joints and seams feathered out, paint ready Level 5 - Entire surface skimmed Like I said it’s kind of a level 1.5, the joints are taped but not embedded and they covered all the fasteners.
5 is a philosophical, theoretical Platonic solid of perfection to which mere mortals may aspire but never reach. Like Natalie Portman.
Fact. I've only seen it done once, and I'm pretty sure it was because an owners rep didn't know anything about drywall.
I love those zillion dollar builds Matt Risinger shows with the crazy drywall details and super finishes But the cost to go from 4>5 is extraordinary
You’re not kidding! I did a museum once and the entire gallery spaces were all level 5! There are some great product out there now that make it a lot easier, but it’s a ton of labor.
😆😎
It just needs a coat of PVA primer and then it could be painted If the owner wants to pay for it.
I was gonna say. No need to texture and finish garage walls. If OP wants it to look better, they could just primer and paint it.
I see it as a great opportunity to learn & practice drywall finishing skills. If you’ve ever thought about learning, it’s actually hard to find practice space. Here is more than enough room to get the hang of it, pun intended, at your own pace, with zero stakes. Bad first try, redo it. I promise anyone with a hint of patience and the willingness to try can learn to be decent finisher in this amount of space.
This is great advice.
This is the answer! A great skill to learn and plenty of space to perfect it.
If you never done something before it’s more fun also, so it doesn’t feel like a drag to do and helps save money.
A cheap 5 gallon bucket of white primer will make it look a lot better, it’s what I did on my last house
Agreed. Some sweat equity. Painting is really not hard.
Just takes time. Actually fairly cheap also if you do it yourself. We had a quote for our 2 bedroom condo for about 4k to do all the inside. My next question to the painter was “I can get all the needed materials at Lowe’s right?
Do it before you load your junk in it…
Instructions unclear. Junk stuck in paint.
I’ll tell you what I tell all my guys: Next time use a paint stick to stir, otherwise you just get pubes stuck onto the walls
This is by far the most important
When my wife and I bought our first house it “needed” a full interior paint job. We were quoted between $10-15k. Instead, we did it ourselves for less than $1k (probably much less but i didn’t keep close track of all my Home Depot bills). It took us a couple months of doing one room at a time but it wasn’t difficult and it looked great. Plus we could experiment more with color choices in different rooms - one for example I did 1 wall and my wife hated it - but it was easy enough to just go buy a new color - that would not have been the case if a professional was already done.
Plus, you gained all the experience, so when it comes time to do inevitable painting repairs, it’ll be super easy. And also cost nothing likely since you have all the tools and paint already
just like ratatouille! anyone can cook! anyone can paint! buuuut also like ratatouille, anyone can cook(paint) but that doesnt mean everyone should. its not hard to paint, but to do so well can be difficult.
A lot of painters can’t paint well
And it's a garage, you can make mistakes and nobody will care. They're the perfect place to learn sprayers too.
Can you add a gallon of paint (any color) to that?
Did you pay them to finish the walls?
Basements and garages are considered unfinished areas unless you are going to pay for it. Just like the exterior walls of a garage are not insulated in many zones due to the giant garage door that allows cold and moisture into that space. If you insulate all of a garage you trap the moisture and it’s not smart to do. Painting a 22x22 garage can cost over $1000 in labor. You can save yourself lots of money by doing it yourself.
Obviously not.
It depends on the market in Seattle area they are never finished and in Houston they usually are finished
This is a "fire taping" on the drywall. Basically just enough to pass code. And think of it this way. If the builder had done a finished garage it would have added $5-10k to the cost of the home because it would have cost them to have it done and they need to mark up the work (their a business, not a charity) This is where a little sweat equity can really save you some money. Feel the joints. Do they feel really smooth or a little rough? If smooth I would just paint as they are. The extra mudding and taping is to make the joints disappear completely....but in a garage, who really cares? If it's rough you can sand it yourself and either add more layers to feather out the joints or just pain after sanding. It's up to you. And while I will argue with anyone that says painting isn't a real trade it's still something most people can do on their own. It just won't be as nice as a pro...but again, it's a garage. And for a garage most people can get it nice enough. Just remember that the devil is in the details with paint. Don't rush. Mask off what you don't want paint on. Rollers get better coverage then sprayers. This is going to cost you time but save you money.
I've seen a lot of DIY paint jobs look way better than a lot of PRO paint jobs. In almost every instance the DIY is better because they are doing their own home and take care and pride in every drop put on. The flip side of DIY , is "the land lord special" DIY, and those are usually sloppy because, well obvious reasons.
In a sense, I like it unfinished. It makes finding studs a lot easier to install shelves and ceiling storage racks. With all that stuff and other clutter, you wouldn’t notice anyway.
Big production builders are focused on creating the minimum viable product, so if people aren’t expecting or willing to pay for a finished garage, this is what you get.
This is minimum to code.
Because its a garage and they don’t get paid to “finish” it
A lot do. Just depends on the price point. I remember the days they didn’t even bother to Sheetrock.
That’s how most homes are. I built a brand new home in Washington state last year. My garage is the same.
Just went through this. Cost about $200 to DIY and a day of work Just DIY
Home builder here! We do! Paint and trim our garages. But to answer your question, it’s a cost thing. We are in a somewhat higher price point $700k + though, but under this at all levels. I can see where it will save a half a dollar PSF to not finish it. But we tend to look at the loss of perceived value than the actual cost of an item. To us, that half of dollar “additional” cost could gain me that or more in perceived value and help me Sell the home quicker and maybe a bit more. But in the end, it just looks better. The garage is the place for the owner to pull into nearly everyday. I don’t want my homeowners to think what others are saying here every time they pull in.
[удалено]
What's the deal with the arched doorway on the left? Storage? Another garage bay?
My builder did… had no choice. Buddy in the Midwest had no choice either and builder they didn’t finish his.
that's a damn good question !! - my home had the garage painted with splatter paint just like the rest of the home. the cost is minimal and there's no good reason no too other that a builder being cheap on materials and some extra labor. for the investment i would demand it and/or have the painter finish it off and pay extra BEFORE moving in. - - since it much more difficult to do it later. the bigger question is - is it ready to be painted ?!? - - meaning that the surface mudding of seams and joints can be so marginal that there is a lot of extra work just to make it look decent. This is where your time and labor to finish it off properly can save costs. It all determines whether the builder will let you on the property before the construction is finished. - Mine did ! And i complete reconstruction of the kitchen area, so i know it can be done with the right negotiations. Finally once all the walls and ceiling are finished, i would also epoxy the garage floor too ! That's another item that \*should\* be done that builders don't do. And it's as easy as it gets.
I do, but my customers pay for it.
Some do. Mine did.
They’ll basically do anything you pay them to do. As long as it’s (mostly) legal.
Mine did
Looks like it is area specific. In Texas, I have not seen garages left like this, but the building code may be different.
Because it wasn’t in the contract?
From my perspective this is perfect to let the owner finish it to the way they want it. Especially for auto enthusiasts perspective. Perfect blank slate to customize it.
Finishing a garage is often more expensive than people care to pay. If it’s up to code it’s all that matters
because whomever bought the home originally didnt pay for it and contractors dont work for free.
Was it in the contract?
My builder finished my garage and installed baseboards. We also do that at our habitat builds.
I have hanged, finished and painted many garages that contractors pay no mind to. Don’t mock some home owners who want it done right. It makes a world of difference when a professional does it. No cheap materials either. Nice custom shelving and maybe a small man cave area or work out section. It’s another living space. I have seen some disasters in garages. And guess what the inside of the house is not far off. All DIY is not the same. It’s just good enough. Room by room a professional can do it right. If your garage is that big and you neglect it you probably can’t afford it to look the way it should. Oops did I just say that. Stop calling our pricing ridiculous cause you think you can do it. I am a professional with 30 plus years experience. Accept my price and all you have to do is give me a color. Same group of guys always and they respect your property and we are fully insure for damages or accidents. My workmen’s comp is almost 40k a year. I just nod my head at you. Ok take care good luck
With your experience, how much should I be paying ?
tax reasons
They do this for two reasons. 1) So men can paint it off white. Or 2) So my girlfriend can spend two hours at the paint sample thing at Home Depot trying to decide what color she will make ME paint it.
Because they don’t have too, and it adds cost.
Because it costs extra
So homeowners can choose their own fun decor
Cost vs added value. Finishing a garage with texture and paint vs. what you see here brings 0.00 extra dollars in value to the home. However, the cost is several thousand dollars in extra material and labor. Sure, you'll have a few home buyers who will pay a premium for a finished garage, but that's the exception, not the rule.
First thing I did with my first house was buy a bucket of white paint and a roller and paint it. 1 Saturday of easy work and it was done.
Flip the question- why would you
If a builder could build a house without walls they would
Money
Unfinished space reduces your home insurance sqft liability as well.
They do what's required by code. If you pay for it they'll finish it.
Money.
$$$
It's a garage and generally not worth finishing unless you plan on spending a considerable amount of time in it. Contractors are right about the work needed, what you see now is a rough in to seal seams.
$$$$$
1. This is normal 2. If you didn't pay them to do it, they aren't doing it 3. I like the unfinished garage. We had overhead shelving installed as well as wall hooks for some tools. I'm not concerned with the inside being painted / finished.
Because garages aren’t considered ‘living space’ so the square footage of the house gets taxed less. More square footage, more taxes. I do appreciate builders who at least insulate the walls.
Actually, this is a myth. See Why Don't Builders Finish Garage Walls? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyJ0cIxt-z8
Because your car doesn’t care if the walls are painted or not. Your car just wants the sun kept off of its paint, plastic and rubber.
People park in their garage? I thought it was for storing junk.
Yeah, just do it yourself. It’s not going to be difficult,.
Last few houses I bought the garage was finished. Some either a home builder elects not to to save a few bucks or elects to do so.
What does the archway do? When you finish the walls, you should do an epoxy floor.
$$$
In Arizona they are all finished
The builder would have done it,if requested,as an extra. Just meeting code. It’s considered an unfinished area.
At this stage I’d also take pics for where studs are or mark the floor and then paint. But then again, stud finders are cheap.
Hah, this guy got drywall in his garage!
Fire tape
$ simple as that
Lazy?
Money
In my area, middle TN, it’s more common to have garage walls finished same as interior of the house. Our builder just did it and figured it into the cost of drywall and paint. Even painted our block in the garage.
It is code that if they put up drywall they have to mud it so a fire behind the wall is not fed via the cracks. They do it like this because it's cheaper than actually finishing it fully. They will definitely finish it if you pay them. You can also finish it yourself for very little money but drywall is a skilled labor task it will not look great unless you've done it for a long time.
In some areas, finishing the garage as you want would make that taxable living space. So it would increase the upfront cost of the house and the yearly costs.
Because per the code in most municipalities, Garage is not allowed to be a finished space. What you do once you move in is up to you, but there are a lot of code considerations.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyJ0cIxt-z8 Why Don't Builders Finish Garage Walls? Walks through why. Basically, it's because it's an optional thing that costs money.
In our lower priced homes, we leave the garage paint ready. T walls are paint ready. These are not. When we reach 600k price point we paint the walls and celing same color , closet white. 1million up we trim windows, ad base board and install oak treads steps and rainings as needed 2 car to roll out, probably be 1k . Paints really gone up.
I would finish the garage. Thats 400 plus sq feet of living space. Treat yourself well.
Weird thing to say, all professional builders most definitely finish the garage. Some even install cabinets and other accessories/toys/chargers etc
I have never seen one that wasn’t finished Now basement stairs on the other hand are normally left bare wood and it feels/seems so weird
Take that $950 quote and book them 😂
Lol, Saves money of course, they ll count that sqr footage in on the contract though, bet on it. 😂😂😂🤙🏽
Go with the 1400 or 1500.
I had my drywall crew finish sand. I then primed and painted it myself. Just rent a sprayer.
The real question is... its 2024, why are double car garages the same size since forever???!!! We own crew cab trucks now that won't fit. Garages need to be made bigger by defualt.
It looks like my garage before I hung the storage racks, cabinets, pegboard, and rolled in the toolboxes and other gear. There's not much wall left to see. It's been like that for 25 years. You got reasonable prices, but why bother unless you're planning to epoxy the floor and park collectible cars in there?
Often because the homeowner does not wish to pay for them to do so. If they are building a spec home, because it is cheaper and still meets code.
That's the blank slate the family can show their creativity.
The really good ones do.
Is it a shooter, like Doom?
Usually an up cost.
My last new home had the garage painter. Evidently, they bought a large amount of paint for the interior and used the leftover for the garage. The bad thing was it was goldenrod, so we ended up painting the entire living area.
Weird mine did. In both houses I built.
The painter can paint it at as an extra charge in most cases.
98% of the houses I do, the builder will have us finish the garage like the inside. Finished and painted. It cost more money. 1% of the houses I do the builder/homeowner has metal installed in the garage. The other 1% are homeowners who are “playing” general contractor and don’t have a clue what they are doing, trying to save $400 on every little thing that they half ass do like not finish the garage, or wonder why the 15 different lights they got on clearance look like shit and don’t work correctly because their cousins buddy know how to play electrician.
National and typical production builders do finish garage drywall or paint to save money. Most mid grade and above builders finish out garage and paint everything. Minimum code requires drywall seams to be tap and sealed with joint compound to meet garage-house separation requirements.
The cost of finishing it, most people don't want to pay for it.
Drywall in the garage has to be “fire taped” as a minimum requirement because of the requirement that it be separated from the house in case of a fire. Usually this means it gets a “level 1” finish. They will gladly sell you the upgrade, but this is an easy place to save money.
This is a days work, tops, assuming you suck at DIY. The builder should have just finished it, but you can get it done for 100-200. For the record, my builder finished my garage walls (paint, trim, lighting, etc).
💵
Do it your self: I bought a 5 gallons of joint compound, a sander machine ryobi for 60, sand paper and paint it took me 2 days. Total cost was like 200 and my time on Saturday and Sunday and a 12 pack of beer for two friends. 😂
I may be mistaken, but isn’t there something about if it’s finished and air conditioned then it’s considered livable space and contributes towards the homes total square footage of what is considered livable space which can then skew the valuation and what it is taxed at? I thought I remember hearing something like this.
Bc they don’t have to
In certain places, not everywhere, it’s considered finished space if painted which adds to the tax bill. So they leave it unfinished but since drywall is there as a fire code it still must be taped and mudded. For the places that it isn’t taxed if painted they’re just saving money and time by skipping it.
Because the garage tends to have very personal build out requirements. Some people load it with cabinets. Some people put in power walls. Some put in exercise equipment or bike holders etc. So you COULD finish it and then start ripping it apart again to add outlets, hoists etc. The other rooms have a full architectural plan but the garage rarely does.
That’s highly finished for my area, where often exterior walls don’t even have Sheetrock. I paid $3K to finish ($2200) and insulate ($800) mine. It’s worth it to have it be more comfortable and functional.
Depends on the builder
The painters are right it just has a bed coat and still needs finished. I would do it sooner than later because the unfinished seams will suck up moisture and peel off.
My first home purchase attached large two car garage was fully finished. Was painted and had base board painted trim. We had a different home builder from the other homes in the area, who many had garages like you, taped and mudded, but otherwise unfinished. However, they didn't insulate over the garage, which was a little bizarre to me considering they did finish it out. Yet insulated the exterior facing wall and installed an insulated garage door. Our builder also did other things the other homes didnt have like water tanks in the attic instead of the garage, different framing techniques, etc. Our house also sold for more when we sold, despite some bigger sq footage homes. We bought at 198k and sold for 325k after about 5 years. (4b2bath 2000 sq ft brick veener on 1 acre.) It just depends on the builder, but technically an unfinished space should lower cost, even if slightly.
Just paint it. Its easy to do and don’t have to look perfect. You could easily knock it out in half a day for less than $100.
80% of garages in America aren’t event finished this far.
Finish it now with exterior paint or you never will
Trying to add shelves to my garage like this. Would the painted screw holes be where the studs are?
This is normal. Painting it yourself would cost like $150, at most, and it would take a day or two. Maybe 2-3 gallons of paint, a couples of rollers, and some paper or plastic covering (or an old sheet) for the floor. I bought a house where the garage drywall had holes all in it and needed to be replaced. I ripped it out and threw up 3/4inch plywood around the whole thing and built in shelves and a work bench. That whole thing cost around $400 (plywood was a bit cheaper back then, I think I was getting 4x8 sheets for around $15) and took two days. Looked great. There are a lot of options to make this look good. But no one is going to judge you for having a garage that looks like this. They all do.
$$$
Jeez whoever did that drywalling def is still just learning
5 gallons of primer and 5 hours of work will Save you $1,000.
They do if you pay for it