Painting my garage advice

toasterman

Hi all,

Me and my girlfriend recently painted our garage door, and it made such a difference to the overall look, that we've decided to paint the rest of the garage too.

Thing is, neither of us has painted outside walls before, and don't know what we need to do.
Online I find very vague instructions like that you should "clean" the surface first. But with what? Water? Bleach? Fairy liquid?
Also, most of the guides I can find are for bricks, and it's some kind of pebble-dash/render in our situation.

I've taken a picture of it as it is now: http://s3.amazonaws.com/twitpic/photos/large/3407154.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=0ZRYP5X5F6FSMBCCSE82&Expires=1237568354&Signature=PUIS%2BMblqIQS35bXW%2FK%2F0EH%2FOK0%3D
There are breeze blocks, plus whatever the coating is on the side.

Some guides suggest a pressure washer to clean it, but I'm not sure whether that is good given the surface, or what we need.
We've got rough brushes and don't mind scrubbing by hand (as hiring a pressure washer seems quite expensive).
One guide I read even said to leave it to dry for 2 weeks after cleaning. 2 weeks without rain?! It wasn't a British guide, to be fair.

Any help/tips very much appreciated.

savemoney

My advice is get Dulux weathershield (Trade) masonry paint

Water the first coat down slightly is its not been painted before (see manufacturers instruction on the 5lirte tin) apply a 2nd coat soon after.

If there are any mould use a mould cleaner or one of those bleach sprays

I have done my house and more recently my garage (brick built)

You can use retail Dulux its just that the trade is much thicker and goes further

toasterman

So you don't need to wash the whole area first at all?

We've bought some Sandtex Ultra Smooth masonry paint already.
Dulux was considered but despite the 1800 or so colours they say you can get on their website, both my local hardware stores and B&Q had a very disappointing selection of shades of mostly whites and creams, and we were seeking a light blue.

savemoney

I didnt wash mine. I painted most on already painted brick work but some was bare I just watered the paint down for 1st coat.

You just have to make sure is free from dirt, moss and its dry. The paint which I mentioned above drys in no time and is fine after about 40 minutes from a shower, may take a little longer is places sun doesnt get too

I made new some pointing too with ready mixed mortar. Two coats should normally be sufficient with paint

If any brickwork, block work is loose then you may need stabilising solution. A painter told me to use pva glue watered down which I did for some parts of the house

Suzy_M

toasterman wrote: »

So you don't need to wash the whole area first at all?

We've bought some Sandtex Ultra Smooth masonry paint already.
Dulux was considered but despite the 1800 or so colours they say you can get on their website, both my local hardware stores and B&Q had a very disappointing selection of shades of mostly whites and creams, and we were seeking a light blue.

Well done on getting Sandtex - applied properly it's really long lasting. And talking of Sandtex - check out their web site where ther's loads of advice on all aspects of painting masonry from start to finish.

CKdesigner

Hi

It might be best to rub the garage surfaces down with a stiff broom first just to get rid of any loose debris before painting. Also as the surface is quite rough I would use a thick roller to apply.

dwarvenassassin

Any surface (inside or out) should be free of dust before painting