BUILDER HERE. I worked for Meritage Homes for years. The reason garages were not painted was simple. It is an upgrade to get more money out of the buyer. Its just that simple. It cost me $1200 to have painter to finish it and we charged 10K to have a "finished garage". I thought it was a rip off and told buyers to just do it themselves and save a ton of money. There was also a guy that would paint garages for 200 bucks plus material after they moved in. He stayed busy for years just doing garages.
I'm sure that really is the reason, however, it's also worth noting that garages don't typically need to be finished unless you have a specific use in mind. It's a waste of money to finish the garage out if the homeowner decides they want to use the walls for a storage system or if they just put some seating in there for a hangout they might want something a bit nicer to look at. Or, they might just opt to leave it as is and not pay anything at all.
@@globalfamily8172 if you buy a couple gallons of cheap paint and have your own ladder, a couple of brushes, and a roller with a long handle... One of the many things I've done was interior and exterior house painting. People tend to not consider the cost of labor.
The bigger question and one that has always puzzled me is: "Why do builder's build garages that are not wide enough to comfortable open a car door without bashing the car door being opened into the car next to it?"
@@wmpx34 Yep, exactly this. More specifically, larger garages hits the developer/builder in their wallet twice: it takes more materials for the builder to build larger houses, and more land used up to put those larger houses on. If the builder can squeeze in an extra house on the block by keeping the garages and side-yards to a bare minimum, more often than not they will do it. In a case where someone is building their own home and does this, well, that's on themselves for not doing their research and going with better house plans.
I agree. If there is any extra money to be spent it should be on larger doors and wider deeper parking space. Drywall has no functional value that I am aware of. In fact, I prefer having studs available for mounting stuff.
@@kevinwright2637 Fire-rated drywall is required in most places if the garage is attached to the rest of the house. It's the only thing blocking a fire from tearing through the house. Back in the 1930s, many areas required garages to be detached or encased in concrete, but as cars got safer, the codes were relaxed. Now, with electric cars, we'll be seeing more intense car fires, and maybe more attention to the fireproofing of garages.
County assessor here, garages finishes will have a very minimal impact on your home assessment for tax purposes. The size of the garage will have a larger impact. The variables that impact value the most are: number of bedrooms, bathrooms, type of kitchen, frontage, size and location.
This video is my introduction to the channel. No clickbait title, succinct, and the research was on point and comprehensive. Coming from places like Project Farm and Fireball Tool, this seems to fit in nicely while doing something different. I hope that's all appreciated as a big compliment.
Did I miss something here...? County Assessor was nice enough to make an appearance and explain it like we're kindergartners. From him I got that they have bigger fish to fry, don't even check the interior - save some wierd maintainance issue edge case. Your closing repeats the builder fable that you'll end up shooting your eye out... I mean you'll take a wicked punishment on your next assessment. No doubt money is (always) a factor. However, if we're talking about construction (and inspection) west of the Mississippi, than both of the aforementioned parties would like to skip out on caring. It's more of a different view about work in general. Relatively minor financial gain, that might make sense on the east coast - and align more with traditional capitalism - might not be sufficient to motivate either of the aforementioned parties care. They builders and inspectors probably joke about the "finished garage levy" over rounds of golf.
... Do you know Jesus Christ can set you free from sins and save you from hell today Jesus Christ is the only hope in this world no other gods will lead you to heaven There is no security or hope with out Jesus Christ in this world come and repent of all sins today Today is the day of salvation come to the loving savior Today repent and do not go to hell Come to Jesus Christ today Jesus Christ is only way to heaven Repent and follow him today seek his heart Jesus Christ can fill the emptiness he can fill the void Heaven and hell is real cone to the loving savior today Today is the day of salvation tomorrow might be to late come to the loving savior today Romans 6.23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. John 3:16-21 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God. Mark 1.15 15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel. 2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Hebrews 11:6 6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Jesus
@@freshtwink I agree, his conclusions seemed to not titslly align with the assessor. Also your comment is under a reply to another comment but it doesn't seem like you meant to?
My home is a 4 bdrm, 2 bath with a 2 car garage in Arizona, it was built in 2001 and I bought it in 2009 and my garage was drywalled, taped and painted when I got here, quality work too.
I'm a garage door guy, so I've been in thousands of garages. I've lived in South Florida, Colorado and Tennessee. It appears to be a regional thing. In Florida, all the garages were finished and painted. In Colorado, most had the half assed drywall. In middle Tennessee, the garages are finished and painted. I couldn't imagine spending the money for a new house and having a crappy looking garage.
I'm in CO and both houses I've owned were like you said. I went and finished off my most recent one. They don't set taxes here by actually going into houses or asking, so it doesn't have any impact on taxes. Maybe they do in other places, but that would be a big time sink to find finished garages.
@@atomictyler Also in CO. The outside walls of the garage are just studs, I'm going to insulate and drywall them since the master bedroom is right above the garage.
Also a garage door guy, where I am code only specifies that they put the bare minimum insulation and drywall on interior walls so over here only half of garages are insulated and drywalled
As a retired builder, I always finished and painted garages. Didn't matter if it was a $150k or $990k house. I took pride in my work, and an unfinished garage says a world about the builder and that he is willing to cut corners and provide an inferior product with his name on it. Do Better and take pride in your end product! BTW cost is miniamal if fully finished and painted at time of construction.
I wish there were more builders like you nowadays. We bought a house from LGI. They’re an entry-level production builder but our construction manager took great pride in his work and managed his subs well. Our house was built exceptionally well and we even have nice 15 foot side yards - practically unheard of in modern developments.
Where were you building? I have a theory that in the Northeast because of humidity they don't paint due to potential mold problems. Every floor I've epoxied in my garage has become a swimming pool when there is high humidity and the concrete is cooler than the ambient air. If painted walls are even a slight bit cooler than the normal drywall I could see mold becoming an issue quickly as condensation becomes a problem. Just a thought though.
I am a drywaller, you can paint over the level one and it won’t “peel” anything. If something does peel, it wasn’t installed properly. Obviously if you paint over the level one it isn’t going to look like the rest of your house but it will at least all be the same color, also worth noting that you can still mud over paint, so painting level one doesn’t prevent more coats of mud from being added later. If it were mine I would put a cheap coat of drywall primer (PVA) on it, you can buy 5 gallons for less than $100 and get all the surfaces white.
I live in Canada man Alberta of all places -48 last week and 29 years drywall. The room above the garage in homes in alberta gets a nickname cold room for a reason. These rooms are near ALL colder then the rest of the house. If you were going to try and " warm up your home more " especially the T.V. room / colder room above the garage maybe consider working on the ceiling of the garage with tearing out exsisting drywall and getting roxul placed into the ceiling joists. You can add 1-2 layers drywall and then get the ceiling mudded / taped. @@Uranium21
Great video! Never heard anyone worry about paying more for a finished garage but clearly it's a concern for most. Here in CA, the assessor will have no idea whether or not you finished your garage so it shouldn't be an issue. In the case you get permits for garage improvments then that could add to the assessed value but it would be minimal at best.
I purchased my 5th new home and hopefully last two years ago. The first four had unfinished garages and the entire time living in them drove me nuts how gross the garages looked. Before putting a single item in the garage of this new home, I put another layer of mud on the walls and ceiling and then painted the walls and trim two tone colors that pop. I then finished the garage floor after fixing the cracks in the concrete. The finished garage to go with a beautiful new house gives me a special pride as I spend hours in there tinkering on my projects. I think it cost me about $600.00 in paint and other materials and my time. For me, it was well worth the small investment in time and money. FYI: I'm 67 years old and it took me two weeks to complete this project on my own. I did get estimates from contractors to do this work. Finish painting, $3500.00, garage floor, 2500.00-3800.00 depending on the finish chosen.
To me that's like buying a very expensive set of those metallic coated washer/dryers, with pedestals for 7K when your 300$ washer and dryer work perfectly well. Who cares what your garage looks like. Better time spent in putting in a walk in shower, or outside shower, or an extra water line/faucet in the yard, stuff like that.
He cares and apparently can afford it, that's all that matters. I wouldn't mind a garage like his and I suspect it would add resale if he does sell. be . Pride in ownership and pride in work can be good things.
@@rickfeiner7450 thats what I wonder, would it actually add resale? A garage to me is a utilitarian place. I wouldnt pay any extra for a home with a finished garage unless it had a shop. I find it much easier to add electrical, lighting, shelving, hooks, etc if its not finished. If this guy in the video ever decided he doesn't like those cabinets where they are or wants to put something else there, now its not just puttying over a few screw holes and calling it a day. I would rather spend money on my yard, back porch, interior, etc than the garage.
I'm confused. You spoke to the assessor and the building department, both of which essentially said that they'd never know if you finished the garage, and so it can't factor into the tax rate. Then in your summary, you said that it does affect the tax rate. What am I missing? I wish you had asked them more directly, if they *did know* that the walls had been painted, would it matter? I had a full home remodel done a few years ago. My garage walls and ceiling are drywalled and painted, which makes it look nicer and also brightens up the space. But the garage is not considered "finished space" and therefore doesn't affect any taxation. For one thing, there's no heating in the garage, so it could not be used as living space. I am in California.
In most jurisdictions taxes are based on property value. so technically a finished garage could raise the overall value of the property, and therefor your taxes. However, in the real world, any bump to property value is likely to be minimal, and therefore any effect on taxes is likely too small to notice. Just think about it, if you're buying a house, are you really going to pay much more just because it has a finished garage? probably not. And once again, that's why the builders don't do it. They know they won't get more money out of you if they do, so they don't bother.
@@Gunter_Custom I think he brought it up because it is a common assumption/excuse/urban legend. I have heard builders tell homeowners that finishing the garage would raise their property taxes on multiple occasions. The reality is that they did not want to go to the trouble and expense of finishing it. If it is even an option, it is often so expensive that only the most ignorant of homebuyers would elect to have it done.
I had a custom home built 32 years ago, still live in it. I had the garage built oversize so I could have room for my shop. The builder drywalled and finished both tape and full sanding. I recall the upcharge from level one finish was minimal. I then rented a professional paint spray system, with an extended long reach nozzel that the painter doing the rest of my house told me about. That thing painted like a dream with minimal ladder work. Best thing I ever did. It made the space really white so lighting and general experience of the shop improved significantly. To this day the paint looks perfect, just a bit dirty and dusty from shop dust but not a single peel or decay. Do it if you can, you will be very pleased with how it changes the space.
When I had a garage built many years ago that was going to be a shop I had the shop area finished with 3/4 plywood so I could mount anything anywhere I wanted without having to figure out where the studs were.
Do you know Jesus Christ can set you free from sins and save you from hell today Jesus Christ is the only hope in this world no other gods will lead you to heaven There is no security or hope with out Jesus Christ in this world come and repent of all sins today Today is the day of salvation come to the loving savior Today repent and do not go to hell Come to Jesus Christ today Jesus Christ is only way to heaven Repent and follow him today seek his heart Jesus Christ can fill the emptiness he can fill the void Heaven and hell is real cone to the loving savior today Today is the day of salvation tomorrow might be to late come to the loving savior today Romans 6.23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. John 3:16-21 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God. Mark 1.15 15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel. 2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Hebrews 11:6 6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Jesus
I live in Florida. Every single house I've ever been in has had a finished garage. I just built a moderate home and the builder automatically finished the garage as part of the build. It wasn't an extra cost on my part or even an option to not have them do it. I think this really comes down to regional code. I've been in some homes up North and that was the first time I had ever seen an unfinished garage.
Same in AZ. I've never seen an unfinished garage. Sucks, because they don't insulate them. I'd rather spend money on having insulation in the walls than a pretty paint job.
@@Rocketsong Really? I am in arizona and almost every garage I see in homes built in the last 30 years is unfinished. And what does insulation in a garage do?
@@robertturley2974 it'd retain heat/cold better, only really matters if you wanted to add a minisplit or some other ac to your garage. would also want to insulate the attic part of your garage too if you were to do that. and since most garages have a giant open door most of the time its unlikely many would want to spend the extra cost.
Northern California, 3 Car garage, built 2000, bought new, grey sheet rock, taped & minimal mud. I painted it with semi-gloss white, 1 coat. Paint still looks excellent. Used primarily for car & motorcycle, tool storage. Have a “barn looking” storage shed for most garden implement storage. Back to the garage, the large portion has a rear door, all 3 doors (one wide, two narrow, have Sears openers. We don’t park on the driveway, although most all neighbors do.
We bought into our neighborhood about 8 years ago and all of the homes were in the $250-300K range, 2400-3000sqft, 5-10 years old at the time, and all of the garages I’ve been in or looked into are fully mudded and painted. I spoke with my old boss whose husband was a custom home builder in town building million dollar homes, and he said our builder was a really good one for the price. I live in the Midwest. My garage door is 8ft with a 10ft ceiling and my walls look really good aside from down low where there are some scuff and scratches and dings. Paint and mud is good. Very minimal cracking.
I had my garage finished once I moved in. I tried painting it myself, but that old sheetrock just sucked up so much paint I got frustrated and hired painters to come fix up the seems and paint it. I also had the floor coated. Now, I love it each and every time I drive into the garage and it is much more pleasant to spend time out there working.
@@keithmarlowe5569 Agreed. Since it's also a potential wet area, I'd also have the technician include a mildewcide in the primer or use something like Kilz Mold&Mildew exterior Primer. This is especially important if you live in a more humid climate.
@@TwistedMe13 Or you can buy a small bottle of copper powder and add it to the paint. It's an old trick to make anti-fouling paint for boats for a lot less money. Like adding fine grain clean sand to paint to make it anti-skid. Or adding a small about of clear to regular paint to make it "glossy" instead of the cheap "flat". Or.....
I have an 840 square-foot four car garage. I finished it with 5/8” FR Drywall as required in our area. I then gave it two coats of mud sanded smooth and then a coat of rolled on mud over the entire surface. I then painted the walls and ceiling with two coats of oil base high gloss white enamel finish. It’s been 25 years and it looks like it’s brand new, I say do it right the first time and you won’t have to do it over again.
I painted my garage with leftover primer and ignored that the finish wasn’t quite ready for paint. The primer has helped me with 2 problems. 1, when the wall gets wet it doesn’t soak it up instantly like a sponge. 2, I work in my garage a lot and the lighting is 10x better just by making the walls white in color. Cheap primer and a few lightbulbs and it’s like a completely new garage as far as working conditions and lighting go.
YEAH BUDDY!! Ret. Builder of QUALITY homes here...INSULATED, FINISHED, PRIMED, SEMIGLOSS PAINTED, & HEATED!!! In Virginia...DOES NOT cost that much more on new construct!! From a hands on ret after hrs builder who is retired on PROFITS from correctly built & (much loved by buyers) homes! That's all I have to say about that....gump..Forest gump
You answered a question I had for a long time, thanks. Our house was 25 years old when we bought it and the garage was sheetrocked on the ceiling and the wall adjacent to the house. It was as brown as coffee and the taping was cracked and peeling. The other walls were just studs. I finished it off myself - insulation, sheetrock, taping & compounding, sanding (that was messy), priming, painting. I painted it with three different pastel colors so I would feel good evertime I pull into it.
It's very much a regional thing. If I had baseboards in my garage in the northern US Rockies, they'd be rotted out after two winters. They'd make far more sense in a more arid environment.
I just bought a new build in the OKC area. Level 1/2 finish, no paint and it wasn't offered as an option. I'm painting it now myself. Glad the algo showed me this channel.
I've always wondered this question in the back of my mind. Why the hell does nobody seem to have a finished garage. By luck, youtube recommended me this video out of nowhere and I'm glad it did because this question can finally be answered. Thank you!
I think it's a cost benefit analysis ratio. In Texas for example our labor for such jobs is cheap (illegal aliens), In Seattle it's very expensive. If you can finish a garage out in Texas for an extra $500 in cost and get back $2000-3000 more in purchase price, do it. In Seattle it would cost $3000 just for the garage and very little in end price. Especially in Seattle, they'll charge you $25,000 to finish the garage.
I’m confused. The assessor said finishing your garage would NOT have an impact on taxes, but at the end of the video the host said it WOULD impact your taxes. Which is it? Did I miss something?
As part of getting our house ready to sell last year, I replaced damaged drywall in our garage and then finished all the joints properly from the level 1 finish the builder did 30 years ago. I then painted with two coats of a bright white stain killer. The place looked amazing after that. Bright and clean. We ended up moving to a very old house with a garage with bare studs. I'm not sure I can wait 30 years before doing something about it!
I am a small home builder for the last 10 years... We would always texture and paint garages to show clients that we go the extra mile.. then people started complaining about small cracks in garage and paint touch ups... now we just texture it, but don't paint it, so that we don't have to do any of touch up warranties in the garage and giving the home owner opportunity to paint it themselves. The last few years every thing has gone up in price and to paint it actually cost a buck as well.
My parents in Maine have the standard level 1 finish just on the wall adjacent to the house (the rest was bare studs). They paid a professional painter to paint this and, less than a year later, the paper tape peeled and was hanging down in many places. Since then, i drywalled the rest, removed the peeling tape, and finished everything with a level 3-4ish finish and painted. Looks so much nicer and i have not heard anything about taxes.
@@Katchi_ its not self assigned.. lvl1 through lvl5 are different. lvl1 being no mud to lvl5 having the whole wall skim coated. go get bids on a professional drywall contractor and that is stipulated or just google drywall finish levels if you want to know what each means
I don't understand the tax argument. Where does the county assessor actually come into your house to see which rooms are painted? Even then, its not a livable room even if you do get it painted.
Interesting video. I have wondered the same thing. Up here in Canada, the level 1 finish is an even worse idea. People want to park their cars inside in the winter (to avoid having to clear them off and scrape ice in the morning). Of course the cars come in warm from being driven, and snow and slush melt onto the garage floor, even if the garage is unheated. If you do that in a level 1 finished garage, within a couple of years, the tape will have absorbed enough moisture to start separating from the drywall. You can imagine how nice that looks! My home was a custom build, but I was all prepared to have to finish the garage myself. Imagine my joy when I walked in one day near the end of the build to find the entire garage finished to the same standard as the rest of the house, even in the same colour palette. 15 years later, I have not even had to repaint yet. My car buddies are jealous!
mine is going on 11 years in northern MN; unheated. long winters and -40 degree nights... Lots of snow and slush coming in all winter. Never had this problem thankfully... This year I put a heater in and hope it gets rid of most moisture.. Should help it last even longer.
I saw Maine Cabin Masters one time and they said Chase's dad knew how to save time and money. He didn't tape dry wall on the camp , he put battons up, like board and batton siding. It looked good.
Also with a fully mudded and painted garage it reduces the concern of vehicle offgassing (especially CO). ) 0:54 There is enough splits and other penetrations in that 'finish' where that would be a concern.
My current home is just studs, it's an older home from the early 60s. My last home was a contemporary 2.5 car garage with a 14' ceiling and unfinished drywall. There was minimal lighting so I painted the walls with ultra bright white semi-gloss. I chose that to make wall cleaning easy and to increase the brightness in the garage. What a world of difference that made. Instead of a dark garage, just one overhead light fully illuminates the whole room.
I've done the same thing and it does make a difference. I just built my retirement home and upgraded my garage door to a well insulated on with windows. I've never had windows and what a difference it makes with lighting!
This is a great question and topic! I am the second owner of my home, and when I bought it, the one-car garage has drywall, but wasn’t painted. We recently finished the garage by having it professionally painted and had custom cabinetry installed. Glad we did! I drive a 2022 Corvette Stingray which is kept in the garage, and now the garage is worthy of having such a car parked in it👍🏿
My husband was on the list for the 2024 Z06, and we designed a 4 car garage tall enough for a car stacker. But when his number was called to order his car he decided he'd rather invest the cash in the house than in a car . . . with housing costs rising so quickly, cars are staying roughly the same amount, so he'd save money by waiting on the car and building instead ;)
I have a home built in 1967 in the Chicago suburbs with an attached 20 X25 garage that had unfinished drywall on the ceiling and walls. Since I have owned this home for the last 31 years I have had it professionally muddled and taped and painted and have had the floor done with a polyurea surface.
I was taught $1.00 a square foot. Too pricy I feel. I recently saw a post I will link. She said she charged $1,000 to paint a basic room just walls and it took her 16 hours. There is no client in my city that would ever pay that much to paint one room....even in million dollar homes. th-cam.com/video/aDuxewP12LM/w-d-xo.html&lc=UgxSkWRwPkYKukADhWN4AaABAg.9vpFhg4xeC99yUZs2rITbp&ab_channel=PaintScout @@venom5809
I painted my last garage and had no issues but I’m leaving this one unfinished because it’s nice to have the stud locations visible so I can hang stuff and build off it. I think that’s more valuable than looks in the garage.
I love my garage… insulated, covered with peg board, and painted. To me, that’s the best of all worlds. It looks nice, studs are still visible, climate controlled, and can hang stuff anywhere!
@@venom5809 I have one of those blue ones that has 3 lights on it that easily detect the studs. The walls in my garage are all painted nicely; and I got shelves all around now.
If you're adding trusscore, remember that you still need the fire separation rating from the house. Might be best to keep the drywall on those areas and install the trusscore directly overtop
I was told that the only real concerns for a garage attached to the house were fire rating and vapor blocking (so you don't kill your family with carbon monoxide) by warming up the car in the garage in the winter. Of course, this changes for separated garages, which a lot of people out where I live prefer for the break in home insurance they bring. If it's not attached, you don't need to worry about burn-through time OR vapor blocking. I've seen some people who wanted a covered walkway between the house and garage have the cover built so that it touches neither the house nor the garage, instead ending above or below the overhang of each as appropriate.
I just closed on a new construction home, and I was wondering why the garages weren't painted. Finishing my garage is definitely at the top of my list, thanks for the info!
My first home had a partially drywalled garage. Interior sides only. My neighbor, who did drywall as a former career, helped me insulate and drywall the exterior portions. After that, I simply painted the interior surfaces with the cheapest, gloss white paint on sale at the depot. What a HUGE difference. The single light bulb in the ceiling easily illuminated the interior. The Colorado county assessor couldn't care less because i wasnt turning it into living space. During the nine years of living there, it showed no signs of peeling.
My neighborhood was developed from 2019 to 2021. Three different builders were involved, and as far as I know, every garage was finished--fully taped and sanded drywall, primed and painted--as part of the construction. It looks good, but there are times when I wish it had been left unfinished. That would have made doing upgrades like shelving, racks, wiring, plumbing, etc. a lot easier.
@@danielbeck9191 Not hard with drywall. It is much tougher if you have real plaster, and somebody sheetrocked over the plaster. Stud finders dont work very will in that situation.
I do painting and some drywalling. I've had a few jobs finishing level 1 drywalled garages. The biggest things to pay attention to if DIYing it is if its been like that for a long time all the exhaust, and general mess of garages gets into the drywall and will bleed through paint, so often it needs a good stain blocking primer. Also the drywall tape will start to fail in places and even if not finished to a higher level does need to be re done in places where its failing. I painted one garage on a new house last year that was so nice because they plan to use it a lot. It had heated floors, a full glass garage door connected to a screened in deck, a counter with a sink and cabinets for food, an attached bathroom. Loved it!
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Come to Jesus Christ today Jesus Christ is only way to heaven Repent and follow him today seek his heart Jesus Christ can fill the emptiness he can fill the void Heaven and hell is real cone to the loving savior today Today is the day of salvation tomorrow might be to late come to the loving savior today John 3:16-21 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God. Mark 1.15 15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel. 2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Hebrews 11:6 6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Jesus
My house came with a level 1 on the garage. I finished it to level 4 finish without texture. Painted the ceiling white and walls grey. I love it. Soon after I saw everyone in the neighborhood doing the same
I insulated and did a level one sheetrock to the walls and ceiling that were not in contact with my living space (which already had that for fire code compliance). The rafters were originally open - I added a 3/4" plywood floor. The back of my garage is a workshop and the insulation really helped the comfort level. The interior of the garage is 22 x 32, much larger than a typical modern home. Mine was built in 1956.
Was wondering why all garages where I currently live (Coast) are finished versus where I used to live (Mountains). The comment about it being required in higher humidity levels makes complete sense. This also made me do a further garage inspection and realized my garage door is built for hurricanes with the massive amounts of extra brackets, cross bars etc haha. Thanks for the great info!!!
Just bought a higher end new build near Seattle Washington and I was mentally preparing to paint the walls before I moved it but to my surprise it was already done by the builder. They even added trim to the doors and window in there just like inside the house. This is very rare around here.
In Florida (at least where I live), the building code is that all single family homes have to be cinder block construction (on the first floor at least). So my garage has painted cinder block walls and then a finished stud and drywall wall that’s adjacent to the house. I’ve never seen any unfinished garages anywhere near where I live (central Florida). [Building code is block for hurricane resistance]
My aunt and uncle in Florida have concrete walls on the first floor and and garage. That house was built in the 50’s and hasn’t had any damage to the structure and only minor roof damage… I wonder if it’s a cost thing to use block these days?
Concrete block, stucco exterior, wood shutters and a hip roof, my FL home is near bullet-proof for hurricanes and my 2-car garage/ shop is totally finished too. One trick I do use when we get a warning is to pull into the garage, place a sheet of ply against the inside of the rollup door and hand-roll the car backwards up to it to prevent the door from blowing in, if that happens say goodbye to your roof.
" have to be cinder block construction" They arent "cinder" blocks, those havent been manufactured since the 1950s, they are concrete blocks, they are made from mold-form injected concrete.
@@HobbyOrganist lmfao yo, typical day at jobsite: "hey let's load up these cinder blocks" or "hey let's load up these mold-form injected concrete blocks" what you think is more likely?
Thanks for this video. Always wondered why this house that I had built from scratch 11 years ago, had a garage that looked like it wasn’t done yet. It looked exactly like your garage.
Dude, the first house we moved into had an unpainted garage and all of my friends kept busting on me every time I posted a photo in the garage with the walls unpainted. Took about a month to do it up right, had a lot of drywall work to repair from previous owners. ugh. But like you I ran cable tv cords for a tv in there, audio cables, plenty of extra outlets and recharging stations, so it was pretty epic and helped sell the house in the end. It helped I had a few arcade games out there too when buyers were touring the house. :)
The house I bought had unfinished drywall in the garage, and yeah it was ugly. There was lots of little damage over 30 years, so I patched it all up, then after a coat of primer and 2 coats of white semi gloss it looks pretty good! The only problem is that I didn't think ahead that I would eventually want a mini-split in the garage, so now I'm considering tearing out about half the walls (exterior ones) to insulate them. Which means redoing a lot of the work...
This is why I am not sure I would even want a finsihed garage. All those little damages over 30 years are still going to happen but now you have to deal with paint on top of the normal patching. and like you pointed out, it adds more work anytime you want to change it up. every couple of years I am moving around shelving, cabinets, hooks, etc. A finished garage would add that much more work.
We had our house built 20+ years ago. Living in MN, we added insulation to the exterior garage walls before they put up the sheetrock. Pretty sure they did a Level 1 tape job, since I didn't know any better and much of it started peeling/splitting after a while. We did paint and prime very early on and have not had any issue with the tax assessment. I prefer the more finished look - but mostly I'm glad we added the insulation when we did.
"We did paint and prime very early on and have not had any issue with the tax assessment." They just haven't updated your assessment yet is why, they do it on a schedule, it might be every 5 or 10 years or some other timeframe.
Here in Canada, in the two provinces I lived in, it's done just to not waste money on it, as it doesn't really add to the homes value. However, I did notice newer ones are painting them, and it could be due to the area being higher humidity.
I’m turning ours into an apartment. If one has a garage? And bought it before housing prices shot up. You couldn’t built a garage for the price you paid for the house. Plus zoning, permits, inspections etc. Plus depending on one state, province etc one might have to ask the neighbors if they’re ok with it.
I added insulation then drywall, then knockdown and painted it up. No permit needed. Looks great and didn't cost me much. Only down side is when I wanted to run another line for a receptacle.
my first two houses had bare unfinished garages. I insulated, vapor barrier'd and drywalled both of them. Also insulated the cheaper doors with foam. Made a giant difference all year round in the temperature range in the garage, and also helped the living spaces adjacent to the garage.
I have been an appraiser for almost 20 years. I have NEVER heard of a finished garage being a premium a buyer would pay for OR the finish affecting the property taxes.
thats because you've been an appraiser for 20 years. LMAO. I am not actively looking for a finished garage.. but if the house i want to buy has a finished garage with nice lighting, paint, and nice concrete finished floor or epoxy..i would LOVE that and definitely consider it a plus
A few years ago we bought a brand new home in a small new single family home development in DC. It was the model home and already had the foundation filled and walls up but that's it. The salesman didn't want to sell the model home as he wanted a place to base his sales operations out of but honestly it was all about him as there were only ten houses in that community and they sold pretty fast despite us buying that model home. He just wanted an office. Anyway, the company undercut him and said they'd consider selling the model home which would mean they'd only get to use it for a couple months in that capacity. We asked for some unplanned upgrades since it was early on in the build process and they resisted us on everything. One thing we asked for was to have the garage walls painted and they said "no way." Then we walked through the neighborhood and noticed that all the other homes had painted walls in the garage. So we pointed this out and the guy in charge of construction for the company gave us an estimate: $5,000 to paint our two car garage. We were flabbergasted. The site foreman for the company in charge of building out our community told us the following week he had a surprise for us. He had the garage painted for us on his own initiative. He said it was BS that they gave us a quote for $5,000 to paint the interior of the garage. He said he had it done quickly and it cost him only $400 using his internal resources. He was ashamed that his company did that to us. He asked us to keep it on the down low and not tell them he did it. There is no reason not to pain the garage walls and our community all has painted walls, although our house's garage is painted due to the good will of the lead contractor who is a good guy.
I was a professional commercial drywall finsher and finished some houses when I worked for a framer that did some remodeling. I fully finished a couple other people's garages so they could paint them after I left the trades. It was always nice having large areas of sheetrock that just needed to meet fire code. I also mostly worked in the trades when there was more work available than we could keep up with. Most of the time my bosses were in a hurry to get me to the next jobsite. Other than I have no good reasoning for why so many garages are left unfinished. After the 9/11 attacks, construction dried up in Minnesota and I just went back to working security instead of dealing with trying to stay active in the trades. Maybe they finish more at a lower price now that they are more desperate for work.
I used to finish drywall and I remember the fire walls between "economic" townhouses had to be 4 layers of water resistant drywall between townhomes where I worked. These were low cost townhomes, built in more expensive housing developments , where building some economic housing was required.
@@BrandonLeeBrown I dealt with a wall like that once that I can remember, we converted an old building into some kind of small school. They divided it into 3 sections with I believe 6 layers of fire rated sheet rock, instead of adding sprinklers. I don't remember much, but the carpenters used really long sheetrock screws, the studs must have been extra thick. The General Supervisor had me finish a hatch with half a corner bead around it that his crew installed in an emergency stairwell. The hatch looked like it was made in a high school sheet metal shop. They shoved it in too far into the wall so that the ends of the half corner bead flared out. I told the Superintendent that I need some space above the bead to fill in as I rocked my knife back and forth over where the end of the bead was sticking out, and each time I explained why (probably 5 times total), he just responded "feather it out". I gave up and found a carpenter who ran screws through the bead, sucking it into the gap the Superintendent left between the hatch and the wall. No surprise, that hatch didn't pass the fire inspection, and they installed an emergency hatch that was as thick as the wall.
This topic intrigued me because every house I’ve lived in always had a completely finished garage. To me, that was expected and normal. Not just paint on smooth drywall but with texture and all just like the insides of the homes. Last two homes were both DR Horton in FL and they were finished exactly like the inside of the house. I’m spoiled I guess.
I built my home hired all the contractors. I did all the painting in the whole house so I painted the garage and I also had the ceiling textured. I have a three car garage and no it did not affect my property taxes.
Oh also it’s heated and most important. I had a hot and cold water Spicket put in so I can wash my animals with warm water and not have to bring them inside to do it.
If you park your car in your garage you should make sure you have sealed it. This means sealed electrical, the plumbing if any. Where the walls meets the foundation you will want to use an acoustic caulking. If there is a room above the garage need to check in the ceiling where the brick meets the roof line to see how or if if it was even insulated. If they can cover up sloppy work they will. I have seen this in some garages along with a couple of DIY shows. Of course if you are using it as a work shop you do not want any fumes or dust to enter your house. Every small hole or crack will end up the the size of a basket ball. That's a lot of air movement. The house is a vaccuum chamber.
3 things certain in life: death, taxes, not enough garage space!My 1997 built home in Utah was finished to level 1 - ugly drywall. The Mr’s’ slave laborer (as I refer to myself) finished the walls with light ‘old world’ texture (perfect for imperfections and filling old holes) easy for any DIYer (I have no drywall experience at all), light grey paint, even hung extra crown molding above the house entrance 😂. Other upgrades include: epoxy floors, 50 TV, retractable electrical cords, ski and bike racks, lockers, griswold attic ladder, 8000 lumen LED lights from Costco, and way too much stuff(junk as the Mrs calls it)!
Just had an $850,000 home built last year, the builder fully finishes the garage as a standard. Baseboard & trim, level three, paint on all surfaces, and insulated. Tax assessor didn’t even look at the garage. It’s considered garage for tax purposes, not a finished living space. Maybe that’s not true in every municipality, but the idea that a coat of paint changes the tax burden is some Dunning-Krueger-assumption kind of stuff.
6:42 Thank you for recognizing the audience bias in your poll! I've seen other videos that overlook this when it should be common sense and an obvious factor.
like the other guy said for contractors but yourself pretty much, if you aren't super picky about the quality it can be pretty easy. The hardest part is going to be drywall though.
Its def worth hiring it out, they can do in a day what would keep your garage out of commission for a week or more to DIY it. JUST drywall tape/mud job is actually relatively cheap vs a full drywall install and finish.
There are quite a few TH-camrs who will tell you how to finish drywall. Here are three: That Kilted Guy Vancouver Carpenter Paul Peck Drywalltube Maybe the most important part is to pay close attention to how thick or thin the mud should be depending on if it’s first second third or texture coat. Also, the different types of drywall mud. The first coat with the tape is different, than topcoats, for example. (Topcoat mud is easier to sand.)
Whereas in Australia you get a completed garage in every house, and if you asked for it *not* to be completed you'd get looked at like you had two heads.
my house was brand new, having it textured and painted was a 1600$ upgrade. of course I said yep :) just makes me feel good, pulling into my beautiful garage, to my wonderful house. and when you open the door, the world can see in your house there. much better.
My builder allowed me to add insulation in the garage before they dry-walled it. I am not handy, but completed it over the weekend. It rely made a difference in the warm of the garage in the winter and it helped add an additional warmth to the walls that were shared with the house.
@joel1gamebeast482 The government can start by not taxing people for finishing their garage. The home owner could put up temporary wall decorations such as posters or some type of cloth pinned to the wall. This all depends on how stupid and ridiculous both parties are. You could always just pay higher taxes.
Mine looked like that but with a primer coating. I noticed that the tape on the joints was peeling off a couple of years ago. About a month ago I returned home from work and opened the garage door to park my truck in there as usual and noticed a huge mess. While I was at work two sections of drywall had fallen where my truck is usually parked. After years of parking a truck that is wet from rain or snow and having the warm moist air rise up to the ceiling, the drywall was absorbing that moisture and the glue and nails could no longer support the drywall and it came down. I suggest inspecting yours in case this is happening to you. Now I need to replace sections and paint the entire garage to seal the drywall.
As a county assessor, this is the silliest thing I ever heard. We would never increase an assessment because somebody spent $50 bucks on paint for the garage walls.
I am a county plans examiner and building inspector. Here In Washington all attached garages require fire separation per the IRC. Not sure how an attached garage can meet fire separation without proper drywall, fire taping, and fire blocking. Yes there’s no requirement for painting or final finishing but can not be left without proper 5/8” type x on the lid and 1/2” on attached walls.
I build homes in Oregon. Most builders here including myself finish the garage drywall all the way through. I've had lot's of buyers from the Arizona or Texas that are surprised to see it finished and mention that they had a taped only garage back where they moved from.
Omg, I’m constantly in my garage complaining that someone took the time to drywall the garage but didn’t finish. This makes sense! My garage was built in 1958 so I assumed it was a lazy previous owner. And it probably was, but at least it’s normal.
Our house was about 4 years old when we bought it. The garage had the level 3 sheetrock already, as well as insulation on the exterior wall, interior walls, and in the ceiling. I added extra outlets, extra lighting, and put slatwall on the walls.
this is fascinating tomme because indont think i’ve ever seen a garage proper (where the car lives) with finished walls, only storage areas beyond a door. when my mother bought a house in 81, my grandfather finisged the back half of the garage for storage for her; there was already a full wall and door between the two parts. east san francisco bay area. he told me that if you want to store fabric, paper, etc, you finish the walls both to better keep pests out and to reduce moisture. probably relatedly, both their garages were separate buildings from the house and unheated.
I finished (level 3) and painted my garage when we moved into the house. I was surprised that the garage walls were not completely finish and at least primed at a minimum. I was a Navy electrician and never did drywall work before, so it took me about 2 weeks with a LOT of sanding! That was 28 years ago and it could probably use a little more attention now, but it is still holding up. Oh, and no tax increase!
I purchased my in expensive home in 2007 brand new. The home is 1500sqft. with attached garage; it came with the garage finished, painted, nicely trimmed doors and baseboards.
im a drywall contractor in idaho . yes you can paint over level one without issues . sometimes the crew fire taping the garage does a crappy job, so check for blistered tape . its pretty cheap to hire a local drywall guy to put one coat over the fire tape and sand it out , probly on a weekend . then you can paint yourself and it will look pretty good
I never really thought about this. We purchased a recently built house that had been occupied by someone else for 2 years. The inside of the house was finished nicely. The garage attached to the house has the level one finish and still does (although we have added some insulation to the garage door and ceiling). The detached garage was just sticks.
I live in Florida. My current home has an attached garage. The walls are cement block walls...no drywall except for the one wall which directly adjoins the house. That wall is drywall and painted. My prior home was in Illinois and had a detatched brick garage. The interior walls were the exposed brick and unpainted. My parents last two homes in Illinois both had detatched stand alone garages. The first house they had the garage built. The second house came with a garage. Both had just the bare 2 X 4 stud walls. In both cases we insulated the walls between the studs with roll fiberglass insulation, then covered it with plywood. No painting for either.
In cold climates, cracking can occur with fully finished drywall. Going from -20°F to 95 F in the Summer can mean settling, joint expansion, and cracking. High end homes can come with heated garages but I am sure it is a minuscule minority of all garages. Thanks for the video.
Most attached garages here in Houston are finished with drywall and painted but detached garages are usually left with studs exposed…at least in my experience.
Here in Florida where most houses are built out of concrete block, garages will typically have 2 or 3 of the walls that are just painted concrete block. That's the case with my parent's house. My house's garage is fully finished with with painted drywall because the previous owner did that, but it is still used as a garage. Finished walls are nice but it takes away a few inches from the width of the garage, which does make a difference in mine as I actually can fit two cars in my garage plus floor to ceiling shelving along both sides.
The builder of many of the homes in our neighborhood had finished garages. Mine had paneling and rough cut cedar as trim around the windows and doors. It doesn’t need maintenance and I have been in the home 34 years.
I live in Texas and I turned a church into a house/workshop. I talked to the appraisal district before making an offer for this specific reason. I removed the flooring, the acoustic tile ceiling, and air conditioning ducts to convert the sanctuary into a garage/workshop and installed a big garage door. The appraisal district had to inspect/measure the garage afterward, but they updated my house to list the square footage as unfinished.
My wife thought I was crazy when in both of our homes, I painted the inside of the garage. Just looks so much better and sometimes you have a bunch of leftover paint or pick up some cheap leftover on neighborhood Craigslist. Zero peeling issues.
My family moved into a new house in the early 80's. I was 4. The garage was unfinished drywall. I distinctly remember seeing footprints on the walls and ceiling and asking dad about it.
We had the level one after construction and as a house warming gift, my brother painted the garage. Looks nice! I think because it was a garage (after all) he did no special sealing or anything like that. About 10 years later we had the house re-evaluated for the county tax assessor because the values of homes had been greatly reduced in our neighborhood after the 2008 debacle. The inspector seemed to take no notice of the garage at all. Our taxes were reduced because of the overall loss of value. The house is now 18 years old and the paint job is intact.
Our builder offered fully drywalled, paint, wall insulation and insulated garage door for $1600 for 2 car garage. We went with it. After we moved in, the inspection was done, but he never asked to check the garage.
I immediately hit mine with Kilz primer upon moving in. Nothing more. But it appears painted white, and that is enough to look better and add a little protection for the drywall from moisture.
I painted my garage that had a level 1 drywall finish. I didn't add any other level of paint and I have not had any issues. Paing has been on strong for the last 16 years. :D
I'm a small boutique builder who does 2 homes a year. I just do a quick coat of Kilz primer on the garage. Its only $200 in material and $800 in labor and seals what is otherwise a semi-permeable surface from high humidity you can get in the summer.
Where I live in NH you have to install min 1/2” fire rated drywall on walls & ceiling of a garage (5/8” if there’s living space on the other side), for fire timing buffer. It has to be at least level 1 taping the “seal” the envelope. I’m not sure about the property tax implications of finishing and painting.
I bought a new home in 2021 and they drywalled and taped off the Garage pretty well. I paid a local painter $600 to Prime and Paint my 2 car garage. It was totally worth it.
BUILDER HERE. I worked for Meritage Homes for years. The reason garages were not painted was simple. It is an upgrade to get more money out of the buyer. Its just that simple. It cost me $1200 to have painter to finish it and we charged 10K to have a "finished garage". I thought it was a rip off and told buyers to just do it themselves and save a ton of money. There was also a guy that would paint garages for 200 bucks plus material after they moved in. He stayed busy for years just doing garages.
I'm sure that really is the reason, however, it's also worth noting that garages don't typically need to be finished unless you have a specific use in mind. It's a waste of money to finish the garage out if the homeowner decides they want to use the walls for a storage system or if they just put some seating in there for a hangout they might want something a bit nicer to look at. Or, they might just opt to leave it as is and not pay anything at all.
Lots of people think it costs $100 to paint a room. You wouldn't believe the ridicule I endure.
Sheetrock is ugly. Mudding and painting a garage costs a grand max. The most work is moving people’s garbage out of the way!
@@globalfamily8172 if you buy a couple gallons of cheap paint and have your own ladder, a couple of brushes, and a roller with a long handle... One of the many things I've done was interior and exterior house painting. People tend to not consider the cost of labor.
@kylemarsun$200.00 is two gallons of Ben Moore plus primer in NY. Add a bag of Easysand, green lid compound and then labor. Even clean up costs money.
The bigger question and one that has always puzzled me is: "Why do builder's build garages that are not wide enough to comfortable open a car door without bashing the car door being opened into the car next to it?"
So that they can squeeze in a couple more cookie-cutter homes into the subdivision and increase their bottom line
because most people don't park in them, they use them for storage.
@@wmpx34 Yep, exactly this. More specifically, larger garages hits the developer/builder in their wallet twice: it takes more materials for the builder to build larger houses, and more land used up to put those larger houses on. If the builder can squeeze in an extra house on the block by keeping the garages and side-yards to a bare minimum, more often than not they will do it. In a case where someone is building their own home and does this, well, that's on themselves for not doing their research and going with better house plans.
I agree. If there is any extra money to be spent it should be on larger doors and wider deeper parking space. Drywall has no functional value that I am aware of. In fact, I prefer having studs available for mounting stuff.
@@kevinwright2637 Fire-rated drywall is required in most places if the garage is attached to the rest of the house. It's the only thing blocking a fire from tearing through the house. Back in the 1930s, many areas required garages to be detached or encased in concrete, but as cars got safer, the codes were relaxed. Now, with electric cars, we'll be seeing more intense car fires, and maybe more attention to the fireproofing of garages.
County assessor here, garages finishes will have a very minimal impact on your home assessment for tax purposes. The size of the garage will have a larger impact. The variables that impact value the most are: number of bedrooms, bathrooms, type of kitchen, frontage, size and location.
What about fencing in the yard?
What about fencing in the yard?
Type of kitchen, as in?
And the whims/revenue needs of the county due to financial mismanagement.
Can you explain what you mean by type of kitchen? Thank you
This video is my introduction to the channel. No clickbait title, succinct, and the research was on point and comprehensive. Coming from places like Project Farm and Fireball Tool, this seems to fit in nicely while doing something different. I hope that's all appreciated as a big compliment.
Did I miss something here...?
County Assessor was nice enough to make an appearance and explain it like we're kindergartners.
From him I got that they have bigger fish to fry, don't even check the interior - save some wierd maintainance issue edge case.
Your closing repeats the builder fable that you'll end up shooting your eye out... I mean you'll take a wicked punishment on your next assessment.
No doubt money is (always) a factor.
However, if we're talking about construction (and inspection) west of the Mississippi, than both of the aforementioned parties would like to skip out on caring. It's more of a different view about work in general.
Relatively minor financial gain, that might make sense on the east coast - and align more with traditional capitalism - might not be sufficient to motivate either of the aforementioned parties care.
They builders and inspectors probably joke about the "finished garage levy" over rounds of golf.
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Romans 6.23
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
John 3:16-21
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
Mark 1.15
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@@freshtwink I agree, his conclusions seemed to not titslly align with the assessor. Also your comment is under a reply to another comment but it doesn't seem like you meant to?
My home is a 4 bdrm, 2 bath with a 2 car garage in Arizona, it was built in 2001 and I bought it in 2009 and my garage was drywalled, taped and painted when I got here, quality work too.
I'm a garage door guy, so I've been in thousands of garages. I've lived in South Florida, Colorado and Tennessee. It appears to be a regional thing. In Florida, all the garages were finished and painted. In Colorado, most had the half assed drywall. In middle Tennessee, the garages are finished and painted. I couldn't imagine spending the money for a new house and having a crappy looking garage.
That seems to jive with the average humidity in each of those locations, which was mentioned in the video.
I'm in CO and both houses I've owned were like you said. I went and finished off my most recent one. They don't set taxes here by actually going into houses or asking, so it doesn't have any impact on taxes. Maybe they do in other places, but that would be a big time sink to find finished garages.
Same, we install garage doors every day in Mississippi. I've never seen a garage not painted and finished out unless it's some janky diy thing.
@@atomictyler Also in CO. The outside walls of the garage are just studs, I'm going to insulate and drywall them since the master bedroom is right above the garage.
Also a garage door guy, where I am code only specifies that they put the bare minimum insulation and drywall on interior walls so over here only half of garages are insulated and drywalled
As a retired builder, I always finished and painted garages. Didn't matter if it was a $150k or $990k house. I took pride in my work, and an unfinished garage says a world about the builder and that he is willing to cut corners and provide an inferior product with his name on it. Do Better and take pride in your end product! BTW cost is miniamal if fully finished and painted at time of construction.
I wish there were more builders like you nowadays. We bought a house from LGI. They’re an entry-level production builder but our construction manager took great pride in his work and managed his subs well. Our house was built exceptionally well and we even have nice 15 foot side yards - practically unheard of in modern developments.
Where were you building? I have a theory that in the Northeast because of humidity they don't paint due to potential mold problems. Every floor I've epoxied in my garage has become a swimming pool when there is high humidity and the concrete is cooler than the ambient air. If painted walls are even a slight bit cooler than the normal drywall I could see mold becoming an issue quickly as condensation becomes a problem. Just a thought though.
Yep same her.
But people get what they pay for, our houses cost more than people that buy a house with unfinished.
Well there is your problem.
PRIDE
Thanks for having integrity. I hope that you were able to pass that along to kids and grandkids.
I does want to say thank u for your integrity and taking time to do the right thing regardless of price 😊. It rare nowadays have a great day
I am a drywaller, you can paint over the level one and it won’t “peel” anything. If something does peel, it wasn’t installed properly. Obviously if you paint over the level one it isn’t going to look like the rest of your house but it will at least all be the same color, also worth noting that you can still mud over paint, so painting level one doesn’t prevent more coats of mud from being added later. If it were mine I would put a cheap coat of drywall primer (PVA) on it, you can buy 5 gallons for less than $100 and get all the surfaces white.
is the level 1 properly insulated though? im canada and wanted a warmer garage its -40c outside
@@Uranium21 Normally the garage walls are insulated between the house and the garage space. The outside walls of unheated garages are not insulated.
@@Uranium21 the level of finish of the drywall has nothing to do with insulation. Insulation is behind the drywall.
I live in Canada man Alberta of all places -48 last week and 29 years drywall. The room above the garage in homes in alberta gets a nickname cold room for a reason. These rooms are near ALL colder then the rest of the house. If you were going to try and " warm up your home more " especially the T.V. room / colder room above the garage maybe consider working on the ceiling of the garage with tearing out exsisting drywall and getting roxul placed into the ceiling joists. You can add 1-2 layers drywall and then get the ceiling mudded / taped. @@Uranium21
It seems like the drywall tape in the garage always ends up peeling off. Just wondering why the tape is needed.
Great video! Never heard anyone worry about paying more for a finished garage but clearly it's a concern for most. Here in CA, the assessor will have no idea whether or not you finished your garage so it shouldn't be an issue. In the case you get permits for garage improvments then that could add to the assessed value but it would be minimal at best.
I purchased my 5th new home and hopefully last two years ago. The first four had unfinished garages and the entire time living in them drove me nuts how gross the garages looked. Before putting a single item in the garage of this new home, I put another layer of mud on the walls and ceiling and then painted the walls and trim two tone colors that pop. I then finished the garage floor after fixing the cracks in the concrete. The finished garage to go with a beautiful new house gives me a special pride as I spend hours in there tinkering on my projects. I think it cost me about $600.00 in paint and other materials and my time. For me, it was well worth the small investment in time and money. FYI: I'm 67 years old and it took me two weeks to complete this project on my own. I did get estimates from contractors to do this work. Finish painting, $3500.00, garage floor, 2500.00-3800.00 depending on the finish chosen.
To me that's like buying a very expensive set of those metallic coated washer/dryers, with pedestals for 7K when your 300$ washer and dryer work perfectly well.
Who cares what your garage looks like. Better time spent in putting in a walk in shower, or outside shower, or an extra water line/faucet in the yard, stuff like that.
He cares and apparently can afford it, that's all that matters. I wouldn't mind a garage like his and I suspect it would add resale if he does sell. be . Pride in ownership and pride in work can be good things.
@@rickfeiner7450 thats what I wonder, would it actually add resale? A garage to me is a utilitarian place. I wouldnt pay any extra for a home with a finished garage unless it had a shop. I find it much easier to add electrical, lighting, shelving, hooks, etc if its not finished. If this guy in the video ever decided he doesn't like those cabinets where they are or wants to put something else there, now its not just puttying over a few screw holes and calling it a day. I would rather spend money on my yard, back porch, interior, etc than the garage.
I understand caring what your garage looks like. Many, if not most, people enter their home from the garage rather than through the front door.
I'm confused. You spoke to the assessor and the building department, both of which essentially said that they'd never know if you finished the garage, and so it can't factor into the tax rate. Then in your summary, you said that it does affect the tax rate. What am I missing? I wish you had asked them more directly, if they *did know* that the walls had been painted, would it matter?
I had a full home remodel done a few years ago. My garage walls and ceiling are drywalled and painted, which makes it look nicer and also brightens up the space. But the garage is not considered "finished space" and therefore doesn't affect any taxation. For one thing, there's no heating in the garage, so it could not be used as living space. I am in California.
It would not. He is being special.
In most jurisdictions taxes are based on property value. so technically a finished garage could raise the overall value of the property, and therefor your taxes. However, in the real world, any bump to property value is likely to be minimal, and therefore any effect on taxes is likely too small to notice. Just think about it, if you're buying a house, are you really going to pay much more just because it has a finished garage? probably not. And once again, that's why the builders don't do it. They know they won't get more money out of you if they do, so they don't bother.
The garage being completely finished does not affect your taxes even one dollar .
I don't even know why he brought up such a non issue 😂😂
A finished garage does not change your taxes .
I don't know why he even brought up a non issue 😂
Unless he wants more people to watch his video . 😂
@@Gunter_Custom I think he brought it up because it is a common assumption/excuse/urban legend. I have heard builders tell homeowners that finishing the garage would raise their property taxes on multiple occasions. The reality is that they did not want to go to the trouble and expense of finishing it. If it is even an option, it is often so expensive that only the most ignorant of homebuyers would elect to have it done.
I had a custom home built 32 years ago, still live in it. I had the garage built oversize so I could have room for my shop. The builder drywalled and finished both tape and full sanding. I recall the upcharge from level one finish was minimal. I then rented a professional paint spray system, with an extended long reach nozzel that the painter doing the rest of my house told me about. That thing painted like a dream with minimal ladder work. Best thing I ever did. It made the space really white so lighting and general experience of the shop improved significantly. To this day the paint looks perfect, just a bit dirty and dusty from shop dust but not a single peel or decay. Do it if you can, you will be very pleased with how it changes the space.
When I had a garage built many years ago that was going to be a shop I had the shop area finished with 3/4 plywood so I could mount anything anywhere I wanted without having to figure out where the studs were.
I would paint it with semi gloss or enamel, so the walls could be cleaned easily.
Do you know Jesus Christ can set you free from sins and save you from hell today
Jesus Christ is the only hope in this world no other gods will lead you to heaven
There is no security or hope with out Jesus Christ in this world come and repent of all sins today
Today is the day of salvation come to the loving savior Today repent and do not go to hell
Come to Jesus Christ today
Jesus Christ is only way to heaven
Repent and follow him today seek his heart Jesus Christ can fill the emptiness he can fill the void
Heaven and hell is real cone to the loving savior today
Today is the day of salvation tomorrow might be to late come to the loving savior today
Romans 6.23
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
John 3:16-21
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
Mark 1.15
15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.
2 Peter 3:9
The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
Hebrews 11:6
6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Jesus
I live in Florida. Every single house I've ever been in has had a finished garage. I just built a moderate home and the builder automatically finished the garage as part of the build. It wasn't an extra cost on my part or even an option to not have them do it. I think this really comes down to regional code. I've been in some homes up North and that was the first time I had ever seen an unfinished garage.
I live in Mississippi. Same here. My house was built by Elliot Homes. I think it's just standard to finish the garage.
Same in AZ. I've never seen an unfinished garage. Sucks, because they don't insulate them. I'd rather spend money on having insulation in the walls than a pretty paint job.
Never saw an unfinished garage in CA either, although I'm sure they exist. In WA most garages are level 1/2.
@@Rocketsong Really? I am in arizona and almost every garage I see in homes built in the last 30 years is unfinished. And what does insulation in a garage do?
@@robertturley2974 it'd retain heat/cold better, only really matters if you wanted to add a minisplit or some other ac to your garage. would also want to insulate the attic part of your garage too if you were to do that. and since most garages have a giant open door most of the time its unlikely many would want to spend the extra cost.
Northern California, 3 Car garage, built 2000, bought new, grey sheet rock, taped & minimal mud. I painted it with semi-gloss white, 1 coat. Paint still looks excellent. Used primarily for car & motorcycle, tool storage. Have a “barn looking” storage shed for most garden implement storage.
Back to the garage, the large portion has a rear door, all 3 doors (one wide, two narrow, have Sears openers. We don’t park on the driveway, although most all neighbors do.
We bought into our neighborhood about 8 years ago and all of the homes were in the $250-300K range, 2400-3000sqft, 5-10 years old at the time, and all of the garages I’ve been in or looked into are fully mudded and painted. I spoke with my old boss whose husband was a custom home builder in town building million dollar homes, and he said our builder was a really good one for the price. I live in the Midwest. My garage door is 8ft with a 10ft ceiling and my walls look really good aside from down low where there are some scuff and scratches and dings. Paint and mud is good. Very minimal cracking.
I had my garage finished once I moved in. I tried painting it myself, but that old sheetrock just sucked up so much paint I got frustrated and hired painters to come fix up the seems and paint it. I also had the floor coated. Now, I love it each and every time I drive into the garage and it is much more pleasant to spend time out there working.
@@keithmarlowe5569 Thanks! I'll keep that in mind for my next house.
@@keithmarlowe5569 Agreed. Since it's also a potential wet area, I'd also have the technician include a mildewcide in the primer or use something like Kilz Mold&Mildew exterior Primer. This is especially important if you live in a more humid climate.
@@TwistedMe13 Or you can buy a small bottle of copper powder and add it to the paint. It's an old trick to make anti-fouling paint for boats for a lot less money.
Like adding fine grain clean sand to paint to make it anti-skid.
Or adding a small about of clear to regular paint to make it "glossy" instead of the cheap "flat".
Or.....
Painting is a skilled trade. Took me years to master it. Anyone can have a go but not anyone can do it well.
I have an 840 square-foot four car garage. I finished it with 5/8” FR Drywall as required in our area. I then gave it two coats of mud sanded smooth and then a coat of rolled on mud over the entire surface. I then painted the walls and ceiling with two coats of oil base high gloss white enamel finish. It’s been 25 years and it looks like it’s brand new, I say do it right the first time and you won’t have to do it over again.
You definitely did a great job on it! I bet it looks great.
Don’t you know that oil based paint is going to kill you?
I painted my garage with leftover primer and ignored that the finish wasn’t quite ready for paint. The primer has helped me with 2 problems. 1, when the wall gets wet it doesn’t soak it up instantly like a sponge. 2, I work in my garage a lot and the lighting is 10x better just by making the walls white in color. Cheap primer and a few lightbulbs and it’s like a completely new garage as far as working conditions and lighting go.
@@Bouldergoat exactly, he should have went with lead based paint. And blown in asbestos insulation.
YEAH BUDDY!! Ret. Builder of QUALITY homes here...INSULATED, FINISHED, PRIMED, SEMIGLOSS PAINTED, & HEATED!!! In Virginia...DOES NOT cost that much more on new construct!! From a hands on ret after hrs builder who is retired on PROFITS from correctly built & (much loved by buyers) homes! That's all I have to say about that....gump..Forest gump
You answered a question I had for a long time, thanks. Our house was 25 years old when we bought it and the garage was sheetrocked on the ceiling and the wall adjacent to the house. It was as brown as coffee and the taping was cracked and peeling. The other walls were just studs. I finished it off myself - insulation, sheetrock, taping & compounding, sanding (that was messy), priming, painting. I painted it with three different pastel colors so I would feel good evertime I pull into it.
Moving to Arizona I was surprised that garages are finished with texture and paint and mitered baseboards.
It's very much a regional thing. If I had baseboards in my garage in the northern US Rockies, they'd be rotted out after two winters. They'd make far more sense in a more arid environment.
I just bought a new build in the OKC area. Level 1/2 finish, no paint and it wasn't offered as an option.
I'm painting it now myself.
Glad the algo showed me this channel.
I've always wondered this question in the back of my mind. Why the hell does nobody seem to have a finished garage. By luck, youtube recommended me this video out of nowhere and I'm glad it did because this question can finally be answered. Thank you!
I think it's a cost benefit analysis ratio. In
Texas for example our labor for such jobs is cheap (illegal aliens), In Seattle it's very expensive. If you can finish a garage out in Texas for an extra $500 in cost and get back $2000-3000 more in purchase price, do it. In Seattle it would cost $3000 just for the garage and very little in end price. Especially in Seattle, they'll charge you $25,000 to finish the garage.
I’m confused. The assessor said finishing your garage would NOT have an impact on taxes, but at the end of the video the host said it WOULD impact your taxes. Which is it? Did I miss something?
The assessor basically said it's unlikely to be seen, so unlikely there would be any difference.
I would be more likely to buy what assessor said
I'm guessing it was error in script, that he forgot to fix script after talking to the assessor.
As part of getting our house ready to sell last year, I replaced damaged drywall in our garage and then finished all the joints properly from the level 1 finish the builder did 30 years ago. I then painted with two coats of a bright white stain killer. The place looked amazing after that. Bright and clean. We ended up moving to a very old house with a garage with bare studs. I'm not sure I can wait 30 years before doing something about it!
DIY person here. Dry walled and mudded garage as practice for some inside changes I wanted to do later.
I am a small home builder for the last 10 years... We would always texture and paint garages to show clients that we go the extra mile.. then people started complaining about small cracks in garage and paint touch ups... now we just texture it, but don't paint it, so that we don't have to do any of touch up warranties in the garage and giving the home owner opportunity to paint it themselves. The last few years every thing has gone up in price and to paint it actually cost a buck as well.
My parents in Maine have the standard level 1 finish just on the wall adjacent to the house (the rest was bare studs). They paid a professional painter to paint this and, less than a year later, the paper tape peeled and was hanging down in many places. Since then, i drywalled the rest, removed the peeling tape, and finished everything with a level 3-4ish finish and painted. Looks so much nicer and i have not heard anything about taxes.
LOL... oh the losers and their self assigned "levels".
@@Katchi_ its not self assigned.. lvl1 through lvl5 are different. lvl1 being no mud to lvl5 having the whole wall skim coated. go get bids on a professional drywall contractor and that is stipulated or just google drywall finish levels if you want to know what each means
I don't understand the tax argument. Where does the county assessor actually come into your house to see which rooms are painted? Even then, its not a livable room even if you do get it painted.
Of garage is insulated and not heated or cooled does it get mold and condensation
Interesting video. I have wondered the same thing. Up here in Canada, the level 1 finish is an even worse idea. People want to park their cars inside in the winter (to avoid having to clear them off and scrape ice in the morning). Of course the cars come in warm from being driven, and snow and slush melt onto the garage floor, even if the garage is unheated. If you do that in a level 1 finished garage, within a couple of years, the tape will have absorbed enough moisture to start separating from the drywall. You can imagine how nice that looks! My home was a custom build, but I was all prepared to have to finish the garage myself. Imagine my joy when I walked in one day near the end of the build to find the entire garage finished to the same standard as the rest of the house, even in the same colour palette. 15 years later, I have not even had to repaint yet. My car buddies are jealous!
I'm jealous too! Here in Utah we get a good bit of snow typically and get that same melt off and evaporation so the level 1 doesn't do us any favors.
@@LRN2DIY Because walls don't work, Migrants are cutting right through them
mine is going on 11 years in northern MN; unheated. long winters and -40 degree nights... Lots of snow and slush coming in all winter. Never had this problem thankfully...
This year I put a heater in and hope it gets rid of most moisture.. Should help it last even longer.
I saw Maine Cabin Masters one time and they said Chase's dad knew how to save time and money. He didn't tape dry wall on the camp , he put battons up, like board and batton siding. It looked good.
Also with a fully mudded and painted garage it reduces the concern of vehicle offgassing (especially CO). ) 0:54 There is enough splits and other penetrations in that 'finish' where that would be a concern.
My current home is just studs, it's an older home from the early 60s. My last home was a contemporary 2.5 car garage with a 14' ceiling and unfinished drywall. There was minimal lighting so I painted the walls with ultra bright white semi-gloss. I chose that to make wall cleaning easy and to increase the brightness in the garage. What a world of difference that made. Instead of a dark garage, just one overhead light fully illuminates the whole room.
I've done the same thing and it does make a difference. I just built my retirement home and upgraded my garage door to a well insulated on with windows. I've never had windows and what a difference it makes with lighting!
I lived next door to a frat house in Westwood Ca and those guys thought the house filled with studs too they were very loud .
@@Dwayne-mb2uj barrrum boomp!!
This is a great question and topic!
I am the second owner of my home, and when I bought it, the one-car garage has drywall, but wasn’t painted. We recently finished the garage by having it professionally painted and had custom cabinetry installed. Glad we did! I drive a 2022 Corvette Stingray which is kept in the garage, and now the garage is worthy of having such a car parked in it👍🏿
My husband was on the list for the 2024 Z06, and we designed a 4 car garage tall enough for a car stacker. But when his number was called to order his car he decided he'd rather invest the cash in the house than in a car . . . with housing costs rising so quickly, cars are staying roughly the same amount, so he'd save money by waiting on the car and building instead ;)
I have a home built in 1967 in the Chicago suburbs with an attached 20 X25 garage that had unfinished drywall on the ceiling and walls. Since I have owned this home for the last 31 years I have had it professionally muddled and taped and painted and have had the floor done with a polyurea surface.
$4,000 to $7,000 to paint a 2 car garage? I am a painter of 25 years. I recently primed and painted a 2 car garage. I charged $600.
Yeah years ago I had some painting done and I was charged $1 a square foot, not bad at all. That price is just crazy.
I was taught $1.00 a square foot. Too pricy I feel. I recently saw a post I will link. She said she charged $1,000 to paint a basic room just walls and it took her 16 hours. There is no client in my city that would ever pay that much to paint one room....even in million dollar homes.
th-cam.com/video/aDuxewP12LM/w-d-xo.html&lc=UgxSkWRwPkYKukADhWN4AaABAg.9vpFhg4xeC99yUZs2rITbp&ab_channel=PaintScout
@@venom5809
You're an honest hard working individual. Unlike builders.
He didn’t say to paint a garage he said to finish drywall and paint a garage.
I painted my last garage and had no issues but I’m leaving this one unfinished because it’s nice to have the stud locations visible so I can hang stuff and build off it. I think that’s more valuable than looks in the garage.
Top notch stud finder is like $25. LOL
I made a similar decision. I don't care about the looks that much, but I like being able to see where the studs are at a glance.
@@venom5809free and easier not to paint it.
I love my garage… insulated, covered with peg board, and painted. To me, that’s the best of all worlds. It looks nice, studs are still visible, climate controlled, and can hang stuff anywhere!
@@venom5809 I have one of those blue ones that has 3 lights on it that easily detect the studs. The walls in my garage are all painted nicely; and I got shelves all around now.
If you're adding trusscore, remember that you still need the fire separation rating from the house. Might be best to keep the drywall on those areas and install the trusscore directly overtop
I was told that the only real concerns for a garage attached to the house were fire rating and vapor blocking (so you don't kill your family with carbon monoxide) by warming up the car in the garage in the winter.
Of course, this changes for separated garages, which a lot of people out where I live prefer for the break in home insurance they bring. If it's not attached, you don't need to worry about burn-through time OR vapor blocking.
I've seen some people who wanted a covered walkway between the house and garage have the cover built so that it touches neither the house nor the garage, instead ending above or below the overhang of each as appropriate.
I just closed on a new construction home, and I was wondering why the garages weren't painted. Finishing my garage is definitely at the top of my list, thanks for the info!
My first home had a partially drywalled garage. Interior sides only. My neighbor, who did drywall as a former career, helped me insulate and drywall the exterior portions. After that, I simply painted the interior surfaces with the cheapest, gloss white paint on sale at the depot. What a HUGE difference. The single light bulb in the ceiling easily illuminated the interior.
The Colorado county assessor couldn't care less because i wasnt turning it into living space. During the nine years of living there, it showed no signs of peeling.
My neighborhood was developed from 2019 to 2021. Three different builders were involved, and as far as I know, every garage was finished--fully taped and sanded drywall, primed and painted--as part of the construction. It looks good, but there are times when I wish it had been left unfinished. That would have made doing upgrades like shelving, racks, wiring, plumbing, etc. a lot easier.
I agree. I really like to find all of the studs for shelves and hooks.
@@danielbeck9191 Not hard with drywall. It is much tougher if you have real plaster, and somebody sheetrocked over the plaster. Stud finders dont work very will in that situation.
I do painting and some drywalling. I've had a few jobs finishing level 1 drywalled garages. The biggest things to pay attention to if DIYing it is if its been like that for a long time all the exhaust, and general mess of garages gets into the drywall and will bleed through paint, so often it needs a good stain blocking primer. Also the drywall tape will start to fail in places and even if not finished to a higher level does need to be re done in places where its failing.
I painted one garage on a new house last year that was so nice because they plan to use it a lot. It had heated floors, a full glass garage door connected to a screened in deck, a counter with a sink and cabinets for food, an attached bathroom. Loved it!
Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Come to Jesus Christ today
Jesus Christ is only way to heaven
Repent and follow him today seek his heart Jesus Christ can fill the emptiness he can fill the void
Heaven and hell is real cone to the loving savior today
Today is the day of salvation tomorrow might be to late come to the loving savior today
John 3:16-21
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
Mark 1.15
15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.
2 Peter 3:9
The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
Hebrews 11:6
6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Jesus
My house came with a level 1 on the garage. I finished it to level 4 finish without texture. Painted the ceiling white and walls grey. I love it. Soon after I saw everyone in the neighborhood doing the same
Nice nieghborhood if you can leave your garage door open all day. I hope your wife feels as safe as you do.
I insulated and did a level one sheetrock to the walls and ceiling that were not in contact with my living space (which already had that for fire code compliance). The rafters were originally open - I added a 3/4" plywood floor. The back of my garage is a workshop and the insulation really helped the comfort level. The interior of the garage is 22 x 32, much larger than a typical modern home. Mine was built in 1956.
Was wondering why all garages where I currently live (Coast) are finished versus where I used to live (Mountains). The comment about it being required in higher humidity levels makes complete sense. This also made me do a further garage inspection and realized my garage door is built for hurricanes with the massive amounts of extra brackets, cross bars etc haha. Thanks for the great info!!!
Just bought a higher end new build near Seattle Washington and I was mentally preparing to paint the walls before I moved it but to my surprise it was already done by the builder. They even added trim to the doors and window in there just like inside the house. This is very rare around here.
In Florida (at least where I live), the building code is that all single family homes have to be cinder block construction (on the first floor at least). So my garage has painted cinder block walls and then a finished stud and drywall wall that’s adjacent to the house. I’ve never seen any unfinished garages anywhere near where I live (central Florida). [Building code is block for hurricane resistance]
My aunt and uncle in Florida have concrete walls on the first floor and and garage. That house was built in the 50’s and hasn’t had any damage to the structure and only minor roof damage… I wonder if it’s a cost thing to use block these days?
Sounds about right. I stayed in an Airbnb in Florida several months ago and it was exactly that.
Concrete block, stucco exterior, wood shutters and a hip roof, my FL home is near bullet-proof for hurricanes and my 2-car garage/ shop is totally finished too. One trick I do use when we get a warning is to pull into the garage, place a sheet of ply against the inside of the rollup door and hand-roll the car backwards up to it to prevent the door from blowing in, if that happens say goodbye to your roof.
" have to be cinder block construction"
They arent "cinder" blocks, those havent been manufactured since the 1950s, they are concrete blocks, they are made from mold-form injected concrete.
@@HobbyOrganist
lmfao yo, typical day at jobsite:
"hey let's load up these cinder blocks"
or
"hey let's load up these mold-form injected concrete blocks"
what you think is more likely?
I have never seen where the city will stop by and ask if you have finished the garage or did any updates. They have no leagal right to even ask
Thanks for this video. Always wondered why this house that I had built from scratch 11 years ago, had a garage that looked like it wasn’t done yet. It looked exactly like your garage.
Dude, the first house we moved into had an unpainted garage and all of my friends kept busting on me every time I posted a photo in the garage with the walls unpainted. Took about a month to do it up right, had a lot of drywall work to repair from previous owners. ugh. But like you I ran cable tv cords for a tv in there, audio cables, plenty of extra outlets and recharging stations, so it was pretty epic and helped sell the house in the end. It helped I had a few arcade games out there too when buyers were touring the house. :)
The house I bought had unfinished drywall in the garage, and yeah it was ugly. There was lots of little damage over 30 years, so I patched it all up, then after a coat of primer and 2 coats of white semi gloss it looks pretty good! The only problem is that I didn't think ahead that I would eventually want a mini-split in the garage, so now I'm considering tearing out about half the walls (exterior ones) to insulate them. Which means redoing a lot of the work...
This is why I am not sure I would even want a finsihed garage. All those little damages over 30 years are still going to happen but now you have to deal with paint on top of the normal patching. and like you pointed out, it adds more work anytime you want to change it up. every couple of years I am moving around shelving, cabinets, hooks, etc. A finished garage would add that much more work.
We had our house built 20+ years ago.
Living in MN, we added insulation to the exterior garage walls before they put up the sheetrock.
Pretty sure they did a Level 1 tape job, since I didn't know any better and much of it started peeling/splitting after a while.
We did paint and prime very early on and have not had any issue with the tax assessment.
I prefer the more finished look - but mostly I'm glad we added the insulation when we did.
"We did paint and prime very early on and have not had any issue with the tax assessment."
They just haven't updated your assessment yet is why, they do it on a schedule, it might be every 5 or 10 years or some other timeframe.
Here in Canada, in the two provinces I lived in, it's done just to not waste money on it, as it doesn't really add to the homes value.
However, I did notice newer ones are painting them, and it could be due to the area being higher humidity.
I’m turning ours into an apartment. If one has a garage? And bought it before housing prices shot up. You couldn’t built a garage for the price you paid for the house. Plus zoning, permits, inspections etc. Plus depending on one state, province etc one might have to ask the neighbors if they’re ok with it.
I added insulation then drywall, then knockdown and painted it up. No permit needed. Looks great and didn't cost me much. Only down side is when I wanted to run another line for a receptacle.
my first two houses had bare unfinished garages. I insulated, vapor barrier'd and drywalled both of them. Also insulated the cheaper doors with foam. Made a giant difference all year round in the temperature range in the garage, and also helped the living spaces adjacent to the garage.
I have been an appraiser for almost 20 years. I have NEVER heard of a finished garage being a premium a buyer would pay for OR the finish affecting the property taxes.
thats because you've been an appraiser for 20 years. LMAO.
I am not actively looking for a finished garage.. but if the house i want to buy has a finished garage with nice lighting, paint, and nice concrete finished floor or epoxy..i would LOVE that and definitely consider it a plus
A few years ago we bought a brand new home in a small new single family home development in DC. It was the model home and already had the foundation filled and walls up but that's it. The salesman didn't want to sell the model home as he wanted a place to base his sales operations out of but honestly it was all about him as there were only ten houses in that community and they sold pretty fast despite us buying that model home. He just wanted an office. Anyway, the company undercut him and said they'd consider selling the model home which would mean they'd only get to use it for a couple months in that capacity. We asked for some unplanned upgrades since it was early on in the build process and they resisted us on everything. One thing we asked for was to have the garage walls painted and they said "no way." Then we walked through the neighborhood and noticed that all the other homes had painted walls in the garage. So we pointed this out and the guy in charge of construction for the company gave us an estimate: $5,000 to paint our two car garage. We were flabbergasted. The site foreman for the company in charge of building out our community told us the following week he had a surprise for us. He had the garage painted for us on his own initiative. He said it was BS that they gave us a quote for $5,000 to paint the interior of the garage. He said he had it done quickly and it cost him only $400 using his internal resources. He was ashamed that his company did that to us. He asked us to keep it on the down low and not tell them he did it. There is no reason not to pain the garage walls and our community all has painted walls, although our house's garage is painted due to the good will of the lead contractor who is a good guy.
That foreman sounds like a good guy, I would give him a few extra $$ tip for his initiative.
@@N20Joe He was. We gave him and his wife a gift card for a free dinner and drinks at their favorite restaurant.
I was a professional commercial drywall finsher and finished some houses when I worked for a framer that did some remodeling. I fully finished a couple other people's garages so they could paint them after I left the trades. It was always nice having large areas of sheetrock that just needed to meet fire code. I also mostly worked in the trades when there was more work available than we could keep up with. Most of the time my bosses were in a hurry to get me to the next jobsite. Other than I have no good reasoning for why so many garages are left unfinished. After the 9/11 attacks, construction dried up in Minnesota and I just went back to working security instead of dealing with trying to stay active in the trades. Maybe they finish more at a lower price now that they are more desperate for work.
I used to finish drywall and I remember the fire walls between "economic" townhouses had to be 4 layers of water resistant drywall between townhomes where I worked. These were low cost townhomes, built in more expensive housing developments , where building some economic housing was required.
@@BrandonLeeBrown I dealt with a wall like that once that I can remember, we converted an old building into some kind of small school. They divided it into 3 sections with I believe 6 layers of fire rated sheet rock, instead of adding sprinklers. I don't remember much, but the carpenters used really long sheetrock screws, the studs must have been extra thick. The General Supervisor had me finish a hatch with half a corner bead around it that his crew installed in an emergency stairwell. The hatch looked like it was made in a high school sheet metal shop. They shoved it in too far into the wall so that the ends of the half corner bead flared out. I told the Superintendent that I need some space above the bead to fill in as I rocked my knife back and forth over where the end of the bead was sticking out, and each time I explained why (probably 5 times total), he just responded "feather it out". I gave up and found a carpenter who ran screws through the bead, sucking it into the gap the Superintendent left between the hatch and the wall. No surprise, that hatch didn't pass the fire inspection, and they installed an emergency hatch that was as thick as the wall.
This topic intrigued me because every house I’ve lived in always had a completely finished garage. To me, that was expected and normal. Not just paint on smooth drywall but with texture and all just like the insides of the homes. Last two homes were both DR Horton in FL and they were finished exactly like the inside of the house. I’m spoiled I guess.
I built my home hired all the contractors. I did all the painting in the whole house so I painted the garage and I also had the ceiling textured. I have a three car garage and no it did not affect my property taxes.
Oh also it’s heated and most important. I had a hot and cold water Spicket put in so I can wash my animals with warm water and not have to bring them inside to do it.
If you park your car in your garage you should make sure you have sealed it. This means sealed electrical, the plumbing if any. Where the walls meets the foundation you will want to use an acoustic caulking. If there is a room above the garage need to check in the ceiling where the brick meets the roof line to see how or if if it was even insulated. If they can cover up sloppy work they will. I have seen this in some garages along with a couple of DIY shows. Of course if you are using it as a work shop you do not want any fumes or dust to enter your house. Every small hole or crack will end up the the size of a basket ball. That's a lot of air movement. The house is a vaccuum chamber.
3 things certain in life: death, taxes, not enough garage space!My 1997 built home in Utah was finished to level 1 - ugly drywall.
The Mr’s’ slave laborer (as I refer to myself) finished the walls with light ‘old world’ texture (perfect for imperfections and filling old holes) easy for any DIYer (I have no drywall experience at all), light grey paint, even hung extra crown molding above the house entrance 😂. Other upgrades include: epoxy floors, 50 TV, retractable electrical cords, ski and bike racks, lockers, griswold attic ladder, 8000 lumen LED lights from Costco, and way too much stuff(junk as the Mrs calls it)!
Just had an $850,000 home built last year, the builder fully finishes the garage as a standard. Baseboard & trim, level three, paint on all surfaces, and insulated. Tax assessor didn’t even look at the garage. It’s considered garage for tax purposes, not a finished living space. Maybe that’s not true in every municipality, but the idea that a coat of paint changes the tax burden is some Dunning-Krueger-assumption kind of stuff.
6:42 Thank you for recognizing the audience bias in your poll! I've seen other videos that overlook this when it should be common sense and an obvious factor.
Finished mine with a full home theater and everything. It’s still usable for parking cars in also. I love my garage now.
I would LOVE to see a DIY video on how to take it from a level 1 to paintable surface. Want to tackle my 4 car garage this spring.
Hire a drywall guy to mud/tape & paint it
@@KrushKrills he said DIY
like the other guy said for contractors but yourself pretty much, if you aren't super picky about the quality it can be pretty easy. The hardest part is going to be drywall though.
Its def worth hiring it out, they can do in a day what would keep your garage out of commission for a week or more to DIY it. JUST drywall tape/mud job is actually relatively cheap vs a full drywall install and finish.
There are quite a few TH-camrs who will tell you how to finish drywall.
Here are three:
That Kilted Guy
Vancouver Carpenter
Paul Peck Drywalltube
Maybe the most important part is to pay close attention to how thick or thin the mud should be depending on if it’s first second third or texture coat.
Also, the different types of drywall mud. The first coat with the tape is different, than topcoats, for example.
(Topcoat mud is easier to sand.)
Whereas in Australia you get a completed garage in every house, and if you asked for it *not* to be completed you'd get looked at like you had two heads.
That's so good to hear - I wish it were that way here!
You gotta love how property taxes encourage people to NOT improve their living spaces... thanks, government! 🤦
my house was brand new, having it textured and painted was a 1600$ upgrade. of course I said yep :)
just makes me feel good, pulling into my beautiful garage, to my wonderful house.
and when you open the door, the world can see in your house there. much better.
My builder allowed me to add insulation in the garage before they dry-walled it. I am not handy, but completed it over the weekend. It rely made a difference in the warm of the garage in the winter and it helped add an additional warmth to the walls that were shared with the house.
Raise your taxes for painting inside of the garage. That’s BS.
So what can you do instead?
@joel1gamebeast482 The government can start by not taxing people for finishing their garage. The home owner could put up temporary wall decorations such as posters or some type of cloth pinned to the wall. This all depends on how stupid and ridiculous both parties are. You could always just pay higher taxes.
@1:45 Oh, no, my friend. They _will_ save that money, even on million dollar houses. _That's_ how cheap they are.
Too much time was wasted.....he should have just painted his garage.
Mine looked like that but with a primer coating. I noticed that the tape on the joints was peeling off a couple of years ago. About a month ago I returned home from work and opened the garage door to park my truck in there as usual and noticed a huge mess. While I was at work two sections of drywall had fallen where my truck is usually parked. After years of parking a truck that is wet from rain or snow and having the warm moist air rise up to the ceiling, the drywall was absorbing that moisture and the glue and nails could no longer support the drywall and it came down. I suggest inspecting yours in case this is happening to you. Now I need to replace sections and paint the entire garage to seal the drywall.
As a county assessor, this is the silliest thing I ever heard. We would never increase an assessment because somebody spent $50 bucks on paint for the garage walls.
I am a county plans examiner and building inspector. Here In Washington all attached garages require fire separation per the IRC. Not sure how an attached garage can meet fire separation without proper drywall, fire taping, and fire blocking. Yes there’s no requirement for painting or final finishing but can not be left without proper 5/8” type x on the lid and 1/2” on attached walls.
I build homes in Oregon. Most builders here including myself finish the garage drywall all the way through.
I've had lot's of buyers from the Arizona or Texas that are surprised to see it finished and mention that they had a taped only garage back where they moved from.
My builder did. It was a deciding factor for me buying the home that I did. It was a standard feature for my builder
Omg, I’m constantly in my garage complaining that someone took the time to drywall the garage but didn’t finish. This makes sense! My garage was built in 1958 so I assumed it was a lazy previous owner. And it probably was, but at least it’s normal.
Our 21 year old, 3rd owner home has a textured finished garage. I like it 😊
Our house was about 4 years old when we bought it. The garage had the level 3 sheetrock already, as well as insulation on the exterior wall, interior walls, and in the ceiling. I added extra outlets, extra lighting, and put slatwall on the walls.
Mine was painted but I really wish it was just studs. I'd love to insulate and add aircon but I'm not tearing down walls.
this is fascinating tomme because indont think i’ve ever seen a garage proper (where the car lives) with finished walls, only storage areas beyond a door.
when my mother bought a house in 81, my grandfather finisged the back half of the garage for storage for her; there was already a full wall and door between the two parts. east san francisco bay area. he told me that if you want to store fabric, paper, etc, you finish the walls both to better keep pests out and to reduce moisture. probably relatedly, both their garages were separate buildings from the house and unheated.
I finished (level 3) and painted my garage when we moved into the house. I was surprised that the garage walls were not completely finish and at least primed at a minimum. I was a Navy electrician and never did drywall work before, so it took me about 2 weeks with a LOT of sanding! That was 28 years ago and it could probably use a little more attention now, but it is still holding up. Oh, and no tax increase!
25 year drywall contractor here. I always finish garages. Ususally taped 2 coats and textured ceiling and walls.
I purchased my in expensive home in 2007 brand new. The home is 1500sqft. with attached garage; it came with the garage finished, painted, nicely trimmed doors and baseboards.
im a drywall contractor in idaho . yes you can paint over level one without issues . sometimes the crew fire taping the garage does a crappy job, so check for blistered tape . its pretty cheap to hire a local drywall guy to put one coat over the fire tape and sand it out , probly on a weekend . then you can paint yourself and it will look pretty good
I never really thought about this. We purchased a recently built house that had been occupied by someone else for 2 years. The inside of the house was finished nicely. The garage attached to the house has the level one finish and still does (although we have added some insulation to the garage door and ceiling). The detached garage was just sticks.
I live in Florida. My current home has an attached garage. The walls are cement block walls...no drywall except for the one wall which directly adjoins the house. That wall is drywall and painted.
My prior home was in Illinois and had a detatched brick garage. The interior walls were the exposed brick and unpainted.
My parents last two homes in Illinois both had detatched stand alone garages. The first house they had the garage built. The second house came with a garage. Both had just the bare 2 X 4 stud walls. In both cases we insulated the walls between the studs with roll fiberglass insulation, then covered it with plywood. No painting for either.
In cold climates, cracking can occur with fully finished drywall. Going from -20°F to 95 F in the Summer can mean settling, joint expansion, and cracking. High end homes can come with heated garages but I am sure it is a minuscule minority of all garages. Thanks for the video.
Most attached garages here in Houston are finished with drywall and painted but detached garages are usually left with studs exposed…at least in my experience.
Here in Florida where most houses are built out of concrete block, garages will typically have 2 or 3 of the walls that are just painted concrete block. That's the case with my parent's house. My house's garage is fully finished with with painted drywall because the previous owner did that, but it is still used as a garage. Finished walls are nice but it takes away a few inches from the width of the garage, which does make a difference in mine as I actually can fit two cars in my garage plus floor to ceiling shelving along both sides.
The builder of many of the homes in our neighborhood had finished garages. Mine had paneling and rough cut cedar as trim around the windows and doors. It doesn’t need maintenance and I have been in the home 34 years.
I live in Texas and I turned a church into a house/workshop. I talked to the appraisal district before making an offer for this specific reason. I removed the flooring, the acoustic tile ceiling, and air conditioning ducts to convert the sanctuary into a garage/workshop and installed a big garage door. The appraisal district had to inspect/measure the garage afterward, but they updated my house to list the square footage as unfinished.
My wife thought I was crazy when in both of our homes, I painted the inside of the garage. Just looks so much better and sometimes you have a bunch of leftover paint or pick up some cheap leftover on neighborhood Craigslist. Zero peeling issues.
My family moved into a new house in the early 80's. I was 4. The garage was unfinished drywall. I distinctly remember seeing footprints on the walls and ceiling and asking dad about it.
We had the level one after construction and as a house warming gift, my brother painted the garage. Looks nice! I think because it was a garage (after all) he did no special sealing or anything like that. About 10 years later we had the house re-evaluated for the county tax assessor because the values of homes had been greatly reduced in our neighborhood after the 2008 debacle. The inspector seemed to take no notice of the garage at all. Our taxes were reduced because of the overall loss of value. The house is now 18 years old and the paint job is intact.
Our builder offered fully drywalled, paint, wall insulation and insulated garage door for $1600 for 2 car garage. We went with it. After we moved in, the inspection was done, but he never asked to check the garage.
My 1275 sq ft garage is insulated, painted, heated and air conditioned. Additionally I have the custom garage flooring and I love it.
I immediately hit mine with Kilz primer upon moving in. Nothing more. But it appears painted white, and that is enough to look better and add a little protection for the drywall from moisture.
I painted my garage that had a level 1 drywall finish. I didn't add any other level of paint and I have not had any issues. Paing has been on strong for the last 16 years. :D
I'm a small boutique builder who does 2 homes a year. I just do a quick coat of Kilz primer on the garage. Its only $200 in material and $800 in labor and seals what is otherwise a semi-permeable surface from high humidity you can get in the summer.
Where I live in NH you have to install min 1/2” fire rated drywall on walls & ceiling of a garage (5/8” if there’s living space on the other side), for fire timing buffer. It has to be at least level 1 taping the “seal” the envelope.
I’m not sure about the property tax implications of finishing and painting.
Depends on the state. In California, property taxes are based on the purchase price. It never goes up.
I bought a new home in 2021 and they drywalled and taped off the Garage pretty well. I paid a local painter $600 to Prime and Paint my 2 car garage. It was totally worth it.