Painting The INSIDE Of A Steel Building

[CADplans]

I built my shop back in 1999.
I got a really great deal on all the steel, including the siding material.
The reason for the great price was that the siding had sat a while, and some rust had formed on the inside surface of the steel siding.

I put the siding (and roofing,, all similar material) on the building, but, I never got around to painting the inside.


Now, over 20 years later, the inside still looks like the day I put the siding up,, some rust..

The main reason that I never painted is that
1) painting buildings is not my favorite job
2) in the summer, it is usually too hot to do that type project.
3) in the winter, it is usually too cold to paint.
4) it is just a shop,, it does not "need" to look too pretty.

Well, I have been cleaning up the shop lately, and Hmmmm,, some paint would look nice on the walls.

I was thinking that rolling on Rust-Oleum, or Tractor Supply paint might be best,,

So, I have some questions
A) is rolling on the paint the best way to apply the paint?
B) is 45 to 65 degrees F too cold to apply paint?
C) should I use Gloss, Satin, or Flat paint? And what is the advantage of each?
D) maybe I should "leave well enough alone", and not paint,, it may be worse than it is now??
E) should I use japan drier? It is supposed to make enamel dry faster, Hmmmmm.
F) what brand of paint should I use?

Also, here are a couple pics of the 16X27 foot area of the mezzanine,, the entire building is 57X45 and up to 22 feet high.

What Would YOU Do??

 

[D2Cat]

It's been that way 23 years. Leave it alone!

 

[crashz]

Cool Shop!

It seems tight and dry, doubtful if the rust will get worse unless you have a leak. If you intend on making the mezzanine a man-cave space, a coat of paint would define it a bit better. Been thinking about painting the walls in my garage to reflect the light better. Yours seems pretty bright now, but having a coat of white on the walls may utilize the light better?

Of course if you paint and make the loft a man-cave, then comes insulation and heat.

 

[CADplans]

Cool Shop!

It seems tight and dry, doubtful if the rust will get worse unless you have a leak. If you intend on making the mezzanine a man-cave space, a coat of paint would define it a bit better. Been thinking about painting the walls in my garage to reflect the light better. Yours seems pretty bright now, but having a coat of white on the walls may utilize the light better?

Of course if you paint and make the loft a man-cave, then comes insulation and heat.

Thanks for the comments,,

As far as insulation, the "roof" is actually a double layer of steel, spaced six inches apart.
When you look at the ceiling, that is 4 foot drops that a siding company sold me for 50 cents each.
Normally, they simply send pieces that small to recycling, so ANY money was a big profit.
My hope was that heat could not radiate through two layers of steel, that was a complete success.
In the summer it is always as cool as the air temperature outside.
My SIL has a similar building, his is about 1.5 times higher. His building has a single steel layer for a roof.
You can hardly walk in the building during the summer, the heat gain is so high.

I bought so many of the siding drops, I thought it was gonna blow out the tires on a 1/2 ton pickup,,
I drove home, never going over 40 MPH,,, LOL!!

The ceiling is 6 inch tall wide flange "I" beams, the same beams that Pennsylvania DOT uses for guard rail posts.
Here is a pic of a saw horse made out of the same beam.

The short siding drops set in the lower flange, the roofing sets on the top flange of the beams.
6 inch bats of fiberglass insulation rest between the two layers of steel.

One infrared heater can keep the area shown sort of comfortable in Virginia daytime winter days.
NOTHING can heat the building at night,, the steel siding gets way too cold.

The ceiling was installed mostly to make the building better lit, it has been a success.
The galvanized steel really reflects light.

I have always debated between white, and silver paint.
One would look good, the other would reflect more light,,, Hmmmmmmm,,

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

I built my shop back in 1999.
I got a really great deal on all the steel, including the siding material.
The reason for the great price was that the siding had sat a while, and some rust had formed on the inside surface of the steel siding.

I put the siding (and roofing,, all similar material) on the building, but, I never got around to painting the inside.


Now, over 20 years later, the inside still looks like the day I put the siding up,, some rust..

The main reason that I never painted is that
1) painting buildings is not my favorite job
2) in the summer, it is usually too hot to do that type project.
3) in the winter, it is usually too cold to paint.
4) it is just a shop,, it does not "need" to look too pretty.

Well, I have been cleaning up the shop lately, and Hmmmm,, some paint would look nice on the walls.

I was thinking that rolling on Rust-Oleum, or Tractor Supply paint might be best,,

So, I have some questions
A) is rolling on the paint the best way to apply the paint?
B) is 45 to 65 degrees F too cold to apply paint?
C) should I use Gloss, Satin, or Flat paint? And what is the advantage of each?
D) maybe I should "leave well enough alone", and not paint,, it may be worse than it is now??
E) should I use japan drier? It is supposed to make enamel dry faster, Hmmmmm.
F) what brand of paint should I use?
View attachment 773716View attachment 773717
Also, here are a couple pics of the 16X27 foot area of the mezzanine,, the entire building is 57X45 and up to 22 feet high.

What Would YOU Do??

You asked what would I do so here goes.
I'd shop around finding a good price on "double bubble" reflective insulation. It's clean working with and I'd use a hammer stapler. With a helper it would go fast & easy, stapling to wood braces as you go. It has an R value of 3 to 17 (type/thickness). When through it would have a bright reflective finish with some amount of insulation.
Some areas I'd probably put up pegboard also over the double bubble. One small garage I have my F150 is in now...all double bubble and walls up 8 feet are pegboard.
Everything on hooks and top area really reflects light. I heat it with small propane heater and it's great.

 

[2manyrocks]

There may be just enough gloss on that sheet metal that you'd really need to carefully determine what needs to be done to make another coat of paint stick to it without peeling. I tend to agree with the idea of leaving well enough alone. It looks so much better than so many other shops already.

 

[cmyoung2]

If you decide to paint, I would get an airless sprayer, much faster and better coverage than a roller. I got a

Graco 17A466 TrueCoat 360 DS , have only used it for a couple of small jobs, but I think I like it, Next big projects will be painting a couple of out buildings, one 10'x16', the other a 2 story, 20x20 barn.​

 

[dstig1]

No opinion on what to do, as that is all personal preference, but if you elect to paint, then an airless sprayer is the way to go. Trying to roll with all the corrugations in the steel will be a nightmare. You can get long sprayer wand extensions so you can reach high up from the ground or at least from more simple scaffold or platform.

Can rent or buy something and resell it when done. Consider the purchase vs selling price to be your rental fee but without the worries of getting it back to the rental shop in time. Most big box stuff in this class is meant to be disposable so don't expect as much resale from those. Or watch craigslist for a used one and buy that yourself. The if you resell it, you will probably get all your money back.

 

[MF243RedTop]

If you paint it, treat the rust first... Don't just cover it up with paint.
My choice of a rust converter..

 

[Torvy]

All other comments seem reasonable. Second the opinions on a sprayer and removing/treating rust first.

Paint finish? Partially about preference on looks. The glossier the finish, the easier to wipe off dirt and such. Glossy also reflects more light. Personally, I prefer the look of the 'eggshell' (just a notch more glossy than flat).

Behr has worked well for us over the years. Not as pricey as some, but not the cheapest either.