Joint Compound + Paint on Plywood Walls.?

Question

I need to paint the plywood walls in my garage. I was told that if I mixed a little joint compound with the paint, it will make the walls look smoother and create a better finish. Problem is, I don't know what kind of paint to use or what the ration of paint to joint compound should be. Looking for advice from someone who has "been there, done that."

Answer 1

why not just buy some cheap wallpaper?  drywall joint compound is made for use with drywall. it will dry up and fall off and mixing paint in with the mud will be a big mess.  good luck

www.frankawitz.net

Answer 2

No, No, No. if you really don't know what your doing here you'll have the biggest mess and ugliest walls you ever saw!!!  Sheetrock finishers have been known to thin mud down with water and roll it on walls and slick it out to a finish; trouble is you weaken the chemical bonding and tensile strength of the mud so much that it eventually cracks, chips and flakes, just look at the production bult homes walls after a year or so of being built. Adding paint correctly brings back the adhesion and the acrylic adds to the strength, but again if you don't know what your doing it's a mess and you'll get one texture. . . rolled on ugly.

Here's what you do to get it right and achieve an easy lasting finish:

1. make sure all the nails or screws are flat to the boards surface.

2. fill the joints of the boards and any hole and imperfections with a interior/exterior spackling like "Fast & Final" and sand off any ridges or bumps.

3. thin some drywall mud to the consistency of a wet milk shake and spray on a medium orange peel until you have the finish you want; you can also wait a few minutes and knock the texture down with a drywall knife to achieve a knockdown finish.  The sprayer (hopper) and compressor is available to rent almost anywhere tools and equipment is rented.

4. Now prime and paint and you'll have professional results.  I prefer using Glidden Gripper on this type of project as it really bonds the two surfaces well and is an excellent primer/sealer.  Just be sure to drop the floors and mask out the windows & doors to avoid a mess to clean up and off.  The drywall texture will wash off with water, but the Gripper won't come off so easily or out of your concrete floor.

For clarification for people like Tedruski, who apparently don't know how to read, have comprehension issues, and apparently doesn't know what works and what doesn't . . . there is no reference in my answer regarding taping the joints, or the use mud on anything but to spray texture with; also, you don't prime and then apply mud in this circumstance; and then, you only do that when you are punching out and perfecting a smooth walls finish prior to painting. Furthermore, it's actually of no consequence how fast the plywood absorbs the moisture out of the texture, except in respect to the timing in knocking the texture down.  Follow my instructions. . . you'll have a great looking walls that will last.

Mike Lonergan

TradesProfessional, Inc.

http://tradesprofessional.com

Answer 3

I have heard of that but never tried it but I see where you are coming from, painted plywood is ugly. You might try renting a drywall compound sprayer and treat them as you would drywall. tape the joints and put a wide strip of joint compound over it, smooth it with sandpaper, then spray the compound over the whole wall then knock it down with a trowel. Then put a couple of coats of Kilz on the wall (it is a primer), and paint it with regular latex paint.

Answer 4

Plywood will literally suck the moisture right out of the joint compound too quickly and then the tape will buckle and air pockets will form.

Better thing to do is to Prime all the plywood with a good quality wood primer. This will seal it. Then take some joint compound and a 6" wide putty knife. Fill all the indentations and cracks in the plywood with the putty knife. Let dry 24 hrs. and then go over them again. Be neat and scrape off any excess compound before it dries. Light sand between these coats. You may have to put a 3rd round of compound on deeper spots. Now take your remaining primer and go over your spots you put compound on a couple of times.

Now put on your final 2 coats of finish paint. Use a good quality Latex Paint such as Porter Paints,Sherwin Williams. Use a Flat finish to hide more imperfections, Satin or Semi Gloss Finish will show more of the imperfections in the plywood. Put on 2 coats for a good job.

If you still want to try adding joint compound to the paint - add about 1 quart of compound to 1 gallon of paint - mix with a ribbon style paint mixer wand in a drill. Best to mix it up in a clean 5 gallon bucket. Mix it up really good. Keep mixing up as you use paint or the joint compound will settle out in the bottom. I still would not try to tape the plywood joints - better to fill them first as mentioned, but only after you prime the plywood.

Answer 5

I used regular latex paint and mixed the paint into the premixed joint compound until it was the consistency of cake batter and applied it with a roller to primed sheetrock walls.  I can't tell you what the proportions were because I went by trial and error.  If I had to guess I would say it was probably close to 50 - 50.  This was for use in an enclosed breezeway and it came out much better than I had hoped.

I'm wondering if you should prime the plywood first.

I suggest you go to Home Depot and chat with the Behr paint sales staff.  They usually know their stuff.

Good luck, I'm sure it will look great!