Paintable surface - Why are some surfaces gray?

I created a new building model for a fun interior design project and some of the walls/surfaces are white, some are dark gray. The dark gray surfaces won’t let me paint them. What do I need to change to make these walls paintable? Thanks.

Welcome to the forums @RktScientist! One of the first things I learned about these forums is that people around here tend to be more visual thinkers when it comes to figuring out problems. Can you post some screenshots or, better yet, upload the .skp file so we can take a look at it? I realize that sometimes this is not possible for whatever reason and can try working with you to resolve it without these, but uploading them is usually the fastest way to get things solved.

BuildingDesignRS.skp (839.1 KB)

I uploaded the file I’m playing with. Thanks for your assistance.

@RktScientist, the gray surfaces are the backsides of surfaces. Simply right click them and then choose Reverse Faces. Right now they are “inside-out.”

While @TheOnlyAaron is correct regarding the surfaces being reversed, you should still be able to paint them. I downloaded your file and tried painting a few walls and had no problems. Are you able to paint the “non-grey walls” or is it specific to the “grey walls?”

Also, have you done anything with your styles? Some custom styles or edited versions of one of the default styles can alter the way things are displayed.

Thanks! I was hoping it was something simple. I reversed them as suggested. Yes, it was only the dark grey surfaces that were giving me grief. I appreciate your assistance.

Not Rocket Science… eh? :slight_smile:

1 Like

@RktScientist - I hope You did not change the inside ? For example : see my guideline - there is grey the inside of the wall; draw a line on the guide to check that !

BTW: avoid lines like “door-moving-angles” (sorry, it´s not my language and I am no architect).
Wherever You can use guidelines !

Yes, I’m apparently not there yet. I also have found that some walls are missing a face. How do I just put the face back on one side? I think that’s the problem in the pic above too.

I’m really new to this so sorry for dumb questions, but I added the plus to the measuring tool, but the line it draws disappears after I let go of the cursor. I thought it used to leave a line behind when I had the + showing.

Use the pencil…

ha ha. I tried making a box first. I warned you I was new to this.

When a face doesn’t form, first try tracing any edge with the line tool. Sometimes SketchUp fails to create a face or deletes one for arcane reasons. If tracing an edge doesn’t work, try drawing a diagonal between two vertices. If that causes one or more faces to appear, the problem is that the corners are not coplanar so a single face can’t cover them.

However that is, just sweeping all the dust under the rug. It will eventually turn around and hit you back.

@slbaumgartner knows this, just thought I would add to his comment.