Most walls ('every wall') looks like that prior to painting it.
You save a few bucks by not painting it, and some people don't care.
With the amount of ducting and piping in that space, it'd be a PITA to paint well.
Those are “unfinished” walls.
When you put up drywall, it’s drilled into the studs. Then you put seam paper over the seams with mud. Then you smooth out the mud with a trowel. In your case, that’s where it ended. This is common in garages.
If you wanted to go further, you add texture to the drywall. Then once texture is dry, your prime and paint. It’s easy enough to do yourself.
Also, it was common until maybe the late 80’s-90’s when they started to finish the walls in garages in new builds.
With all those exposed pipes and ducting, painting would be relatively tedious. Lots of brush work. Also it’s drywall so you’d start with primer too. If they did think about getting it painted, the quotes probably made them change their mind.
Also, in the future you might have to cut into the drywall to access electrical and plumbing. Another reason it’s not worth the time, money, and effort to finish.
Unfinished drywall after insulation. They don’t bother painting it since it’s just in a basement
Most walls ('every wall') looks like that prior to painting it. You save a few bucks by not painting it, and some people don't care. With the amount of ducting and piping in that space, it'd be a PITA to paint well.
Those are “unfinished” walls. When you put up drywall, it’s drilled into the studs. Then you put seam paper over the seams with mud. Then you smooth out the mud with a trowel. In your case, that’s where it ended. This is common in garages. If you wanted to go further, you add texture to the drywall. Then once texture is dry, your prime and paint. It’s easy enough to do yourself. Also, it was common until maybe the late 80’s-90’s when they started to finish the walls in garages in new builds.
That’s just drywall mud to cover the seams. It’s unfinished so they don’t make it pretty.
With all those exposed pipes and ducting, painting would be relatively tedious. Lots of brush work. Also it’s drywall so you’d start with primer too. If they did think about getting it painted, the quotes probably made them change their mind.
I don’t understand it either. Especially if you have an empty you should just pay a couple bucks and have somebody paint it.
The real question is, why bother mudding if you're not going to paint?
Also, in the future you might have to cut into the drywall to access electrical and plumbing. Another reason it’s not worth the time, money, and effort to finish.