What type of wall material?

[Jason White]

I've got my workshop (a one-car garage) wired and insulated.

Instead of sheetrock, I'd like to use wood or plywood for the walls -- both for looks and also to make it easier to hang things without worrying about stud locations.

I was thinking T&G pine boards, but that could get expensive. OSB probably won't hold screws or nails very well. Maybe 5/8 or 3/4 plywood?

Any suggestions? Pictures are appreciated.

Jason

[Stephen Saar]

I haven't personally used OSB on my walls, but I've heard good things about it. It's not as strong as plywood, but it's still supposed to be pretty decent. If you're trying to hang something super heavy then you'll want to use studs, but I think the same thing applies to plywood.

-Stephen

[Jason Pinsonneault]

I would likely go with 3/4 ply, it will take lots of abuse unlike drywall and u should have no problem mounting most things to it without worrying about finding your studs except maybe lumber racks, also when given a nice coat of paint if your using decent plywood its often hard to tell its not drywall

this is wat we have in our large farm shop and is great, much better than the tin we previously had, and in my wood shop i have all original 1" thick tongue adn groove of some sort from 90 years ago but am considering pullin it all down to put real insulation in the walls instead of the old woodshavings they used and if i do this it will be all 3/4 ply going back up

[Thom Sturgill]

Do some pre-planning and determine where you might want to be able to hang cabinets. Run horizontal blocking (2x8 or better) between the studs. Then OSB over that would be enough and considerably less expensive. Of course if price is no object...

[Steve Kohn]

I used 7/16 beadboard plywood. I screwed it to the studs, then painted it white.

Lots of stuff hung off it. And if I need to get to the wiring it is removeable.

[Logan William]

I'm using 3/4 OSB on the walls and 7/16 on the ceiling and then painted it all white. I plan on running a french cleat along the wall I will have most of my woodworking tool storage on. Biggest complaint is it soaks up a ton of paint, it takes about 3 coats to cover it.

[Skip Camejo]

I went through the same dilemma and I finally settled on 7/16 LP Smartside panels. They are 4X8 sheets made up of OSB but front side has a reverse board and batten profile just like T1-11. They come preprimed to make painting easier. I was going to go with T1-11 but figured the 3/8" wasn't stiff enough for the walls. Lowes carries the Smartside panels and they are a lot stiffer than the thinner T1-11. They're a lot less expensive than the 5/8" T1-11 panels at around $17 versus $24 to $27 for the T1-11.
http://www.lpcorp.com/smartside/panel/

[John Coloccia]

If you're garage is still technically a garage, you may have to use drywall if it's attached to the house. The code in my are specifies 5/8" if it's attached to a living area. Just an FYI.

[David Helm]

John is right (5/8 type X drywall, firetaped) for any walls or ceiling contiguous with the rest of the house. Exterior garage walls are OK for other coverings. Incidently the APA says that equivalent sizes of plywood and OSB have roughly the same strength.

[Mark Bosse]

I use 5/8" fire rated drywall with 3/4 ACX plywood over. Prime both sides and paint outside of plywood first. I don't plywood cover the ceiling.

I do all this extra work so I get the fire rating but can still do surface mount electric, air, water, etc.

Seems like a big investment but it saves a ton of work later. Helps with R value and sound as well. My wife thinks it cleans up better because we use oil based primer and top coat.

[Cameron Reddy]

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2601/4341839511_d1a6772178_o.jpg

Below is the start of my cyclone closet and the sub panel I ran.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2724/4342576174_377fd44e1b_o.jpg

I hate drywall with a passion. This is over $20 per sheet at Lowes. I think it’s ¾ inch plywood.

[Don Jarvie]

The Depot sells 15/32 or basically 1/2 ply that sands down nicely for 20 bucks a sheet. Screwed in with 2 1/ inch deck screws.

For the ceiling I was going to use 1/4 ply but at 12 bucks a sheet I cheapened out and when with 3/8 rock. Heres a few before and after photos.

[Joe Cowan]

I am putting up cypress 1X10's and 1X12's on my shop wall currently (I got a steal on 1300 bd ft). Instead of making it tongue and groove, I rounded over the edges and am face screwing it to horizontal 2x4's between the 2X4 studs. I am using trim head screws and are doing it in a staggered pattern. It looks nice and I can take down the paneling as I need to move wiring etc in the future if needed.

[Dave Gaul]

I have 8' walls, and here is what I plan to do..

First 2' up, 3/4" OSB

Next 4' up, some hardboard pegboard, some Wall Control pegboard

Last 2' will be overhead cabinets/shelfs

[George Bregar]

24x36 three car garage shop, with just one 9' door (I removed and then walled off the two car door) 1/2" OSB primed and painted. About $5/sheet. 5 gallons of primer and 5 gallons of flat white latex handled the walls and drywalled ceiling.

1/2" holds preet well, of course shelves and cabinets need to hit studs. Easy to find as you can see where the screws are.

[Bill Arnold]

My walls consist of 4' of 1/4" paneling on the bottom with white pegboard above. The pegboard brightens the shop and provides a lot of space to hang things.

[Aaron Wingert]

As previously mentioned, if the garage is attached to the residence you are required to have some sheetrock in there. However, the walls are not required to have 5/8" rock in the IRC code, they're required to have 1/2". If there is living space above the garage, the ceiling is required to have 5/8" type X.

Code reference: Section R309.2 Separtion Required

A lot of contractors, architects and even inspectors errantly believe that you're required to have 5/8" on the walls. It is safer to use 5/8" of course, but not required unless the code is locally amended to require it (which does happen).

Personally, I'd use 1/2" rock on the walls as a substrate and would apply a wood panel 1/2" thick to facilitate easy attachment of racks, shelves, screws, etc.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I covered my walls with 1/2" plywood. I switched to sheetrock for the ceilings because it was cheaper. I wish I'd have used plywood on the ceilings too. Even with 10' ceilings, I have dings in the sheetrock.

[glenn bradley]

I'm using 3/4 OSB on the walls and 7/16 on the ceiling and then painted it all white. I plan on running a french cleat along the wall I will have most of my woodworking tool storage on. Biggest complaint is it soaks up a ton of paint, it takes about 3 coats to cover it.

Like Logan I ran OSB (also some drywall) and used a cleat system. The cleats make positioning flexible without looking for studs and the OSB is a fraction of the cost of 3/4" ply. As to paint; a good primer allowed me to cover with white in one coat.

OSB and drywall are no place to scrimp on the primer; you'll burn up your savings in additional paint. Zinsser B.I.N. pretty much rocks but any high quality drywall primer will do. The B.I.N. caused no delamination of the OSB but the drywall primer (where I primed "outside the lines") raised a couple spots that I glued back down. No issue since.

P.s. With a cleat system you may need to shim your wallboard as a flat wall (as opposed to the uneven studs) is important if you are to be happy.

[Don Bullock]

As previously mentioned, if the garage is attached to the residence you are required to have some sheetrock in there. However, the walls are not required to have 5/8" rock in the IRC code, they're required to have 1/2". If there is living space above the garage, the ceiling is required to have 5/8" type X.

Code reference: Section R309.2 Separtion Required

A lot of contractors, architects and even inspectors errantly believe that you're required to have 5/8" on the walls. It is safer to use 5/8" of course, but not required unless the code is locally amended to require it (which does happen).

Personally, I'd use 1/2" rock on the walls as a substrate and would apply a wood panel 1/2" thick to facilitate easy attachment of racks, shelves, screws, etc.

Not all areas go by the IRC Code. For my unattached shop I was required to install fire sprinklers. Since I went with PVC piping instead of copper I was required to install 5/8" drywall. It's required by the local fire department's building code. All building in our county must pass fire department inspection before the county will sign off on their final inspection.

[Peter Aeschliman]

If you're not too worried about aesthetics, I'm going to try and talk you into my approach using drywall.

I simply screwed the drywall up and did no mudding or taping.

I like it because:

1) It's cheap
2) It's easy to unscrew if I want to change my wiring
3) The screws make the stud locations obvious for hanging stuff
4) It's fast (easier to cut drywall than a sheet of plywood)

It's not as visually pleasing as finished drywall or bead board, but in my opinion, the pros outweigh the cons.

[David Roberts,Fitchburg,Ma]

http://mysite.verizon.net/vze6oxyu/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/.pond/teardrop110.JPG.w300h225.jpg

I went with shiplap Pine, paid about 50 cents a board foot 5 years ago, I like the look. It also makes attaching things to the wall much easier.
Here is a look at a wall in my shop. Before you decide against lumber, check local small sawmills, I did the shop vertical outside and horizontal indoors.

http://mysite.verizon.net/vze6oxyu/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/.pond/teardrop116.JPG.w300h225.jpg