Wall & ceiling coverings....I need opinions

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Folks......after supper I'm going to the Borg and get one more package of insulation and several rolls 4 mil plastic. Once 2 bays are insulated and the plastic is up....I'm in need of wall and ceiling coverings


This whole shop project started after I built my first piece of furniture ( an oak sideboard) or base cabinet if you will. My wife was so impressed she immediately replaced my 20+ year old Craftsman t/s and then suggested she'd work an additional 3-4 years to pay for my new shop.

I'm trying to finish it on a "Cash Only!" basis.

Here's the dilemma.......I have enough cash in my building fund to pay for contractor blown in fiberglass insulation in the ceiling......sheet rock for the ceiling and walls and install the gas furnace.

I really don't want sheet rock but......

SWMBO told me "if you want plywood on the walls...put plywood on the walls you might just have to wait until later in the year for the furnace."

The materials cost difference between putting sheet rock and 1/2 CDX is a factor of 3.

I played with the idea of putting 5/8" sheet rock on the ceiling and 1/2" CDX on the walls but the materials cost diffence is only $200.

The temperatures are such here that I'd probably not need a furnace until next fall..........

What do you think?

[Steve Stube]

When I finished the inside of my shop I was sure I didn't want to finish drywall so that left the choice between plywood or OSB. I went with OSB (167 sheets) but at that time 7/16" OSB was actually cheaper than drywall and lots less than plywood. At todays prices I would use plywood. Like the OSB it's lighter and more forgiving to work with (install yourself). It also provides great holding strength for hanging shelves, coat hooks or whatever over drywall and still would not require the more difficult finishing process that some put into drywall. Drywall certainly has the advantage of a smooth, finished and therefore more reflective surface (lighting, brightness) plus an additional important feature of fire proofing. You don't have an easy decision to make but if it helps, with the construction you already have (well insulated), that electric space heater I saw in one of your photos is probably 1/2 of the heat supply you will need when your finished.

[Ken Garlock]

Hi Ken. We did a garage addition just over a year ago. I had OSB installed on the ceiling and walls. After the addition was complete, LOML and I painted the interior, and I must say that OSB looks better before painting than after. You don't realize how many little chips of the panel stand up and show. It will definitely NOT win any beauty contests. Also, unless you go back and put furring strips over the joints, you will have obvious joints showing. You might consider using OSB and then following up with 1/4" drywall at a later date. Of the three options you are considering, I would say that OSB is the stronger and longest lasting solution. I have a 3300 sq ft house that has exterior walls made of structured insulated panels. OSB better be strong and long lasting :rolleyes:

I vote for about 12" to 14" of blown in fiberglass in the ceiling. Up your way, I would want at least R-40 or more on the ceiling I put 6" fiberglass bats in the walls before the OSB went up in the garage addition.

[John Miliunas]

Ken, if I had the opportunity to build fresh, I'd almost certainly go with some type of wood product for the walls, instead of drywall. In your case, you mention you probably wouldn't need the heating plant until next fall anyway. Plus, if you use a wood product, there is also some additional R-factor above the drywall you need to consider. As in, maybe a bit more heat retention and some long-term savings in HVAC costs.:cool:

[Jim Becker]

For the walls, I'd either use plywood or...go ahead with the drywall and use a cleat system to hold cabinetry, etc., although I really like the look of natural wood in a shop for long term. But that latter choice is quite costly I suspect! Drywall on the ceiling no question, however.

Tough choice, but as you say, you really don't "need" the heater until later in the year.

[David Dixson]

Ken,

I don't know what time spring comes there or when fall comes there, but with it being March, I think I'd go with sheet rock in the ceiling, plywood along the walls for the first four feet from the floor, then a sheet of that prepainted white pegboard for the next four feet, then if you have nine foot ceilnigs, I'd finish out the top of the wall with sheetrock.

Obviously this is a compromise solution, with pegboard being inexpensive and somewhat handy, plus you can still see the framing well enough to attach cabinetry over the pegboard.

Finally, I'd hold off on getting that heater until fall and perhaps think about a couple of good fans or a small air conditioner unit, depending. Down here in Georgia, it gets pretty warm starting this month and stays warm until November, so cooling is more an issue than heating.

BTW, I'm following my own advice in my basement right now as far as the pegboard goes. I think it'll take only about 5 sheets of pegboard at $14.00 to cover about half of my walls. I'm doing plywood below that. I'll do 14" plywood above the pegboard and I'll not be doing the ceiling, as it's a basement/garage shop.

Dave

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Ken....there will be R-40 in the ceiling. That is going to happen regardless.

I'm actually leaning towards putting CDX plywood on the ceiling and walls. If I do that, my building fund will still allow me to complete the ceiling insulation, and paint it out. At my wife's suggestion, I bought my lighting fixtures last fall just in case the BORG sold out of them. They are sitting in the shop with the boxes of bulbs taking up space and being constantly moved. So I can finish the shop over the next month or so...depending on work.....I just will have to wait on the furnace. The gas "jumper" is already in the ground....the gas pipes and vent have already been roughed in. To install the furnace...they'd have to tie the gas "jumper" to my house gas meter....tie the "jumper" to the rough-in at the exterior of the building and hang the heater and make appropriate connections with gas and vent there.

Right now, CDX is cheaper than OSB here.

This evening.....the wall insulation is finished. I need to do a little work around the insulated vinyl windows and staple up the vapor barrier.

[Steve Stube]

FWIW, a note to Ken Garlock. In my whole shop 28' X 48' two story you can not see a crack between sheets anywhere. I did buy full 4' X 8' sheets as opposed to the undersize roofing sheets usually sold for intended gaps where the roof clets fit between sheets. I also found that if a rough surface is objectionable OSB can be skim coated with joint compound prior to painting. I did do a skim coat on one wall in my small electric room but decided it was more work than I wanted to do. I do agree that many of the irregularities don't show up until you paint and 4 coats of a good grade trim acrylic latex won't do much to hide it. I have some raised images of large bolts, washers and lag screws in the surface of a few sheets but most objectional to me is the non-uniform thickness of the sheets and that does highlite the location of joints. I think that plywood would have been a better choice for me in hindsight.

I did drywall the small bath in my shop and two coats of oil base enamel was sufficient to cover.

One last thought. Not all CDX is the same, pick out what you want to use.

[Bob Aquino]

Something to keep in mind is that if the "shop" is an attached garage with a garage door, many localities specify in the code that it must have drywall on the walls and ceiling along with a rated fire door. The concept here is that if a car were parked in there and it caught on fire that the drywall would slow down the rate of fire going to the rest of the house. Now I don't know if you could put up ply or osb and then cover it with drywall and be in complieance, you should check with the local building inspector to be sure. And if you say it doesn't matter I am the only one living here, remember that you may someday have to sell the place and it will have to pass code then. HTH

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Bob....the shop is detached. I built it with the idea that I could pull a vehicle in there occasionally to work on it in a heated space. That is the only reason I put an insulated garage door in the building. I'll check again today with my local building code inspector, but I'm sure they told me earlier that because it's a detached shop it could be finished with any wall covering I desire.

[Bob Aquino]

Thats cool. The original post didnt say for sure whether it was attached or not and no one else mentioned it. I remember the first house I bought which was new in 1982 did not have any wall coverings on the garage so the times they have a changed...