Garage/Workshop Interior Surface

[Jerry Solomon]

My home was recently flooded (14") during Hurricane Katrina. I am repairing the 3-car garage, part of which serves as a workshop. I have removed the lower 4 ft. course of drywall and replaced it with new drywall. I am trying to avoid the agony of taping/floating the joints and then trying to texture the lower part to make it look like the upper part. In hindsight, I should have cut the sheetrock at about 36" and then put up some type of wainscoting but I didn't. I considered putting up 4 ft. of wainscoting but I think that will look really goofy.

So....I am now thinking about some type of paneling installation (entire wall) on top of the old/new drywall. While in Lowe's today I saw 4 x 8 sheets of something called "Abtco 8" O.C. Hardboard Siding". It looks something like the James Hardee cement products but is a wood product structurally similar to OSB (I think). I think it's made by Georgia-Pacific. I have also seen some stuff on the Internet about litigation on some types of hardboard products in exterior applications. This may or may not be relevant to my situation.

Any opinions on this stuff for this application? Other suggestions to solve my problem?

Thanks,

Jerry Solomon
Slidell, LA

[Bob Noles]

Jerry,

Have you considered paneling only the lower half of the wall and then some simple trim accross the top? I think it would save you a few $ and look really nice as well. This would allow you to have light colored sheetrock on the upper half for better light reflection.

Just an opinion and I'm sure you will get many more.

[Jerry Solomon]

Jerry,

Have you considered paneling only the lower half of the wall and then some simple trim accross the top? I think it would save you a few $ and look really nice as well. This would allow you to have light colored sheetrock on the upper half for better light reflection.

Just an opinion and I'm sure you will get many more.
Bob - Yes I am also considering what you suggested. Most wainscoting is applied (I think) on the lower 32"-36" of a wall. I just thought that paneling the entire 48" lower section of the wall with a chair rail on top might look a little too "unusual". It would obviously be the quickest, easiest, and least expensive approach. Thanks for your thoughts - Jerry

[bill walton]

I was flooded by about 30" of salt water delivered over the Florida Keys by hurricane wilma. It hit my grizzly table saw, my grizzly 16" BS, DC and the bottom 4 drawers of 2 rollaround tool cabinets. All of my good handtools were put up high when we evacuated and my jointer and planer and several rollaround tables were loaded into my trailer to carry along.but I couldn't get those other big items out or up. I just forgot about the DC ... maybe now I can get a cyclone. Fortunately we have another place up near Daytona Beach and my stuff up there was safe. After hurricane George put 40 inches downstairs in 1998, I installed wainscoting 40 inches high in my downstairs area and it looked ok. I'm not sure what I'll do this time.

[Jerry Solomon]

Bill - Thanks for your reply. If I had it to do over I would have cut the drywall at a suitable height and installed wainscoting at an elevation which is considered "typical". The water level in the garage was only about 14" so I really didn't need to remove 48" but I wasn't thinking before I did it. We've been flooded twice before in another home so we've about had it with rising water. We thought we had moved to an "almost floodproof" area this time but it just goes to show anything can happen. I'm now thinking about some type of paneling to overlay the drywall. Good luck and I hope your future is "dry". Regards - Jerry