Interior Sheating

[Kenneth Reidy]

Hi All,

Having sold my old shop, I am in the design phase for its replacement. I can't see using the usual sheetrock route and am looking for a substitute. Any thoughts

Thanks,
Ken
Corrales, NM

[Von Bickley]

I would use 1/2" plywood or osb.

[Tom Bender]

I wanted something white and dust resistant. Used cheap prefinished wood paneling. Medium wood color up to 4', white above. Dust clings to it but brushes right off. OSB sounds like a bad idea.

[glenn bradley]

7/16" OSB primed and painted semi-gloss white worked well for me.

421709

I screwed the panels to the wall. In the event of additional work in the wall I just backout a few screws and take the panel(s) down. Like Tom, I don't rely on the wall covering for structure. Fixtures are hung from cleats that fasten to studs.

[Jim Becker]

There are upsides and downsides to the various different materials that folks use to line their shop walls. Drywall is very cost effective but comes with the extra labor of doing the joints. It's not the best of one actually wants to be able to fasten "anything anywhere" on the walls. But for folks embracing cleats...it's just great. OSB is rough, splintery, and wasn't designed to be an exposed surface. It soaks up paint like a sponge. But it's also cost effective in that you can nail or screw it up, paint it and be done with it. I will hold screws "reasonably well". Plywood is better for screw holding...as long as it's thick enough. My walls are T1-11 plywood, unpainted and they look great. They are not particular good for screw holding, so anything I did install with screws leveraged structure behind it.

If I were going to build a new shop, I'd probably opt for a combination of drywall overall with some areas getting plywood where it's nature absolutely was required. I'd not use OSB again if I have the choice...I hate working with the stuff. I'd use cleats exclusively for hanging cabinets and other things that need to be on the wall. But that's me...

[Art Mann]

I have painted OSB in my new shop and I hate it. It looks coarse and didn't paint well. If I had it to do over again, I would use what I used in my old shop. That is 1/2 inch by 4 ft by 8 ft exterior masonite siding. It is wood grain textured and is already primed typically a light grey. I liked the color and just left the primer exposed. It is more expensive than OSB or dry wall, but I think it is worth every penny. I agree that T1-11 is good option too.

[Mike Wilkins]

I used 1/4" OSB screwed to the studs after insulation, primed and painted with semi-gloss. I always attach cabinets to the studs, which are easy to find as the screw heads, although painted, are easy to find.

[Andrew Seemann]

I used 7/16 OSB and am very happy with it. My previous shop was drywalled; I would never use drywall again in a shop. It gets banged up and it seems there never is a stud where you need to put a conduit clamp or hang something small. You could do 1/2" or 5/8" plywood, although I don't know that the extra cost is worth it over the OSB. My walls are so covered with stuff that you really don't see them that much. Prime the OSB with an oil based primer prior to painting.

[Bill Dufour]

Any reason you can not put a very thin coat of drywall texture compound onto OSB. Just enough to level the field so it looks smoother before painting. I suppose you could do it after painting if you feel it needs that and another coat of paint.
Bill D

[Art Mann]

Sounds like a $10 solution to a $0.50 problem to me. OSB is rough and does not take paint well. It seems to me like choosing a different material is more appropriate than finishing it like drywall.

Any reason you can not put a very thin coat of drywall texture compound onto OSB. Just enough to level the field so it looks smoother before painting. I suppose you could do it after painting if you feel it needs that and another coat of paint.
Bill D

[Mark Daily]

I have 1/2” plywood on one wall of my shop and love it. Smaller items can be screwed directly to it and larger things can use cleats, etc.
3/4” would be stronger but also more expensive.

[Tom Hoppe]

Relevant thread, as I was thinking of asking a similar thing.

I have cinder block right now, and while I painted it gray when I moved in, I'm not loving it. It's super unlevel and it's a PITA trying to get anything small attached to it. For big things, I'm installing anchors which is fine, but if just want to hang a stupid poster. Bzzzzt, gotta do anchors.

I was originally going with doing a layer of 3/4" plywood on top. If I need something like a big cleat for cabinets, I can go all the way through and do an anchor. If I'm just attaching something small, I can just use screws into the plywood. I can grab 3/4" Radiata Pine plywood from Home Depot for $35 a sheet, and my 20x20 garage should need 15 sheets. That fits the budget. But then I have to finish it. I think if I leave it unfinished, it'll end up looking like shit eventually. Should be easy enough with a few gallons of water based poly and a roller.

Seeing the masonite siding though, I'm wondering if that might be a better call. Home Depot has structual primed masonite 4x8 for $32. It has a cool wood texture, and it looks to be 1/2". As a bonus, it's got tongue and groove, so I can create better joints between the panels. With it being structural, could I throw screws into it for light things? Would it be similar to 1/2" plywood?

[Lisa Starr]

I'm in the 7/16" OSB camp. My walls have purlins, not studs on the interior side with the OSB screwed to it. The trick to a nice surface is to prime it with a good, OIL BASED primer, tinted if you expect to use a darker finish color. My walls are a light tan with a white ceiling and brush/vacuum easily. My husband's wrenching space is finished the same way except he chose dark lower walls with white upper walls and ceiling. I like being able to attach light items anywhere and use cleats or make sure I attach to a purlin for the heavier items.

[Mel Fulks]

Sounds like you are referring to the stuff that has a coating that looks like rustic planks. I used some in a basement
stairwell, and I like it.

[Ole Anderson]

Mine is a potpourri of different finishes. Poured concrete, pegboard, painted drywall and unfinished OSB. I did the laundry room in fake beadboard and semi-gloss white painted OSB, which I really like. My son did the inside of his new garage in prefinished T-111 which is very nice. Starting with a clean slate, I would probably opt for 1/2" OSB painted with semi-gloss white.

Edit: To add to this I like OSB BECAUSE of the texture. It is not trying to look like painted drywall. It is a shop. To me the key to making OSB look good is to use semigloss paint. It visually offsets the roughness of the OSB. Doesn't hurt to quickly sand it to remove any boogers. Could even use a drywall sanding pad on a stick. Only issue is the obvious joints. I suppose you could batten them, but that might be worse.

[Robert Engel]

I used 1/2" OSB simply because of cost. 2 of primer and 1 final coat worked well.

No it doesn't look the best, but my shop isn't a showplace by any stretch :)

[Frank Pratt]

OSB sounds like a bad idea.

Not at all. I used 3/4" OSB on the walls & 1/2" OSB on the ceiling. The whole shop was primed & painted semigloss white with a rented airless sprayer in 1 (long) night. It it nice & bright & stays clean. The wall behind the miter saw gets dusty, but that brushes right off.

I like being able to screw anything to the walls or ceiling without regard to where the studs are.

[Jack Lilley]

3/4" T&G pine works well for shop walls. It's reasonably priced, you can paint or urethane it and hang things about anyplace you want. It doesn't go on as fast as sheet goods but still goes pretty quick.

[Jim Dwight]

My last two shops have had 7/16 OSB walls skim coated with drywall compound and painted white with cheap ceiling paint. You can easily still see it is OSB but the skim coat fills a lot of the voids and makes the surface noticably smoother. It also helped it require less paint to cover the OSB. Very much worth doing IMHO. Finished this way, the walls do not hold dust and I can hang light things (jigs, etc) where ever I want. Prices seem to fluctuate but typically roof OSB is about the same price as 1/2 inch drywall. It is much more durable, however.

[Andrew More]

Ken, is there some particular design elements you're looking to satisfy?

Otherwise I agree with Jim: Drywall for the areas where you just want to cover the walls, and 1/2-3/4" plywood where you want to be able to hang things. In my case I also put 1" of insulated foam behind it.

Drywall is the cheapest option, and while there is a bit of cost/work involved in sealing the joints, most people can do an good enough job for a garage, and the materials for doing the joints is super cheap.

[Jeff Monson]

If you like white tin thats an option, I hate working with it but it does look nice and its pretty inexpensive. I have white tin 4' down my wall followed by 8' of knotty pine in the woodworking portion of my shop, its a nice balance. In the front portion of my shop where I park cars and tractor I put 8' of white tin followed by 4' of white 1/2" pvc panels that were 4 x 8. All my material came from Menards.