Plywood shop walls?

[Greg Muller]

All,
I just saw a pic on another thread where a fellow SMC member (James Biddle, thank you!) has plywood walls in his shop. I looks great! Instead of highjacking his thread, I thought I would ask my questions in a new thread;

How many have done this?
How thick is the ply? 3/4, 1/2?
Recommended quality (A, b or C)?
Do you still need to find studs for reasonable weight shelves ( approx 50 lbs)?
Do you biscuit the panel edges together?

Too many questions...........


Other pros and cons?

Thanks all!!:)
Greg
Support the Creek!!!!

(HEY! Where's my Contributor tag???)

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Greg,

My shop has 1/2" plywood on the walls. I put 5/8" sheetrock on the ceiling because it cost less. I wished I'd used plywood on the ceilling too! I already have one ding in it.

I screwed the plywood to the studs. I'll use French cleats to mount cabinets but I would not hesitate to mount lightweight shelves to the plywood.

[John Mihich]

I have 1/2 on the walls and am glad I did. I can put things anywhere i want and not look for studs. When I mounted some cabinets I did go into the studs then but french cleats would have worked fine. I use A/C grade and didn't bother with biscuits on the joints - too much work. Since my electrical is surface mounted the ply went up real fast.

[Al Lupone]

I also used 1/2" ply that I pre-painted white. It's great just being able to screw in anywhere.
Al

[Rob Will]

I used 1/2" ply and an air nailer with 6d ringshank nails.

Started off with a whole skid of plywood from the borg. It was so bad I could not use it and had to take it back for a higher grade. Hindsight being 20/20, I should have went to a quality lumber yard and bought AC or BC sanded from the very beginning.

Anyway, now that it's done, I really like the 1/2" ply. I used Bullseye 123 primer followed with two coats of semi-gloss latex house paint. Personally, I like a touch of color over stark white for the walls. My ceiling is white metal.

If you really want a slick finish, run your electric sander over the walls before painting and perhaps between coats. We gave mine a quick once over with the sander and 100 grit paper (the good stuff). It actually went pretty quick....then used a gasoline leaf blower to blow off the dust.

I had a painter help me get the painting done. He lightly caulked the nail holes and joint lines with latex caulk before painting. The exterior house paint was a little more expensive but it worked out well.

Again, I'm very pleased and the only thing I would have done differently is buy the good plywood in the first place.

Good luck!
Rob

[Bob Aquino]

Only thing that I would check on first would be if the shop is in an attached garage. Code may require drywall on the walls as a fire prevention measure. Years ago, garage interior walls were just the studs, nowadays, all the garage interiors are finished. Its not because they want to make it look pretty.

[Larry Rose]

I used 5/8 OSB and it works great ( OSB because it was cheaper )

[Bill White]

Well to break the mold.....I used wood-grained pegboard. That way I can hang stuff, always know where the studs are for shelf brackets, etc. Got used to the wall storage in the last shop.
Bill

[Vernon Taylor]

On my shop I used Hardboard T=111 siding onthe interior walls,it came pre-primed a light gray.have not got around to painting it yet,only been 11years. I did like the fact that it interlocked so seams do not show. Has worked out well, though I do try to hit studs when hanging something unless it's a lightweight application. Recently remodeled an old storage building for a shop for LOML,used 3/8 exterior beaded board siding for the walls,put coat of clear satin poly on this,looks good. Again this had flanges which hid the seams. Building is only 12x12 so cost was not prohibitive.

[mike wacker]

5/8 Sheet rock on ceiling because of Fire code. Probably should have on the walls as well but there I used 7/16 OSB from the Borg. $6 a sheet, prime it and paint semi-gloss and call it good enough for the shop. Now the shop cabinets, that's a different story. Them getting the good stuff.

[Scott Whiting]

When I built my shop I used 3/8" plywood for the interior. All my heavy adjustable shelving brackets are mounted to studs but lightweight stuff I can hang anywhere. The ply I got was shop grade from HD and every piece was flat when I picked it up in the morning and by the time I finished in the afternoon some of he sheets needed a bit pf persuasion to lay flat. I attached the sheets with construction adhesive and 15g finish nails.

[Lee Schierer]

Most of my shop walls above the 4 foot level are peg board. It allows me to hang hooks where ever I want them. My pegboard is spaced out from the studs so the hooks don't touch the insulation vapor barrier, but if I were to do it again I would hang drywall first for better protection of the insulation.

I have one wall behind my lumber rack that is T-111 plywood with vertical running grooves about every 2-3 inches or so. It looks nice and the price was reasonable. It is 1/2" thick and I did anchor my lumber rack to the studs.

[Tony Zona]

I put up half-inch osb, sealed it with Killz and one coat of white paint. Came out pretty nice.

[Vic Damone]

After marrying some 4X6" to some studs for hanging a heavy duty wood storage rack, I pre fit and pre painted a combination of 1/2-3/4" pieces of plywood. I attached them with evenly spaced screws and finish washers which produced a nice visual effect.

I've since had to remove one of the panels to install another receptacle. Being able to simply remove the panel made it an easy task. We just had a 5.6 quake and the added shear strength provides another level of confidence.

Vic

[Steve Kohn]

I used 4X8 sheets of wainscotting plywood. I believe it was 7/16 thick. The ceiling and common wall to the house were drywalled first due to fire code requirements. Then I went over all the walls with the ply. At the top of the ply I used 1X4's as a french cleat to hide the top seam.

Everything is screwed down to the studs. I have quite a bit of weight hanging from the french cleat and lighter stuff hanging from the plywood.

One note, I decided to paint the plywood and exposed drywall white. I started with a roller and brush and quickly gave up on that idea. I ended up renting a house sprayer and doing everything with that. All 12 gallons worth.

[Dick Sylvan]

I used 5/8 OSB and it works great ( OSB because it was cheaper )
Did you paint it?

[Jon Lanier]

I used 5/8 wafer board, Lowes had it real cheap at the time. I just used screws and painted it white.

[Wayne Ilfrey]

Mine are covered with white coated peg board. Love it, have everything hanging up. Most important stuff is at eye level.

[Roger Bell]

I have a two room shop in a detached building. A smaller hand tool only/dust free and heated finishing room that is entirely sheet rocked. And a larger general purpose machine room that is sheet rocked on two walls with 1/2 AC ply screwed to the studs on two walls. I went with the AC for the nicer ready to roll sanded finish. Insulation all around.

Having done both, I would not do the sheetrock again except in the heated room (for thermal and cost efficiency). The ply was easy in terms of installation. The sheet rock was..........well.........sheetrock. Hanging, taping, sanding, taping again, sanding again, tons of primer and painting. Very time consuming and not fun in the least. I didnt paint the ply.

I also use cleats to hang cabs and pegboard. But you can, with ply, use small nails or screws anywhere to hang smaller, lighter items. Not so easy or effective with 'rock. I can easily pull the ply and get to the wiring behind the walls, etc. or, if I want, remove and replace in the event of an errant flyer from the lathe. Not the case so easily with sheetrock.

Since so much of the wall is covered with cabinets and machines and benches and stuff, I didnt feel that there was all that much "exposed" wall surface to justify painting for greater light reflection, although I did consider it. A light painted ceiling is more worth that effort.

[James Biddle]

I put 3/8" plywood beadboard on half of my walls both because I didn't like the beating that drywall seems to take and because I found the plywood on sale for $16 a sheet. Otherwise I would have been tempted to put 1/2" ply up. I used some Transtint dyes in Polycrylic waterbase poly to keep it from stinking for months and to give it a warmer look with a hard shell. Seems to be holding up nice.

http://home.comcast.net/~jbiddle/pics/outfeedtable7.jpg

[Harry Goodwin]

My mistake was not insulating my garage. After I moved in their was no chance. Plywood would have been great in any form. Harry

[Greg Muller]

Thanks James,
I guess I didn't phrase my questions very well. I am only interested in plywood walls, not 111, pegboard, etc (I already have the wall insulated and drywalled, I also have used those other ideas in the past and have found them to yield a cluttered appearance). I received lots of various responses, but only a few of you actually use what I asked about; plywood. I think I may try 1/2" or even 3/4 since the price difference for the 12' wall I'm doing would be acceptable if not overkill. I like the idea of the light finish, not paint, and a rabbitted top piece to cover the ends for a finished appearance.
More thinking to go...

[Gary Keedwell]

Ain't it funny how people stray from original question?:)
Gary

[Dave Lewis]

I placed drywall on the bottom 4 ft. and behind the lumber rack. The lighter color (primed) helps w/ reflection. 1/2 plywood above the 4' level.

I wish I had applied a floor epoxy on the concrete before occupying.