plywood on concrete basement walls?

[Alan Lilly]

I want to attach plywood to my basement walls for my woodshop. That way I will can attach cabinets or tools to the wall anyway I desire. I want it to be strong and reasonably flat. I want to minimize the loss of square footage and the cost of lumber, so I would prefer to not use 2x4 typical construction walls against the concrete. My basement has been bone dry for 8 years, so moisture is not an issue. Each concrete rib (see pic) isn't wide enough to butt 2 plywood sheets at the rib and screw into the concrete. Any advice, ideas or suggestions on how to handle my woodshop walls would be greatly appreciated!

http://home.comcast.net/%7Epanofish/pics/basement.jpg

[Paul Girouard]

Alan I've never seen #1 a foundation with ribs like that , Nor #2 one ( basement) that clean with some one living in the house. So it's either a old photo before you moved in or your very neat / own very little stuff.:confused:

So now to your question how about using 5/8 ply , CDX , maybe stain ply depends on your needs / budget / expectations/ Satin ply would be smoother and flatter / easier to paint / finish.

I'd say attach the sheets centered between the ribs so the center of the sheet was the center pf a rib , in the cavity where the joints would be screw a 1x4 cleat on to the first sheet , then lay the second sheet over the cleat and screw it to the cleat , then again center of sheet into the concrete rib. With 5/8" ply it would be very strong in that manner.

I'd also say hold it off the floor and down from the ceiling to "vent" the concrete bay. Even if you don't "see" moisture , concrete has moisture in it / that can be transmitted thru it and a "trapped" unvented bay would I think become a issue over the years.

Maybe even for your purpose the ply could be run horizontally. To catch your upper and lower cabinets and hanging requirements?

[Per Swenson]

Alan,

We have done a few modular homes with ribbed foundation walls.

What we do is drill and screw, not nail (because those walls are 8000lb or
better) 5/4 bridging, flat on the ribs. Fill the cavity's with foam insulation,

stretch 6 mill plastic over the whole thing, and now you can screw, ply, rock or whatever.

Per

[Per Swenson]

One more thing,

It may be bone dry now,

but from experience I can tell you every basement

on the planet eventually gets wet.

Either by a act of nature, or by the failure of man made items

such as dishwashers, plumbing disasters or curious three year olds.

Per

[Lee Koepke]

one thing to consider .... concrete pretty much always contains water and directly attaching non-treated wood directly to concrete can ultimately end up with water damage/rot. some sort of vapor barrier ( ie, felt paper ) can provide a vapor barrier between the concrete and wood to help prevent this.

[Matt Ocel]

Attach 2x4 treated 24 o.c. perpendicular to the ribs. Then apply Ply.
Make sure you follow local building codes for Vapor/Moisture barrier and insulation.
Also check to make sure local code does not call for any type of burn rating on finished walls

[Carl Fox]

I would not use screws, but rather construction adhesive. OSB. You could also use a sealing paint over the concrete and insulate it first. Just my .02.

[Bob Swenson]

He means these screws

http://www.concretescrews.com/tapcon-questions.htm

Bob

[Carl Fox]

Yeah, I figured. I just don't like the idea of putting holes in that loverly concrete.

[Joe Chritz]

Depending on what your intentions are you can go two easy ways.

Construction adhesive the sheets on and leave it. A good bead on each rib and it is likely to go nowhere unless you really try.

Strip it out with treated 2x laid flat and attach with screws.

Stripping it out is much better if you plan on using the ply to hold things to the walls. The 3" of lost space is minimal for the added advantages of using the sheets to bear weight.

Joe

[Steven Hardy]

I like the potential looks of those walls. I think they would look great with bright white concrete based "paint" or if you can find it, white epoxy based paint. I have had wall mounted shelves in my workshop. Without fail every 3-4 years I reaarange my shop somewhat. What I now do is buy heavy steel shelves and set the cabinets on the top shelf of of the shelves. The shelves I most recently purchased from tractor supply are 18in by 48 by 48 and are rated for 1500 lbs.The shelfs (3) are heavy guage meshed rod. its easy to lay thin ply, or whatever you desire on top of the shelves. For a work bench applications , I bought a shallow set of cabinets (8in) and mounted two verticle 5/4 by 6 in oak planks to the back of the rollaround work bench .
There is quite a bit available in cabinets that do not need a wall.

For space saving,I would make custom shelves that fit between the pillars.

For wireing I use flexible aluminum conduit with the proper wall clamps going into the ceiling all the way to the 100 amp subpanel in my basement

[Charles Wiggins]

No direct experience here, but there are LOTS of great books on finishing basements. Check out your local library - and better yet - if there is a community college or trade school nearby they will probably have something.

You can also check out articles like this: http://www.rd.com/familyhandyman/content/17480/0/

You say that the ribs are spaced so two ply sheets don't joint over a rib - would that still be true if you installed the ply horizontally instead of vertically?

Good luck.

[Per Swenson]

Thanks Pops,

Let me offer a few explanations.

We use 5/4 bridging folks cause its cheap.

And you should use cca treated lumber as Lee says,

on normal concrete. But from the picture that sure looks

like 8000 lb or better. Bridge and structural column concrete.

This stuff is tight and does not wick moisture. Le t me reiterate

you must screw in this stuff, because you can not put a nail in it,

hilti powered or otherwise. If moisture still concerns you, rip

cca decking, it is still 5/4. Don't let any thing touch the floor.

The floor at most is poured 5000 lb concrete, and that estimate is hopeful.

In times of flood, even the so called 100 year, which always comes next tuesday, the rising water table and hydrostatic pressure can and will
push water right through this.

I don't know about you guys, but I have rarely seen straight building grade lumber, what are you going to do clamp and glue? Then wait?

Nah screw it, and yes pl adhesive won't hurt here. But it is overkill.

Why do I keep insisting on 5/4? We and our customers are space freaks and every inch counts.

Charles asks about horizontal versus vertical. The only way to install
is horizontal.

Matt is also correct about burn time, code varies of course, but
generally 5/8 sheet rock is required only around your furnace.

Please remember the part about the 6 mil plastic sitting tight against any sheet goods.

I hope this clears a few things up that my cavaliered post before did not.

Per