Plywood walls vs sheetrock

[Tom Hargrove]

I would do it in sheetrock, painted white. You can put strips and/or panels of plywood up to mount things, but I would not do all of the walls in plywood or OSB.

If you install plywood or OSB, I strongly suggest that you paint it white. (OSB will really suck up the paint!)

[Matt Meiser]

If you install plywood or OSB, I strongly suggest that you paint it white. (OSB will really suck up the paint!)

Priming first will help some. I installed smooth side out and painted all the walls in my 30x32x12 shop area with a full 5 gal of a stain block primer. Then it took about 3-4 gallons of paint. I used the 5 gal pails, and a big roller, wore a tyvek suit and one of those socks that goes over your head and went at it. I wasn't worried about the floor and the ceiling wasn't yet installed so it went very fast.

You'll get some flakes that lift. I either knocked them off and repainted, or just stock them down with paint depending on the situation.

[Mitchell Andrus]

I would do it in sheetrock, painted white. You can put strips and/or panels of plywood up to mount things, but I would not do all of the walls in plywood or OSB.

If you install plywood or OSB, I strongly suggest that you paint it white. (OSB will really suck up the paint!)

I've got an airless sprayer on a stand and a 25' hose. Painting goes quickly with one of those.

I'm figuring w/sheet rock, 10 - 15 hours just to tape and spackle if I want a nice job. I'm pretty sure I can hang most of the OSB with an air nailer in that much time and forget the mud. Won't be as pretty as sheet rock, but the walls are going to be 50% - 60% hidden anyway.
.

[glenn bradley]

I used OSB and sheetrock. Not over one another just different panels different places. The OSB is 7/16" and I wouldn't consider it suitable "to hang stuff just about anywhere" if it were of any weight.

I used a cleat system mounted to the studs behind the OSB or sheetrock. This has worked out quite well although I can't hang anything "anywhere" as there are specific cleat heights but, I can hang anything from a pegboard panel to an enclosed cabinet.

Just food for thought.

P.s. CONGRATS!

[Ron Jones near Indy]

Check with your insurance carrier--in some places it must be sheet rock in you want insurance for the structure even if it is detached.

[Roger Jensen]

I will use both the next time I put up walls. I would orient them horizontally and have plywood or osb on the bottom half and sheetrock on the top half.

The bottom half of the wall gets all the abuse from carts and tables. However, I would hate to drill that many holes for outlets in plywood or osb. The outlets are easier to access if over four feet up anyway, so they would all be in the sheetrock half.

I put long runners on the walls to hang stuff so I don't need the ability to drill holes anywhere on the top half to hang things.

You will need to install some molding along the seam between the plywood and sheetrock.

Roger

[Glen Dickey]

I used 1/2" plywood on the walls and celing, the put sheetrock over it for better fire protection. That way I can hang stuff on the walls, and dents and gouges are easy to fix, if you wanted to.

Glen

[Joel Goodman]

+1 on sheetrock over ply. This way you get the smooth white walls and can put stuff up anywhere.

[Scott T Smith]

I recently built a new shop, and in arriving at the decision of sheetrock versus wood the following factors applied:

1 - fire prevention.
2 - practicality
3 - appearance
4 - cost.

With respect to number 1, I opted to run all of my wiring inside of conduit, reducing the need for sheetrock for fire prevention.

With respect to number 2, wooden walls are emminantly more practical with respect to attaching things to.

With resepct to number 3, finished sheetrock looks best, followed by plywood, followed by Zip board, and lastly OSB

With respect to cost, plywood was the most expensive, followed by zip board, then sheetrock, then OSB. However, the time/cost to tape, float, sand sheetrock brought it's cost above the Zip board.

I opted to use Zip board on the upper walls and ceiling, and sheetrock on the bottom 5 foot of the main shop. The mechanical and generator rooms received full sheetrock for fire control reasons. The reason that I opted for sheetrock on the bottom 5 foot of the shop was that I reasoned that this was the area most likely to be exposed to a fire from the inside.

Zip board has a vapor barrier built into one side, and the treatment tends to cover most of the ugly OSB stranding. In fact, when painted up on the ceiling (15' 5" ceiling) you can't tell the difference between it and the more expensive plywood. You can also mud the joints if you prefer, and they will be fairly well hidden after painting.

[Dave Wagner]

I used 7/16 OSB and painted it white. Works great and about the same cost as Drywall at the time and easier to hang stuff.

[Chris Kennedy]

I went for sheetrock. I strongly considered OSB, but opted for the more finished look of sheetrock. Painted it a leftover neutral we had from painting the house. So far, I have loved it, and no damage.

I also had the advantage of two of my students helping me, both of whom were experienced sheetrockers.

Cheers,

Chris

[Tom Godley]

That looks like a nice shop building - good luck with it.

I am not too fond of OSB. I was shocked by the odor of the product when I had an addition built last year. They used OSB to close up the hole in my house. I was glad they did because I was able to change the contract to plywood before anything was ordered.

I have an out building that is insulated panels - made with OSB on both sides. The previously owner built it so any odor is long gone - but he covered most of it with rock. I like the sheet-rock areas better. To hang anything real heavy you would still have to go into a stud - the OSB does not hold like plywood.

I saw a blog where a guy built a shop using MDF (I think) panels on the lower portion of the walls and sheet-rock above and for the ceilings - I thought that was nice.


You can always run a row of blocking or install the band for metal studs used in kitchens under the rock for a continuous nailing surface.

[Bill Houghton]

If all goes according to my sinister plans, I 'll be closing on a shop that's 22X40 soon. (There's a house on the property too - man's gotta eat and sleep sometimes...)

I recollect a great column by Peter Egan, who writes for "Road and Track" and "Cycle World," when he and his wife were moving back to Wisconsin from L.A. The real estate agent asks what they're looking for, and Egan launches into his needs: two-car garage at least, 220V to the garage, running water in the garage would be good, etc. This goes on for most of the column, as he expands on why each of his needs are important; after about five minutes, the agent asks, "Um, and how many bedrooms?" To which Egan responds, "Oh, yeah, one would be nice."

[Steve Clardy]

OSB here. Its a shop, not a house.

[Tony De Masi]

I'm with you on this Steve. Just finished my shop and went with OSB walls and ceiling. Primed and painted white. If you spend your time looking at the seams between the sheets then you aren't woodworking.

Tony