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Thread: Shop Wall Covering

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
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    Idaho
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    Shop Wall Covering

    Looking for an economical way to cover the shop walls, aside from drywall, plywood or osb. Any clever ideas out there?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
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    Eddington, ME
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    Drywall $5.57 a sheet by me at a borg. Can't get any cheaper than that.

    If your not going for least expensive, but most ecconomical besides whats listed. Not sure. Hard to beat sheet goods for the area they cover and price.

  3. #3
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    Dec 2003
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    West of Ft. Worth, TX
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    Is this for a shop attached to the house, or detached. If attached, you need to make sure to use something fire rated, like drywall. Probably code requires it. If detached and you're not required to by code, pick your poison. I used OSB for my detached shop walls. I live in an unincorporated area, so I had a choice on what to use. At the time, OSB was 4.95 a sheet and sheetrock was 14.70 a sheet, same size. It was a no brainer for me. I originally wanted to get some of the Lumber Liquidaters pallets of hardwoods and learn to resaw by cutting my own planks to use as wall covering. I was going to mount it on the diagonal. Thought it would look really cool for a shop. But they quit selling the pallets of wood, so with no cheap source in sight, I went OSB and paint. Jim.
    Coolmeadow Setters...Exclusively Irish! When Irish Eyes are smiling....They're usually up to something!!
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  4. #4
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    The shop is detached, so no code requirements to my knowledge. I might go drywall on the ceiling just for the light factor, but the walls Id prefer something else.

    What kind/color paint did you use on the OSB?

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
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    SE PA - Central Bucks County
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    Personally, I have no issues with using drywall outside of requiring all "attachment", even light duty, to be to underlying studs. Part of my shop as T1-11 and part is OSB. The T1-11 side was left natural; the OSB side was painted with an off-white paint. While I prefer the natural look from a "warm and fuzzy comfort" standpoint, that just wasn't a good idea with the OSB...'cause it's ugly stuff! The mistake I made on the T1-11 side was to use the thinner variety. You can put a screw in it to hold up some lighter things, but it also flexes a lot, creating some small bulges in open spaces.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  6. #6
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    I rolled 2 coats of Kilz water based primer on, and left it at that. It's white enough for me. Has a very slight grey tint to it. But I think you could only tell that if you put something painted pure white up to it, or maybe white with a slight tan in it, like antique white. I originally planned to top coat with pure white, but this is doing fine. Jim.
    Coolmeadow Setters...Exclusively Irish! When Irish Eyes are smiling....They're usually up to something!!
    Home of Irish Setter Rescue of North Texas.
    No, I'm not an electrician. Any information I share is purely what I would do myself. If in doubt, hire an electrician!
    Member of the G0691 fan club!
    At a minimum, I'm Pentatoxic...Most likely I'm a Pentaholic. There seems to be no known cure. Pentatonix, winners of The Sing Off, s3.

  7. #7
    you could use T&G pine on the walls. It looks good and is quite durable. it also gives you solid surface to mount things everywhere in your shop.

    I am using 1/2" OSB in my shop, simply because the price was right and i need it done....yesterday.

    Nick
    "there is no such thing as a mistake in woodworking, only opportunities to re-assess the design"

  8. #8
    Everytime I go to the mill I pick up a couple extra boards of hard maple. MIll them to 5/8" tongue and groove them and up they go. Drilled countersunk holes and will plug them with walnut.

    I'm doing the same on the ceiling but using walnut and cherry sappy scrap. Going to take me awhile but once or twice a month we take a day and put some up.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
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    Loudonville, NY
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dave Westover View Post
    Looking for an economical way to cover the shop walls, aside from drywall, plywood or osb. Any clever ideas out there?
    For my detached workshop, I simply used a combination of OSB (cost efficient) and 1/8" white hardboard for the walls. I didn't have to paint the stuff, or do any other finishing work to it. Plus it was lightweight, and really brightened up the shop.

    For my ceiling, I covered it with 1/2" 4'x8' foam insulation sheeting. The kind with the foil on the side. Yes, I know that it is technically installed backwards, but again, it 1), helped insulate the shop, 2) was light weight to work with, 3) required no finishing, and 4) helped brighten it up.

    The hardboard and insulation sheets cost around $10 a sheet.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    Stephenville, TX
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    914
    Sheet goods are going to be the most economical, so that means drywall or OSB, unless you happen to stumble into a great buy on something else. Since painting it to a light color would be the best sheet goods would be the best from that respect. And think of what you are going to do with the walls...hanging tools, etc. The cheapest starting out might not be cheapest in the long run.

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