OSB or Drywall on shop walls...

[WI/MI Border]

I'm planning my garage build (slab pour in May) and thought OSB would be a great wall sheathing due to being able to hang things easier. Now I'm thinking drywall ceilings and walls. I'm no expert drywall finisher but I've done a little taping and knockdown finish. I think I can handle the job. Painting seems easier on drywall for a nice finished look. Painting OSB looks a little rough and I'm not sure how, or if, I would cover seams. Cost isn't a lot different considering mud. tape, etc.

Whatdayathink? Did you go with drywall? OSB?

 

[NUTTSGT]

It's been debated many times. I don't care for drywall and I would choose OSB over it

However, I would pick plywood over OSB for the walls and ribbed metal for the ceiling.

 

[PCustoms]

I'm planning my garage build (slab pour in May) and thought OSB would be a great wall sheathing due to being able to hang things easier. Now I'm thinking drywall ceilings and walls. I'm no expert drywall finisher but I've done a little taping and knockdown finish. I think I can handle the job. Painting seems easier on drywall for a nice finished look. Painting OSB looks a little rough and I'm not sure how, or if, I would cover seams. Cost isn't a lot different considering mud. tape, etc.

Whatdayathink? Did you go with drywall? OSB?

This has probably been discussed dozens of times...

I'm in the OSB camp

 

[Norcal]

OSB, or plywood, with drywall over it.

 

[finn]

Do a search. This was beaten to death a couple of weeks ago.

 

[PoorUB]

Drywall, I hate OSB!

 

[Loud Lyle]

I osb’d my shop and caulked the seams. Much easier to deal with in a shop environment. You won’t knock holes in osb like sheet rock. And you can put a screw in it anywhere and hang stuff.

 

[WI/MI Border]

Consider the subject killed!

 

[PeterN]

Sorry to revive this but one thing to consider is if you live in a colder region (e.g. WI/MI) and do not heat the area, OSB will hold up much better than drywall. My drywall fire wall between the attached garage and house is prone to cracking at the seams. Not an issue with the OSB I have on the other walls in the garage.

 

[dcg9381]

OSB in my shop.

 

[PoorUB]

I still want to know what you guys are doing to knock holes in your shop walls?! I have have drywall in mine for over thirty years and never poked a hole in the wall.

 

[Lumpy102]

If using OSB, check the spec sheet, I don't know if all suppliers have switched, or when the switch happened, but you don't want to be exposed
OSB (Oriented Strand Board) can contain formaldehyde, a volatile organic compound (VOC), used in the resins or adhesives that bond the wood strands, but newer OSB panels use isocyanate resins that are nonvolatile when cured and don't contain formaldehyde.

 

[dcg9381]

I still want to know what you guys are doing to knock holes in your shop walls?! I have have drywall in mine for over thirty years and never poked a hole in the wall.

Don't have to knock holes in the walls. I just unscrew a 4x8' OSB panel.
Adding plumbing, another 240V circuit, or CAT6. If you did it right the first time, this is unnecessary, but my shop was a "hurry up" project that we lived in during covid and I didn't have a ton of time to make it livable space.
Honestly, I like the ability to change things out without having to replace drywall... And I regularly hang some heavy stuff on OSB.

 

[rd65]

I chose plywood over OSB, looks way better and was only a couple dollars more per sheet. My 32x28 used 56 sheets including the ceiling. Definitely worth the extra $150 for the plywood for me.

 

[cannuck]

IF you insist on stick building I am deeply in the "plywood ONLY" camp. 40 years ago I had a fire in the garage (caused by door opener!!) and lost everything paper or plastic in the shop, but plywood is so hard to get burning there was time for the VFD to arrive and save most of the metallic stuff. I skidded that building over to an employee's yard where the plywood was replaced and has served him well ever since. IMHO OSB does not have those properties making plywood a much better choice. It also holds screws and nails a lot better. Recommend 1/2" rather than 3/8.

 

[PoorUB]

Don't have to knock holes in the walls. I just unscrew a 4x8' OSB panel.
Adding plumbing, another 240V circuit, or CAT6. If you did it right the first time, this is unnecessary, but my shop was a "hurry up" project that we lived in during covid and I didn't have a ton of time to make it livable space.
Honestly, I like the ability to change things out without having to replace drywall... And I regularly hang some heavy stuff on OSB.

I have done all of that and not removed wall panels, or chopped holes in my walls. I also have cabinets on my sheet rock walls that easily have 200 or more pounds in them. One cabinet I moved and as I was taking it down I realized there was over 400 pounds of various liquid stored in it.

My comment was more to the one poster that mentioned, "you won't knock holes in OSB like you will in sheetrock". What do some of you do where this is a concern? Get pissy and throw tools?

I had a business that was a repair shop and the divider walls in the shop area were drywall, Once a year when we were slow I would wash down that wall and repaint. I never had to repair holes in the walls in a shop that operated 12 hours a day most of the year.

 

[dcg9381]

I have done all of that and not removed wall panels, or chopped holes in my walls.

How do you rewire what is behind the walls if you don't have exposed conduit? Or run a new water line? I get it if you're done working behind the walls. My shop is always a work in progress.

I also have cabinets on my sheet rock walls that easily have 200 or more pounds in them. One cabinet I moved and as I was taking it down I realized there was over 400 pounds of various liquid stored in it.

For sure, the OSB isn't what's holding the cabinet, but it's a better material if you're just going to use the material itself and not hit stud or gurt.

Drywall is a much better fire barrier though..

 

[logical]

I wouldn't hang much more than a paint brush if it was just screwed randomly into OSB. I like drywall for appearance but it really depends on the look you want and how often you plan to accidentally hit your wall with a sledge hammer or whatever it is people are destroying their drywall with.

 

[LopezBart]

I wouldn't hang much more than a paint brush if it was just screwed randomly into OSB. I like drywall for appearance but it really depends on the look you want and how often you plan to accidentally hit your wall with a sledge hammer or whatever it is people are destroying their drywall with.

From personal experience, 10' 2"x2"x1/4" angle works pretty well....

 

[PoorUB]

How do you rewire what is behind the walls if you don't have exposed conduit? Or run a new water line? I get it if you're done working behind the walls. My shop is always a work in progress.

My panel is surface mounted on the wall, not in the wall, I needed to run wire for my air compressor and ran it up the wall, (I have a plywood panel above the panel to cover wires) then into the attic, over to where I need to go, drill down through the top plate, and fish the wires down the wall to the electrical box. I have added a few outlets in the same manor. If the box was in the wall I would do the same, and have a removable panel above the panel.

 

[PoorUB]

I wouldn't hang much more than a paint brush if it was just screwed randomly into OSB.

I agree! I don't trust OSB to hold anything. I have a buddy that sheeted his shop with OSB and anything remotely heavy is screwed to the studs.

 

[4x4Pete]

Osb stinks. My attached garage was done by previous owner, it smelled for the first 10 years I lived here. I did the detached in drywall. No sniffin glue for me.

 

[NUTTSGT]

I hang all sorts of stuff on my OSB and I use drywall screws to hang them with.

 

[PCustoms]

I just finished framing a closet under the stairs.

Will get drywall on the outside (almost had enough scraps), OSB on the inside as must dust collector needs to get wheeled in and out and I know that's got potential to bang around.

 

[Shocker]

I did my whole shop (24x32) in OSB. Works great. I hung it horizontally up to 8' then covered the last 2' (10 foot wall) with a corrugated white plastic roofing panels.

The vertical seams aren't very noticeable after painting and I did a blue vinyl tape border along the horizontal seam around the whole shop.

Easy to keep clean with the semi-gloss paint. Doesn't get a hole in it if I accidentally smash it with something.

 

[u2slow]

Plywood.

OSB *****, and drywall ***** worse.

 

[pickles]

My garage interior is mostly cement block but for the small part of it that is wood framed I put up a layer of osb and then put a layer of half inch drywall over that. I have the can still hang anything anywhere, have the durability of the osb but still have the look of finished drywall which I prefer. It was, of course, twice the work and twice the cost. Since I had only a small area to do this wasn’t a big issue however.

 

[Natty Bumppo]

1x10 horizontal ship-lap KD pine.

Plywood *****, and OSB ***** worser. And drywall ***** the worst.

I'm kidding, of course. They all have their place and their role. It just depends on the look that you want and the use of the shop. Are you going to be hanging all kinds of signs and decor...or just wall cabinets.

I went with pine up to 8' and then 4' of painted OSB on top of that.

 

[Chris_Hamilton]

Surprised no one mentioned MDF.

 

[PCustoms]

Surprised no one mentioned MDF.

Seems like an absolutely terrible option.

Heavy, doesn't hold screws well (can't hang stuff) and gets destroyed by moisture.

 

[ddurrett896]

Another vote for 1x

Screw bottom/middle/top row, nail off the rest so you can pull for future access.

 

[SouthernIllinois]

I went with a metal liner on the walls and ceiling BUT I put a ton of blocking behind it for:

1. garage door tracks
2. garage door openers
3. lights
4. radiant tube heater
5. fans
6. conduit, junction boxes and receptacles
7. air lines and air regulator/filters
8. cabinets/shelving
9. hose reels

 

[ScaldedDog]

Just dropping in to make my usual suggestion of drywall over OSB, with beads of caulk in between. It's more expensive, of course, but yields the best of both solutions, and is great for keeping shop sounds in the shop.

Mark

 

[Metal-Marc]

My comment was more to the one poster that mentioned, "you won't knock holes in OSB like you will in sheetrock". What do some of you do where this is a concern? Get pissy and throw tools?

 

[Notgrownup]

I screwed OSB , painted with Killz . I didnt like the idea of damaged drywall. At the time OSB was way cheaper than plywood or I would’ve used that.

 

[Bert_]

Drywall just gets chewed up over time, at least the bottom 4'.

 

[Lumpy102]

Did the entire shop in 1/2 plywood, (3/4 in the corner where the utilities are mounted) primer and 2 coats of paint, just used standard plywood, and 1/2 a tub of wood filler, because I didn't like the look of missing knots. About 2x the price of drywall sheets but done in a couple of days and it looks great. I'd still mount cabinets to the studs rather than just the plywood, it's just good building practice.

 

[PoorUB]

3/4" plyowod wouldn't hold up to those idiots!

 

[PoorUB]

Drywall just gets chewed up over time, at least the bottom 4'.

Not if you put down a 1x4 board for a baseboard.

I have 1x3 baseboard all around and the doors and windows are trimmed out, plus the drywall has a light texture. Maybe it helps that I care about my tools and property and take a tiny bit of care not to trash the place.

 

[Herzog]

I pondered the same when finishing the inside of my shop. Ultimately I decided to go with a steel wainscot and upper drywall. So far I've been very happy with the results. Here's a photo I was able to find that I took while installing air-lines.