Plywood wall skim-coated with drywall mud?h?

[jvitez]

I'm deciding on my garage wall finish. I'm not a fan of painted OSB. I like the idea of something stronger than drywall for the bottom part of the wall as that's the area that gets banged up the most. So......

My current idea is 4x8 sheets of 1/2" plywood placed horizontally along the wall bothom, with 4x8 sheet of drywall placed vertically to cover the rest. My walls are 12 ft. tall. The plywood will also help hold up the drywall as I screw it in. However, there's a $10 difference per sheet here between construction grade plywood vs sanded good-one-side plywood. So.....

Has anyone used drywall mud as a skim coat to smooth out the holes and roughness of construction grade plywood? I know it will raise the grain and require some sanding, which isn't great. Wood filler would be way too expensive and hard to work with.

I'll need about 14 sheets of plywood. I'll need at least one bucket of drywall mud, so my savings here would be about $120, which I'm not sure is worth the work of essentially plastering all the plywood. But I'm curious if anyone has actually done this? Is this a dumb idea?

 

[camarotoolman]

Its works, just more work. time vs. saving$

 

[-Brent-]

Time is money, right? I'd rather save the time and move onto a different project.

 

[Outlawmws]

I think the mud will end up flaking off the plywood, if not soon, then over time.

 

[idahobound]

That sounds like a recipe for a mess. Its a bad plan to put mud on any kind of wood or wood product. Hang it, finish it what ever level of finish you want ....TAPE, TOP, SMOOTH WALL....what ever. Then lay down your 4 x 8 1/2 plywood if you must. Unless you are throwing wrenches or angle iron at your walls....I would not get too excited about plywood. If you do not want to look at the plywood should you decide to use it....paint it.

 

[kbs2244]

Get the construction ABC plywood and paint it as is.
Then put white 1/4 inch peg board above it.
It is a shop, not a living room.

 

[Jamech]

I've wondered how masonry (cinder) block primer/filler would work to cover osb or plywood. It is advertised to fill cinder block walls to a smooth finish.

 

[Teach]

I'd be worried about it separating from the plywood, and regardless, it is a ton of work. At this stage of life, my time is too valuable.

How about T 1-11 or finish grade plywood on the bottom 4' like wainscoting? Use wood strips to cover the seams board-and-batton style, and use a piece of molding at the top to but up against the drywall. I did this in one small section of the garage, but with pegboard on the top 2/3 and it looks great.

 

[zuk123]

There is a bonding agent that will let you stick drywall compound to wood. I don't think it will hold up long term, as the wood continues to move with changes in moisture.

I have all my walls covered with white painted B-C grade plywood. None of my seams are filled or taped. With shelves, hanging tools, stuff leaning against it, you really don't notice the wood grain. I was careful to flood the gaps with paint, so they are light colored and don't stick out. Same for knots, and screw heads. I did mark up a yard stick so my screws would be uniform, just in case you did notice them.

I like how it turned out. I can fasten or hang something anywhere. I can bump the walls with impunity. I've rearranged my shelves and lawn tool storage, and all I did was touch up the paint in the old holes.

It blends and visually recedes which is what I was hoping for.

BTW, I think the biggest factor was the light colored paint. Wow, what a difference it makes not to be staring at the black tar paper or tan wood.

zuk

 

[427FAB]

I have that man made plywood 3/8,I forgot what its called its like all pieces glued together.It works fine.Rent a sprayer and paint it white if you want it white.By the time you are done hanging tools you will not see anything.I don't think thats a good idea.In the long run it will be cheaper time/money wise.

 

[Big Bad Dad]

Manufacturers engineer, design, and market their products for a purpose. "Field Engineering" something for an unintended purpose probably ain't gonna work out well in the long run. (Just my 2 centavos )

 

[Tim The Tool Man]

I'd be worried about it separating from the plywood, and regardless, it is a ton of work. At this stage of life, my time is too valuable.

How about T 1-11 or finish grade plywood on the bottom 4' like wainscoting? Use wood strips to cover the seams board-and-batton style, and use a piece of molding at the top to but up against the drywall. I did this in one small section of the garage, but with pegboard on the top 2/3 and it looks great.

This!

...Or just paint the plywood. Also consider your stud spacing. if they are 24" o.c. then 1/2" plywood isn't going to resist to much impact.

 

[Big-Foot]

Mud on plywood works absolutely fine, but you need to first prime the plywood with a good primer like Kilz. I've mudded and textured a bunch of plywood in areas I had a hard time working with sheet rock. It has held up just fine and no cracking or pop outs, etc.. I have even joined plywood to sheet rock at corners and this has worked fine.

 

[rshadd]

I also wanted something a bit more durable then drywall for my garage walls. I frequently use my garage as a wash bay and knew drywall wasn't going to last long getting wet all the time. I put up 1/2" plywood and painted it with semi-gloss latex white.

It was a good choice and it's holding up really well. I like that I can hang stuff anywhere and the semi-gloss has enough of a skin to it so that you can wipe it down. The paint also helps repel any water that may get on the walls.

Just painting the walls white made a huge difference. The paint did a good job of filling in the cracks of the plywood and I ended up with a fairly smooth finish.

Building code required fire-rated drywall on the walls to the house.

 

[ydna]

It doesnt sound like it's worth the trouble for $120.

On a different note, if the garage is attached, drywall is nice between the garage and the house. It will buy you 20-30 minutes to put the fire out before you loose the house.

 

[zuk123]

Mud on plywood works absolutely fine, but you need to first prime the plywood with a good primer like Kilz. I've mudded and textured a bunch of plywood in areas I had a hard time working with sheet rock. It has held up just fine and no cracking or pop outs, etc.. I have even joined plywood to sheet rock at corners and this has worked fine.

That is good to know. Thanks!

zuk

 

[burleyfarm]

My garage walls are spray textured drywall that has been painted except around the overhead door tracks. I used plywood in these areas and had the drywaller spray them with the texture also. The texture is nothing more than thinned down mud. It has held up just fine.

 

[jvitez]

Thanks fornthe replies guys. $120 savings doesnt seem like enough for the work. If I use good-one-side plywood i'll caulk the seams, prime with an oil based primer to not raise the grain, and paint both the drywall and plywood with semigloss latex.

 

[Angelfire]

I have that man made plywood 3/8,I forgot what its called its like all pieces glued together..

As opposed to the naturally occurring plywood? Sorry, couldn't resist.

 

[Voi]

Has anyone used drywall mud as a skim coat to smooth out the holes and roughness of construction grade plywood?

We built an art display niche around 5' x 3' in our home. The back is built from 3/4" AC ply. The A side was skim coated in a few spots with a vinyl spackling compound and then primed with some left over Kilz. Then had it sprayed with what turned out to be a heavy orange peel texture with drywall mud. I had asked for light orange peel but that's another story. It's held up for almost two years now. The Kilz was waterborne and I didn't have any issue with grain raise that I recall. I may have hit it with some sand paper after but I don't remember for sure.

I had planned to cover the plywood with 1/4" drywall but that was special order and our drywall guy insured us that what we were doing would work without it. But we did not use drywall mud so I'm guessing he discouraged us from doing so. Again, I just don't recall those details.

 

[camarotoolman]

i've used latex clalk to smooth out rough plywood too. (got the calk real cheap though)

 

[427FAB]

As opposed to the naturally occurring plywood? Sorry, couldn't resist.

LOL !!!! Good one !! My brain is mush lately !!!

 

[OccupantRJ]

There is a bonding agent that will let you stick drywall compound to wood. I don't think it will hold up long term, as the wood continues to move with changes in moisture.

I have all my walls covered with white painted B-C grade plywood. None of my seams are filled or taped. With shelves, hanging tools, stuff leaning against it, you really don't notice the wood grain. I was careful to flood the gaps with paint, so they are light colored and don't stick out. Same for knots, and screw heads. I did mark up a yard stick so my screws would be uniform, just in case you did notice them.

I like how it turned out. I can fasten or hang something anywhere. I can bump the walls with impunity. I've rearranged my shelves and lawn tool storage, and all I did was touch up the paint in the old holes.

It blends and visually recedes which is what I was hoping for.




BTW, I think the biggest factor was the light colored paint. Wow, what a difference it makes not to be staring at the black tar paper or tan wood.

zuk

This. I also used BC plywood and white painted my walls. One of the best decisions I ever made for my shop. Hang things ANYWHERE. People think it is drywall until a closer look.

 

[LowKat]

Retired wood butcher here........

Drywall mud works fine on plywood. At least the stuff I installed in my house 20 years ago is still working. You can use drywall tape on the seams and finish it like sheetrock (textured, smooth or whatever turns your nut)