Plywood thickness recommendation for interior shop walls?

Air_Cooled_Nut · Sep 26, 2012

Okay, after reading many posts on OSB vs. plywood vs. drywall vs. other-non-traditional-paneling I've decided to line the bottom 4' of my shop with plywood (4'x8' sheets) with sheet rock above it and across the ceiling. The reason is that the plywood can take abuse better and be used to securely mount stuff while the upper portion (sheet rock) can be made to look pretty and will be painted. Hey, my shop, my deliberation after 6+ months! :eyecrazy:

So...what would be a recommended thickness? I know I want 1/2" minimum. 3/4" seems like a good compromise, too, of 1/2" being too thin and 1" being too thick. I dunno. I plan on using screws to secure them.

Also, what grade (?) should I get? I want something that looks decent and at this time I'm pretty sure I won't paint it...but I could change my mind. Recommendations?

This is a really hard decision! :willy_nil

I've thought about all sheet rock but that's something beyond my skill set (and make it look good) and time, whereas I can nail/screw wood (I'm not totally inept) at least one sheet per pay check :thumbup:

Gotta start somewhere and I've been dragging my feet too long... Thanks! :beer:

BD1 · Sep 26, 2012

What are the centers on your stud walls ? If they are 24'' I would say 5/8'' or
3/4''. See what you can find on sale. Check craigs list too under general and materials section.

bdamico · Sep 26, 2012

If you're doing sheet rock up top, don't you want to try to match thickness? 3/4? unless you do 5/8

quick60 · Sep 26, 2012

Compromise and go 5/8". I would think 1/2" would be to thin and 3/4" overkill. JMO. I might steal that idea though when I get to that point. Think I'd go 5/8. You can get it "good on one side." I dont know the technical term.

You can cap it to trim out the transition from wood to rock and use an edge bead on the sheet rock.

Air_Cooled_Nut · Sep 26, 2012

16" on center. Didn't know about 5/8" and if that comes close to mating up with sheet rock, well, rock on! Yes, I realize there would be a disjunction but figured I could cover it with a trim cap.

Yes, Craig's List for sure, lots of it on sale!

Great ideas guys, thanks!!

Slick111 · Sep 26, 2012

I went 3/4 osb to help with noise reduction as I work swing shift and often bang away in mine till 5 am somtimes after my regular job and nice to hang & mount heavy things any where I want on the wall.

fury9 · Sep 26, 2012

5/8 plywood not osb. It's a little more cost, smash a hammer into osb and you get a hole (unless you hit a stud). Try it with plywood, it's much more difficult.

REPO · Sep 26, 2012

Personally, if you are not going to paint it, and you plan on washing the place out once in awhile, I would buy treated plywood. Remember this is a forever building, you don't want it rotting out in 15 years.

RPH · Sep 27, 2012

A-c is the rating your looking for surface. A= clean no knots, c = flaws. Some knots, some repaired area's. C goes against the studs. Guess you figured that out!

NUTTSGT · Sep 27, 2012

Most of the guys that have used OSB on their walls, used 7/16". That being said, 1/2" plywood would be plenty strong to use on your walls. It'll be the same thickness as the drywall, if you use 1/2" and not 5/8" drywall. Using the same thickness plywood and drywall allows you to easy put up some type of transititional piece (trim, chair rail, aluminum diamond plate) between the two.

csp · Sep 27, 2012

Air_Cooled_Nut said:
Didn't know about 5/8" and if that comes close to mating up with sheet rock, well, rock on!

Your choices in drywall will either be 1/2", which is typically used on wall surfaces, or 5/8". There's plywood out there to match either one and 1/2" would be more than enough on a wall.

NUTTSGT · Sep 27, 2012

REPO said:
Personally, if you are not going to paint it, and you plan on washing the place out once in awhile, I would buy treated plywood. Remember this is a forever building, you don't want it rotting out in 15 years.

Something you may want to consider is running a PT 1x4 along the bottom of the wall on edge. This will give the look of a baseboard and keep the plywood directly off of the floor.

camarotoolman · Sep 27, 2012

I hve 1/2 on 16" centers, 8' tall. Never had a problem. I like it because you can put a nail or scrw in it to hang stuff and it stays there. IMO anything thicker is over kill. After you get cabinet, shelfs, posters , tools and other misc. junk up,you wouldn't notice tha walls any how!

Air_Cooled_Nut · Sep 28, 2012

NUTTSGT said:
Something you may want to consider is running a PT 1x4 along the bottom of the wall on edge. This will give the look of a baseboard and keep the plywood directly off of the floor.

The shop foundation is cement and the walls are sitting on...6" high ?...foundation so no chance of water touching the walls and I'm not in a flood-zone. If water got that high I and the neighborhood would have much bigger things to worry about. Great suggestion though!

Air_Cooled_Nut · Sep 28, 2012

camarotoolman said:
I hve 1/2 on 16" centers, 8' tall. Never had a problem. I like it because you can put a nail or scrw in it to hang stuff and it stays there. IMO anything thicker is over kill. After you get cabinet, shelfs, posters , tools and other misc. junk up,you wouldn't notice tha walls any how!

Yeah, my thinking as well but I don't need mine 8' high. And that tall will mess with the paint scheme I have in mind. My plans are to have pallet shelving (those big, heavy shelves that can support a car) so not as big of a need for lots of stuff secured to the walls.

NUTTSGT · Sep 28, 2012

Air_Cooled_Nut said:
The shop foundation is cement and the walls are sitting on...6" high ?...foundation so no chance of water touching the walls and I'm not in a flood-zone. If water got that high I and the neighborhood would have much bigger things to worry about. Great suggestion though!

Sweet, that's one less thing to worry about. :thumbup:

shoobear · Sep 28, 2012

I did 1/2 plywood G1S on the lower 4' of wall. (for a clients house) 1/2" with 16"o/c will be fine. You can use flexable/paintable caulking between the 1/2 drywall and plywood to seal up the seam.
I also glued plywood to the lower conc/fdn kick area. Left a little crack at the bottom so no water wicks up the wood.

kyles974 · Sep 28, 2012

although my metal building as 4ft span on the beams, I installed 1x4's across 2ft span.

I was going to pay the $4-$5 extra a sheet for 1/2 plywood. Aftrer getting to the box store, I quickly felt there was no way of using 1/2 plywood, so I went with 1/2 osb because of the strentgh.

(not trying to get into an debate guys, just letting the OP know what I did and what was in my budget)

Gary S · Sep 28, 2012

RPH said:
A-c is the rating your looking for surface. A= clean no knots, c = flaws. Some knots, some repaired area's. C goes against the studs. Guess you figured that out!

Lately I've been using the higher quality birch veneer plywood instead of AC. Menards regularly puts the birch plywood with 2 good sides on sale cheaper than they sell the plain old AC plywood. Less money, and nicer surface.

Air_Cooled_Nut · Sep 28, 2012

kyles974 said:
although my metal building as 4ft span on the beams, I installed 1x4's across 2ft span.

I was going to pay the $4-$5 extra a sheet for 1/2 plywood. Aftrer getting to the box store, I quickly felt there was no way of using 1/2 plywood, so I went with 1/2 osb because of the strentgh.

(not trying to get into an debate guys, just letting the OP know what I did and what was in my budget)

That's cool, good input man!

Air_Cooled_Nut · Sep 28, 2012

Gary S said:
Lately I've been using the higher quality birch veneer plywood instead of AC. Menards regularly puts the birch plywood with 2 good sides on sale cheaper than they sell the plain old AC plywood. Less money, and nicer surface.

Huh, I'll have to get a look at that. Nice to have options :beer2:

REPO · Sep 28, 2012

I have seen that locally as we'll. we build some shelves at work, and it was cheaper for us to use 3/4" sheets of veneered oak plywood, cheaper than plain stuff! Seemed wrong!

Gary S · Sep 29, 2012

Menards has a brand of imported oak and birch plywood they regularly put on sale. Over the past year, I've been able to get it for around $30 a sheet when they have their sale. I haven't seen any good sales lately on AC plywood, so I'd have to pay more than $30 for a sheet of AC.
The imported stuff is cheaper if you don't mind using Oriental plywood.

aar0s · Sep 29, 2012

Id use 1/2 inch ply, AC or some other sanded if its in budget and put an aluminum H channel between the drywall and plywood. That way you dont have to worry about how to finish off the seam between the two.
Use pole barn rat guard under the ply to give it something to rest on and keep it from drawing moisture from the floor.

Now that I think about it, by the time you buy the drywall, tape, mud and paint wouldn't you be about as well off to use plywood over the whole thing?

Air_Cooled_Nut · Sep 29, 2012

My shop walls are not on the ground so no worries about water. The previous owner was going to sheet rock the ceiling so when we bought it we got the sheet rock and insulation, all I need is labor to put it up -- 12' ceiling and though I can do many things dry walling isn't one of them aside from a minor hole patch. Thus why I'm sheet rocking the upper 3/4 of the walls.

Sheet rock is a better substrate for painting/cosmetics in my opinion plus it's a little better in terms of fire protection vs. wood products.

I like the H-channel junction, great idea!

Plywood thickness recommendation for interior shop walls?

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