Plywood wall tips

I'm in the middle of putting plywood on the interior walls of my shop. I have read a few threads here relative to which way to install the plywood, whether vertically or horizontally. I also intended to space the panels a 32nd of an inch to allow easier caulking. Here is what I have encountered, as this may help someone else.

1. If you have an 8 foot high sidewall, vertical gives a few less visual seam distractions.

2. Vertical seems easier to place by yourself at this height. (bear hug style) I am using a drywall screwgun, and did not do a horizontal installation due to not having to use a countersink for the vertical mode, due to the fact that a screw placed close to the end of a sheet of plywood at butted end joints without first using a countersink will break and chip out the remaining short end grain between the screw and the end of the sheet. On the vertical application, I was able to prevent this because you have more contact area to your top and bottom plate, and the screw can then be placed further from the ends of the sheets. Side seams do OK, but can bulge factory edges, so you may want to nail install sheets to hold them in place, then come back and do your screw-out.

3 Use tempory support nails driven into the joint of the base plate /concrete block joint to help you place the panel. Remove them later.

4.I was going to use small panel nails to space the plywood for caulkable joints, but found it too difficult to fight the bowing of the plywood and the difficulty of aligning the panel by myself to make it worthwhile. Stud to sheet edge would have slowly accumulated errors also. Without using screws, the plywood would have been hard to pull tight to the studs, using a finish nailer. The plywood factory is only a few miles away, whether the plywood needed more time after manufacture, and before store delivery, to stabilize while banded, is debateable.

5. I used a finish nail gun to temporarily attach key points of the panel until I had control of it, then added 1-5/8" coarse thread drywall screws to permanently attach. The plywood I got from Lowes was relatively flat, but bowed even while being transported home at night, enough so that I had a hell of a time getting it aligned and flattened out on the studs by myself, and I'm not inexperienced.

6.Drywall screwgun has adjustable countersink capabilities, to set the screws like you want them.

I will post other observations as I encounter them.

RJ

It's been a while since posting on this thread, but here's a pic of my shop wall with the 1/2 inch BC plywood installed and painted. While I was in the process, ddawg16 came to the next town on business and came by to visit. To show you what a standup guy he is, one Sunday he called and volunteered his services to help me install a wall of plywood that I had yet to do. He drove 45 minutes, brought the beer, and we hung out, BS'ing and hanging plywood. Thanks again, ddawg! The plywood I did alone was tacked vertically to the studs with a finish nailer to hold it in place, then I came back and screwed it to the studs with coarse 1-5/8" drywall screws, using a drywall screwdriver. The slightly sunk screw heads were spackled over, then a quick onceover sanding was done with a Dewalt orbital sander to get the fuzzies off the wall. The seams were left as installed. A coat of primer was followed by 2 coats of acrylic latex paint. Most people who enter the shop at first assume it's drywall until I point it out to them. I am extremely satisfied in taking this approach to a wall surface for a workshop application.

Looks great RJ!

I'm using OSB in mine, and with a similar approach. However, it sounds like you are taking more care than I am, with the sanding and the 1/32nd spacing for caulking. Doing it alone, especially the higher pieces, I can't keep a piece held in place while adjusting a precise gap and getting the first fasteners ****. I'm just butting the pieces together and then caulking.

Great job!

Actually Bull, if you'll look back at item 4, I gave up on spacing the joints, and just butted them together on edge. It came out just fine for my liking. One trick for doing it alone is to measure over on a sheet to locate a nail or screw in relation to a stud, then partially install a nail or screw into the panel. This way, when you get the sheet on the wall, you don't have to fight so hard to get it attached.

Looks awesome, and that's a cool story about how ddawg was able to meet up and help you out. I've made some close friends as a direct result of this forum as well.

RJ,

A couple of thoughts/observations.

First one. Chain or otherwise secure that cylinder!

Next, plywood is certainly more durable and stronger than drywall. But I don't believe that plywood counts as a 'fire-resistant' wall or material. Just in case that matters for your application.

Looks good. I can just barely see a vertical seem in that picture. Which for a 'shop' is no big deal at all, to me anyway.

White painted walls help a LOT in 'brightening up' a space.

And pretty cool and nice that ddawg16 came out and helped. So a big for him for that as well.

I did the inside of my garage in T111. I put them vertical and it worked out well.

MoonRise said:

RJ,

A couple of thoughts/observations.

First one. Chain or otherwise secure that cylinder!

Next, plywood is certainly more durable and stronger than drywall. But I don't believe that plywood counts as a 'fire-resistant' wall or material. Just in case that matters for your application.

Looks good. I can just barely see a vertical seem in that picture. Which for a 'shop' is no big deal at all, to me anyway.

White painted walls help a LOT in 'brightening up' a space.

And pretty cool and nice that ddawg16 came out and helped. So a big for him for that as well.

Click to expand...

Mine's a detached shop, so no firewall for the house. Thanks for the concerns, though. The cylinder was taken care of shortly after the pic, even though it was capped. See post # 10 in the link below.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=54643

mikester said:

I did the inside of my garage in T111. I put them vertical and it worked out well.

Click to expand...

I used T111, also. I got the primed version and then painted the backside and all edges. That's something you guys using ply might wanna think about. It reduces the chances for mildew.

Nice job, RJ.

Wow!...... that looks great!

mikester said:

I did the inside of my garage in T111. I put them vertical and it worked out well.

Click to expand...

I almost opted for the T111 on my shop, but the BC plywood won out in the end, because I had already installed drywall in the tool/compressor room in the background of the pic.

my plywood walls. Purchased 100 sheets of 1/4" B/C for 500$ ... I butted them against each other and added silicone between some of the joints.

I am currently doing the inside of my shop and am using 1/2" sheathing.
It costs $10.97 a sheet, BC was $18 a sheet.
Had to spackle knot holes and cracks but once painted white you have
to get very close to see that it is not drywall!
Butting them together and spackling the seams, using 16ga. finish nails to hold them on.
So far it looks good, have one more 10x20 foot room to do.....

Anybody use a framing nailer when they hung their plywood ?

I used finish nails to attach mine to the wall to help hang it, then used the drywall screws. The framing nailer lacked the finesse near the edges of the sheet that I wanted.

Go verticle, but b4 all that, make sure u got air lines, electrical outlets and lite switches well planned and installed so u have no regrets l8tr.
.

Bevel edges prior to panel fixing, do full runs of wallboard adhesive then but up hard against corner / or 1st panel and screw from center out (to avoid humps etc).... Then fill panel joints with flexible compound like a hard latex then paint in a fortnite after settling with oil based enamel (which resists weldind sparks, and wipes clean).

Keep bottom 12 inch above floor to avoid soaking up spills etc.

A few observations on my plywood shop walls after a couple years of use. Would I use plywood again? Hell yes. I have relocated some wall hung things to work out better, and it was a simple matter of hitting rhe old area with an orbital sander to get rid of the extruded edges of the holes where the mounting screws were, spackling, sanding smooth, then touching up with the original left over paint. Quick and easy. Highly recommended.

Start at bottom place a spacer on floor in middle of sheet to balance on. Then use a level to position it perfectly. The spacer holds the weight and gives an easy balance point. Fasten when ready.