Drywall or plywood walls

[mikeyr]

There is another thread about doing drywall currently going on and I did not want to hijaak it although it is related.

Last house I rented (have my very own now) the owner had removed all the drywall in the garage and put up plywood instead. Not as nice looking as drywall of course but it sure was handy when you wanted to hold something up, did not have to look for studs and also was pretty sturdy when bumped into.

My current garage is half drywalled and half studs, the side wall next to the house is drywall and so is the back wall. I am thinking of either finishing the drywall or removing it and going to plywood. Its a garage after all, its nice to have something good and tough to bump into without putting a hole in it. I also want it to look decent, what are the thoughts on both, pros and cons to plywood and drywall ?

Mike

 

[chet]

you can buy a paper faced plywood that accepts paint very well and will look alot like drywall. I guess you could even tape and mud the seems like drywall. We use it at work all the time

 

[NHCharger]

The sheetrock on the wall between your house and garage is supposed to be 5/8" fire code and if you remove it and later had a fire in your garage that damages the house your insurance company probably won't cover you.

In my shop I went with sheetrock except for the first 4' on the walls where I used OSB instead. I just painted the OSB the same color as the walls. Yes you can tell it's OSB but it's my shop, not a shrine.

 

[trs900]

My home in Georgia is all plywood in garage and it was built in 2001 with county inspections.. it might have drywall behind it i am not sure, but it is a lot easier to hang things on etc than drywall and of course more durable.. just stick a nail where you want..

 

[mikeyr]

I have to check on the fire code but even if I can't use plywood there, I could plywood the rest of the garage, the wall between house and garage is where my workbend is and wife's washer/dryer is so that would be no problem leaving it there.

Never heard of the paper backed plywood, that would be cool, the cosmetics of drywall with the usefulness of plywood.

I have already punched a few holes in the drywall as I worked with heavy stuff and plywood just seems so much better.