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Is 1/2" OSB ok for interior walls?

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ironman2424

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half inch is fine. if your planning on hanging stuff on the walls just be sure to hit the studs and not just the osb.
 

jwith68

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I used 7/16" OSB in mine and painted it with a couple of good coats of primer and one heavy coat of exterior latex semi-gloss latex. It has worked out very well, and looks pretty good too. I wouldn't hesitate to use 1/2" OSB.
 

TONE

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Why wouldnt he be able to hang anything of this?

LOL

youre kiddin' right?






half inch is fine. if your planning on hanging stuff on the walls just be sure to hit the studs and not just the osb.
 

rieferman

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I have the 1/2" OSB in my shop and am very happy with it. It's light enough to easily install by yourself too which is a bonus since my friends desert me when "help" is needed. Punks. But I digress... I agree with the comment of hitting studs whenever possible when hanging something heavy, and be careful when you're not on a stud to not over tighten the screw (it'll strip the osb)

edit: to clarify about hanging stuff.. something like my 8 foot long shelf that holds all sorts of heavy tools.. I put that into studs. But, a small cabinet, all sorts of tool hanging, smaller shelves, decorations.. just about anything that's not over 50 pounds... you can hit the osb and I'm not worried about the grab strength
 
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GTRClive

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I found a local lumber yard with some 1" MDF of cuts cheap.....
took nearly month to get them all trimmed and fitted butcan hang nearly anything off them.....Feb 18 2009 (2).jpg
 

Falcon67

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I used 7/16" on mine - it was on sale cheaper than sheetrock at the time. I built during a spike in prices, of course. It's just like hanging sheetrock - except no tape and bed. And as an added bonus, when that big wrench flies out of your hand after slipping off that #$%!@ bolt, it'll just bounce off the wall instead of imbeding.
 
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Gary S

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My garage has 1/2" OSB on the interior walls. When I got to the interior, Menards had it on sale for about $4.50 a sheet. I wish they would have had it on sale when I did the exterior of my garage. When I did the exterior, I bought the thinner 7/16" OSB and paid over $5 a sheet for it.
 

nate379

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Wow! I wish prices of OSB was near that here. I went to buy a sheet of 1/2" at Lowe's the other day to make a stand for my water softner and it was $16. I ended getting a sheet of 3/8" for ~$10 and I'll double it up.
 

boiler7904

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OSB is fine for walls if like the texture.

One thing to remember is that if the building is attached to your house, the common walls need to be covered in 5/8" type "x" gypsum board and fire taped at a minimum for the code required fire separation. Same goes for the ceiling.
 

Chris Adams

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I used OSB Radiant barrier half inch stuff on three walls of my shop. It doesn't attach to any buildings, seven feet to the nearest shed, 50 feet from the house.
I used OSB without the radiant barrier on the house facing side, Don't need the insulation on that wall, no sun, sheltered by two other buildings, and I wanted clear radio signals for WiFi, intercom, wireless camera cordless phone and cell. The Radiant barrier can block radio.

Gives you a shiny surface, extra heat reflective, costs 10-11 bucks a sheet at Lowe's and at HD. Cheaper at Lowe's.
They don't always display it, usually only up on the high racks.
 

sigtauenus

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I used OSB Radiant barrier half inch stuff on three walls of my shop. It doesn't attach to any buildings, seven feet to the nearest shed, 50 feet from the house.
I used OSB without the radiant barrier on the house facing side, Don't need the insulation on that wall, no sun, sheltered by two other buildings, and I wanted clear radio signals for WiFi, intercom, wireless camera cordless phone and cell. The Radiant barrier can block radio.

Gives you a shiny surface, extra heat reflective, costs 10-11 bucks a sheet at Lowe's and at HD. Cheaper at Lowe's.
They don't always display it, usually only up on the high racks.

Are you talking about insulation or OSB?

What you are describing sounds foil backed insulated sheathing...
http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=15328-288-15328&lpage=none
 
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hetkind

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I just got done putting over 1,200 sq ft of 7/16 OSB as interior walls in my shop...ground to the 8' level, the built 20' of workbench and three panes of shelving. The only issue is OSB is hard on saw blades AND it ***** up a large amount of primer. So far, 8 gallons of good quality primer and about 3 gallons of excellent quality high gloss behr white paint. Now on travel this week, and when I return this weekend, I will fill more shelves, unpack more boxes and finish up more construction work.

Howard
 

walrus

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I'm about to order another 40 sheets of OSB. I hate the stuff but its cheap
 

Mouthsquatch

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OSB works great no taping like drywall, I did my garage in peg board and wish I wouldn't have. I only use about 2% of the holes in the wall to hang stuff and the other 98% of the holes are there for catching and holding dirt and spiderwebs. I'm building a "shed" right now, debating on OSB but at Menards in Bay City MI a 4X8 sheet of drywall is $4.44.... 7/16 osb is about $6. So who knows.
 

coostv

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I did mine in 7/16" OSB. I like the simpleness and the durability. I really did not want to have to finish and paint sheet rock at the time.

Wouldn't 7/16" be cheaper?

Chris
 

Steve in Mi

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OSB works great no taping like drywall, I did my garage in peg board and wish I wouldn't have. I only use about 2% of the holes in the wall to hang stuff and the other 98% of the holes are there for catching and holding dirt and spiderwebs. I'm building a "shed" right now, debating on OSB but at Menards in Bay City MI a 4X8 sheet of drywall is $4.44.... 7/16 osb is about $6. So who knows.


7/16" OSB at Lowe's in Midland is $4.74

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productList&N=4294961544&Ne=4294967294&Ntk=i_products&Ntt=OSB

I used 167 sheets of OSB in my shop to avoid dry wall - no regrets.

Forgot that I did drywall the 1/2 bath.
 
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matt60j

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OSB works great no taping like drywall, I did my garage in peg board and wish I wouldn't have. I only use about 2% of the holes in the wall to hang stuff and the other 98% of the holes are there for catching and holding dirt and spiderwebs. I'm building a "shed" right now, debating on OSB but at Menards in Bay City MI a 4X8 sheet of drywall is $4.44.... 7/16 osb is about $6. So who knows.

What do you mean by "shed"?
 

rcpaulsen

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The system I used in two garages:

  • Sheath the walls with OSB (either 7/16" or 1/2" is more durable and water-resistant than sheetrock)
  • Spray or roll on one coat of cheap exterior primer
  • Spray cheap drywall joint compound through a $20 texture gun to mask the wood flake surface with an orange peel texture (requires a compressor). Texture paint might work but probably wouldn't look as good
  • Spray or roll on another coat of cheap exterior primer
  • Spray or roll on two coats of cheap exterior semi-gloss paint

Heavy shelves or cabinets still need to be attached to the studs, but almost everything else can be screwed to the OSB.
 

DarryT

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Code required 5/8 sheetrock here in our garage. In some areas of the garage it's over OSB to provide rigidity in case of a quake. My garage is probably extremely over engineered.

The house is 100 years old. No foundation, no osb. The interior & exterior 5/4 shiplap & real old growth lumber make the house really sturdy. The new back deck & front porch, overbuilt to code, should keep the house from moving too far in a quake.
 
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