Wainscot inside shop?

[cfk]

Will be finishing out the inside of my shop next spring (ceiling and walls), and I've been seeing a few pictures of shops with wainscoting on the inside, and I think it looks pretty sharp, but I'm curious if there are any disadvantages to it.. electrical, hanging stuff on the wall, etc..

Here is an example of what I'm talking about -

 

[dmcintosh]

What are you planning to finish the upper sections of wall with? Metal is nice and durable, but it is more difficult (not much, though) to hand things on the walls, and run conduit.

 

[DuluthMachineWorks]

I did wainscoting in mine out of 16ga steel sheet, with 1-1/4” flat bar trimwork. Everything was installed over finished drywall. It was a ton of work, but it turned out fantastic and was worth every bit of cost and effort. Here’s a couple pictures:


For utilities, I roughed everything in inside the wall just like normal. It was a little tricky to cut all the holes in the right place in the sheet steel, but wasn’t bad with an angle grinder and some patience. Conduit would be even easier since you could just drill and install with sheet metal screws.

If you want to see the detail about how I did it, it’s all in my build thread starting about here: Post in thread 'Duluth Machine Works - Duluth Machine Works - Pre-war Machine Shop in a Two Car Space'

All in all, I love having it. It keeps the bottom half of the wall from getting dinged up and looks exactly how I was hoping.

 

[toyotadriver]

Wow that's really nice looking!

 

[CraigStu]

Yes it could be extra work dealing w/ wall power outlets. Depends on where they are. Mine are all at 48" off the floor so wouldn't be a problem. If you are at the bare studs stage, and your outlets are lower, now is the time to move them.For me 48" has them above tool boxes and work benches but below wall cabinets.

 

[Augus7us]

I have metal panels for wainscoting and drywall above. I ran furring strips where the panels will go to be flush with the drywall and that allows me to run wire and pipe in between the strips without tearing up drywall down the road.

 

[cfk]

Inside will be all metal. Same as the video I linked. Black wainscot on the bottom, then a piece of double angle, and white above... rather than the "standard" white all the way from floor to ceiling.

Figured outlets will be 48" off the floor and the wainscot will be 42 (which matches the outside of the building), so that shouldnt be an issue. Outlets will all be surface mounted with conduit.

 

[duneslider]

I did wainscoting in mine out of 16ga steel sheet, with 1-1/4” flat bar trimwork. Everything was installed over finished drywall. It was a ton of work, but it turned out fantastic and was worth every bit of cost and effort. Here’s a couple pictures:


For utilities, I roughed everything in inside the wall just like normal. It was a little tricky to cut all the holes in the right place in the sheet steel, but wasn’t bad with an angle grinder and some patience. Conduit would be even easier since you could just drill and install with sheet metal screws.

If you want to see the detail about how I did it, it’s all in my build thread starting about here: Post in thread 'Duluth Machine Works - Duluth Machine Works - Pre-war Machine Shop in a Two Car Space'

All in all, I love having it. It keeps the bottom half of the wall from getting dinged up and looks exactly how I was hoping.

My Buddy did this but used galvanized sheets. Looks really nice. He is an electrician so he moved all his outlets above the wainscot. I like the painted look too. Seems like a very durable wall.

 

[FMB4]

Those are some great looking garages!

 

[purplezr2]

I did corrugated tin on the bottom of my garage, used pvc trim with a groove routed in to accept the tin to finish the top.

 

[yeldogt]

The metal wainscoting is nice ... is it 36" ? Nice color as well.

 

[DuluthMachineWorks]

Assuming you’re talking about mine? It’s about ~37” so that it matches with the concrete block stem wall along the back of the shop. If I wasn’t constrained by that I would have done 36” height just to make it a nice nominal number. 48” was just too high, so the extra shear cuts were worth it.

 

[ace10]

Half sheet of LP Smartside panel. Then a full sheet of green sheetrock above. PVC base, LP Smartside chair rail.

 

[That Guy Scott]

I’m finishing my bathroom right now. Im not doing the board and batten on the rest of the walls though. I just did the bathroom pop out because it matches the exterior of the house and made the mrs. happy. I got the idea from the same R&R video segment. One day I’ll finish the rest of it

 

[Ak Jim]

I did a chair rail. Used 12” by 1” azek board. Works great because it’s really tough and you can lean things against it and not trash the walls.

 

[nadogail]

That is so impressive, I am greatly motivated to make my next shop almost as nice as yours.

 

[John in OH]

When I built a new garage/workshop at one of my Ohio farms last winter, I used pre-finished steel wainscoting below finished drywall. The electrical outlets are mounted in the drywall just above the top of the wainscot to simplify wiring and we installed 2x8 blocking at many locations behind the drywall for wall mounting "whatever".

An actual advantage of metal wainscot is the ability to remove the panels and run additional wiring. A few weeks before Thanksgiving, my daughter and her husband told me they were bringing their 32' RV to stay in for the holidays. In preparation, I removed about eight panels of wainscot, drilled the studs behind the wainscot, and ran wiring for a new 30a RV outlet on the outside of the garage. Then simply reinstalled the panels. Easy peasy!

 

[Voi]

My shop has corrugated steel over drywall up to 37". Previous owner decision. Outlets all above that line.

It looks great but the gaps with a shorter than 37" tall bench are not ideal. Flat like some of the previous examples would be better than corrugated if losing stuff in those gaps would be a problem.

 

[CraigStu]

I have seen several products that might help sealing up the edge of roof panels. This is one

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Tuftex-Wood-Solid-Roof-Panel-Closure-Strip/3012462

I have also seen ridge caps that are shaped to match the roof panel so I was thinking maybe one of them could be split down the middle. I can't find a pic now though. We ate in a rib joint yesterday that had corrugated metal to about 3 ft from the floor. They made a chair rail of two pieces of wood. One piece was the same thickness as the metal and was nailed to the wall just above it. Another piece about 3/8 thick and a little wider than the first was nailed on so the top edges were flush w/ each other. The bottom of the wider piece overhung the corrugated by maybe 1/2-3/4 inch so the entire metal edge was captured.

 

[yeldogt]

Assuming you’re talking about mine? It’s about ~37” so that it matches with the concrete block stem wall along the back of the shop. If I wasn’t constrained by that I would have done 36” height just to make it a nice nominal number. 48” was just too high, so the extra shear cuts were worth it.

Yes. It's very interesting, Have a project for next year ... not sure what route I want to take. I like 36" for open spaces .... but, if you want a bench in front having a bit higher is nice.

 

[yeldogt]

Half sheet of LP Smartside panel. Then a full sheet of green sheetrock above. PVC base, LP Smartside chair rail.

That is nice looking as well. Is the the 4x8 panel ......prepainted?

 

[ace10]

That is nice looking as well. Is the the 4x8 panel ......prepainted?

Thx. No, not prefinished. Just bought from Lowes stock. LP does offer finishes now.

 

[longez]

No regrets at all, just made sure the electrical and air terminations were in the drywall above the wainscoting

 

[PoorUB]

No pics, but I sorta did wainscot on one wall. I was intending to do it all but, well, time and other ****.

Any way the real reason I did this it the sheet rock was rotten from water dripping of my pickup in the winter. I tore out the sheet rock up to 36" and hung it it's place 36x60 concrete backer board. I taped in the seams with mesh tape and thin set and above mesh tape and drywall mud. Over that I glued white fiberglass reinforced panels up just shy of 4 feet. My outlets are at four feet so the FRP got ripped down to 42". I capped the edge of the FRP with a piece of 1x4 PVC trim. I also used 1x4 PVC trim for base trim. That wall can get wet all it wants to now. It will still be there long after I am gone! Plus I doubt it will get any hole punctures!

 

[Marvin Berry]

Not the same, but I had 2x6's mounted at 4 and 6 feet all the way around the inside of my new garage.

 

[formula388]

I did wainscoting in mine out of 16ga steel sheet, with 1-1/4” flat bar trimwork. Everything was installed over finished drywall. It was a ton of work, but it turned out fantastic and was worth every bit of cost and effort. Here’s a couple pictures:


For utilities, I roughed everything in inside the wall just like normal. It was a little tricky to cut all the holes in the right place in the sheet steel, but wasn’t bad with an angle grinder and some patience. Conduit would be even easier since you could just drill and install with sheet metal screws.

If you want to see the detail about how I did it, it’s all in my build thread starting about here: Post in thread 'Duluth Machine Works - Duluth Machine Works - Pre-war Machine Shop in a Two Car Space'

All in all, I love having it. It keeps the bottom half of the wall from getting dinged up and looks exactly how I was hoping.

How did you attach the panels to the wall? Did you glue them and then use the 1 1/4 flat stock to hold in place? If so what glue did you use? Thanks!