What to do w/ the walls

[danaelk]

Hello,
Am in the process of finishing off the 2.5 car detached garage. My question is:
Should I sheetrock, tape and paint the walls? (brighter, cheaper, etc) or go w/ plywood or OSB. My concern w/ sheet rock is we have some sloppy winters in MN and the bottom may get wet when the snow covered car(s) get pulled in. Or maybe a combo of both? Any ideas?
Thanks in advance.

 

[Salem747]

I installed OSB, mainly because of the cost. OSB is $7 a sheet where I am.

I also thought that OSB would be better for hanging things off the walls wherever you want and you can't punch a hole through OSB like you can with drywall.

 

[padstack]

depends on your fire codes. Detached probably means you're safe with OSB (in OH at least). Personally, as long as you paint it good, you're fine with drywall. Salem has a good point on hanging things though.

 

[Strouty]

I know you were concerned with costs, but I installed OSB then drywall over that from 3.5 feet and up. At the floor level I kept the drywall a little over 2 inches off the floor for water issues. The drywall looks great and I can hang anything anywhere. I did have to make plywood spacers for the lower section to keep the drywall even, but it came out nice.

 

[ecomboy]

Hi Danaelk, consider steel. Menards in MN can sell you "liner" steel as opposed to the exterior steel it's thinner and less expensive. You can place one panel, see where it needs to be fastened then lay it back down on the stack and drill or awl through the other sheets so that the fastener lines are perfectly straight.

 

[Bad Brad777]

I installed OSB, mainly because of the cost. OSB is $7 a sheet where I am.

I also thought that OSB would be better for hanging things off the walls wherever you want and you can't punch a hole through OSB like you can with drywall.

Same here. It has worked out great...looks good too.

 

[TheShrine]

 

[Busted_Knuckles]

If your going to work on anything in that garage, consider sheet rock. This is a common topic, I think we've seen a couple pictures of what an OSB sheeted garage looks like after a fire. I think 1/2 rock is good for an hour fire rating, and OSB, not so much (maybe a minute ?). It doesn't take much to burn down a garage. Food for thought, I used to volunteer with the FD, most all the "structure" fires we went to where garages or garage related. Rock wont ensure that it wont burn, but OSB will certainly almost assure complete loss (and fast too!).

I personally wouldn't dream of using OSB for sheeting in a garage, or if you do use it, consider tin to cover it. My 2 cents.

 

[rsanter]

if you drywall, you could run a strip of 12x12 or 18x18 tiles along the bottom to waterproof it.
tile on clearance can be cheap

bob

 

[wantedabiggergarage]

If your budget isn't up for osb under drywall (assuming attached and fire rated drywall is required), consider running some 2x "nailer" strips at the heights you would mount things to the wall.