Alternate garage wall materials.

[radioman]

OSB works well. It will take paint, but is kind of a pain to paint, and you can screw into it and hang stuff just about anywhere.

I did this in my garage and my rental property storage room. I used pt deck boards on bottom "as trim" and covered walls with osb. It looks nice/finished and rustic.

 

[paulharvey]

I have build three commercial pre engineered metal buildings, with 5/8th cdx plywood as a interior. Screwed directly to purlions. Seems and knot holes where caulked and everything painted with a grey water based exterior paint. One note, you might/will need a piece of material screwed to back at the edge of one, the add second and screw to backer, keeps the edges even, as plywood tends to bow pretty bad. If your dealing with a stick framed structure, just run backer at 4 ft and screw off at say 12" oc on edge, and maybe 24" oc in field. Fire rated walls are typically only required between diffrent tenants as in condo/apartmenta or mixed industrail/office type building uses.

 

[DFB]

Yup paint & plywood...simple and effective. My ex fil had a wall paneling in his attached garage. We did T&G pine over furring on the concrete block wall garage at work. Looks real nice. How much do you want to spend? We also did fiberglass reinforced panels but there almost $40 a sheet

 

[tcartwri]

Yup paint & plywood...simple and effective. My ex fil had a wall paneling in his attached garage. We did T&G pine over furring on the concrete block wall garage at work. Looks real nice. How much do you want to spend? We also did fiberglass reinforced panels but there almost $40 a sheet

In my mind putting drywall up in a non climate controlled shop is a waste of money. It will be moldy and beaten up in a matter of two seasons. I like the idea of tin or steel, IF I can find the right product.

 

[Jose G]

vinyl could be a solution, already white in color, cheap to replace. OSB + paint will cost more, same for the drywall... the best is probably white sheetmetal.

 

[mjncad]

Not cheap; but here are a couple of other alternatives.

PolyMax Board - FarmTek

PolyMax Corrugated Poly Board - FarmTek

 

[paulharvey]

They do make full preasure treated plywood, but your getting into the $25 per sheet range. CDX plywood is C quality loooks on front, D quality looks on back side, wit eXterior glue. Its not ment to gwt wet over and over because the wood isnt treated, but its not the end of the world if it gets rain for a few days before you dry in a roof. If its in a garage, I would expect no problems for many years at around $10 per sheet for half inch, around $13.50 for 5/8ths. The exterior paint with extend that even more. One thing to keep in mind, if your worried about moisture wicking up from concrete slab you can simply keep the bottons about 1/8th inch off the concrete by shimm ok ng the bottom up with a nail as a spacer as you screw it off. I highly recommend using screws instead of nails so you can take panels off to add outlets, compressed air lines ect with little trouble.

 

[PineRidge]

Years ago I used pegboard in an unattached garage. Turns out the spiders liked it much more than I did because they made webs all over it. It was always a mess. In our present pole barn I finished the 12' ceiling with textured drywall and hung OSB on the walls with screws. Since all the wiring, gas line, phone, water, etc. are hidden behind the OSB it's a nice clean look. Being able to take a panel down to service anything hidden behind is also a plus and the OSB will support a lot of weight in tools or toys. I never even felt the need for paint and it looks good 14 years later. (my how time flies)

 

[tcartwri]

Not cheap; but here are a couple of other alternatives.

PolyMax Board - FarmTek

PolyMax Corrugated Poly Board - FarmTek

I built a hockey shooting pad for my son out of this stuff. It is unbeleivably tough. It sure would make the shop bright, and save on lighting fixtures.... hmmmm....

 

[Gunny]

The biggest part of my garage has 1/4 inch OSB, fastened to horizontal 1x3 furring strips every 16", then I spaced in several sheets of 1/4 inch pegboard. I did lay 1/2 OSB horizontally on the lower four feet (takes more of a beating and on 24" centers). I stained it using the cheap redwood stain from WalMart (about $5 a gallon). It looks pretty good, some chips take a lot of stain and are dark, some chips take less and are lighter in color. The pegboard is fastened on vertical strips because for some reason I thought it would make it better for putting in the hooks.
With the 1/2 inch on the bottom and the 1/4 inch on top with the 16" spacing, it still has enough support to screw shelves and stuff in, I just wouldn't trust it with anything real heavy.

I do like the idea of the metal siding, I may redo the one corner where I keep my welder and metal chop saw with metal. Around here you can get the number 2 metal for about $1.09 a foot, not bad when you factor in the 3' width.

 

[kcender]

I used 1/2 inch plywood and painted it.I am happy with it.I only have heat in the garage when I am there and there seems to be no problems.

 

[600rider]

Living here in Northwest PA and having a lot of Amish saw mills around I used rough cut hemlock and rabbited the edges so the overlap each other. wasn't cheap but I can hang anything anywhere I want and I don't have to worry about banging into it and going through!!!! My garage is poll construction two story Gambrel roof and is insulated and heated with natural gas to about 50 when I'm not out there but warmed up to 60 when I am!

 

[DKCDKC]

I used half-inch OSB inside my shop - over insulation. I disclose that the shop - a 14 by 35 pre-built garage - was acquired to store my furniture while I built my new house. Insulated and lined with a tight-fitting OSB, it kept at 40 through a winter with a single small, thermostatically controlled electric heater. Now its a great place to work all winter. The OSB is easy to hang things on and durable.

I took scraps from the job and built a Christmas display for our church. Painted, it set out in 7 winters in all weather and never started to soften or delaminate. That stuff is tougher than advertised.

 

[joeyd]

With 12' walls I put OSB on the bottom 8' and drywall on the upper 4' and ceiling to help reflect light into my work area. It works for me, the girts are 2' on center if I need to hang something heavy otherwise I just screww into the OSB. I have 2" blanket type isulation in the walls and I blew in insulation in the attic to help hold in the heat in the winter. The thermostat is set at 40 degrees when I am not in it and I heat it up to about 55 when I am working. It runs me about $40.00 mo.

 

[GPintheMitten]

Joeyd, I like that idea! I think I'll do similar. My shop is in a lean to on the barn. I have 12' walls on one side and 8' on the other, 40' long. I've been trying to decide between drywall and OSB. So drywall on the ceiling and on the top 4 ' on the tall wall, and in the triangle peak areas.

With 12' walls I put OSB on the bottom 8' and drywall on the upper 4' and ceiling to help reflect light into my work area. It works for me, the girts are 2' on center if I need to hang something heavy otherwise I just screww into the OSB. I have 2" blanket type isulation in the walls and I blew in insulation in the attic to help hold in the heat in the winter. The thermostat is set at 40 degrees when I am not in it and I heat it up to about 55 when I am working. It runs me about $40.00 mo.

View attachment 299037

 

[Guesseral]

I used 7/16 OSB and screwed it all up walls and ceiling, insulated the walls and ceiling also can heat it in the winter very quickly. Inspection baaaaa just keep teh door closed while you are doing it!

 

[Jaylegger]

I finished my entire garage in slatwall. Found the sheets being sold cheap from an out of business retail store and the slats even had the aluminum inserts for added strength. This stuff is very functional, durable, and looks good to boot. My cost was less than drywall and is much stronger. I'd look around on craigslist or other used sites and something would likely turn up.