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I'm adding a wood framed partition wall in my garage to create a small work shop (8'x20'). The garage walls are already standard white painted dry wall. My thought was to make the interior shop wall with a white painted plywood finish to make it easier to attach stuff to the wall. Of course this will not look as nice (as if looks really matter) as painted dry wall.

Do you find a plywood finished wall more useful and practical than dry wall inside a shop? Just doing a sanity check here.

Any others pointers or tips you might have regarding setting up a small shop would be appreciated.


Ed

Definitely go with the plywood. Wall space is super valuable in a shop, and you will soon cover every inch of it with shelves and tool storage and jigs and so on. you will never notice what is behind all of the stuff you have hanging there. My shop is built of structural insulated panels with 1/2" OSB on the inside, and it is a luxury to be able to screw to anywhere on the wall, or to change something at a moments notice. It would be even better to have plywood (thicker the better, IMO) for greater holding capacity, but it is all far better than sheetrock.

Have fun!

Plywood or OSB behind the drywall gives you the advantages of both(drywall is also a great fire and sound barrier, which could be important to you) . Use glossy paint; it will brighten the room, and dust won't stick to it as readily.

Good point about the sheetrock Mario. If you want greater sound isolation from the room on the other side, consider putting sheetrock AND plywood/OSB. And though I don't think there would be a problem with a basement hobby shop, you might check on the fire issue with your insurance provider and see what they say, if you can find anyone who knows anything...

In my shop I put up OSB and painted it white. If I had it to do over I would have used a better plywood grade. The OSB will delaminate in patches or when you decide to reorganize wall storage (you will, often even) it will flake. It holds wood dust in the textured surface, which is difficult to clean (air bursts) and never ends.

The white paint is good for lighting and much better than unpainted OSB.

Good luck!

Danny R. Little

Thanks Danny.

You and others are confirming my plan to use white painted plywood for the finished wall surface. I thought it would be more practical than dry wall and more durable than OSB (which would save me a little money, but not much since my wall is only 9'x20'.)

The thought about using glossy paint is a good one, which I would have missed.

I plan to put an opening over the exterior door for an air conditioner and run a condensate drain in the new wall over and out to an existing drain opening on the was for my softener. This will put the a/c up high out of the way, not blowing on me, and I can control it with a remote control. While the calcs show that a 6,000BTU would theoretically work, I plan to use a 12,000BTU for quick recovery and to be able to keep the fan on low to keep the noise down (Houston is hot and humid most of the year.) Hopefully it will run enough to keep the humidity down - I think it will.

I plan to use 3/4" plywood bench tops over 2x4 framing, and run the bench top out with a 3" bull nose since I have no plan for a toe recess. I figured it would be easier to get clamps under it too. Waist high bench height.

Keep the tips coming, they are much appreciated.

Ed

Taped and finished drywall will eliminate air leaks which will keep your energy bills down. Properly applied latex paint in a semi-gloss or gloss is a class 1 vapor barier (that's right, as good as 3 mil plastic sheathing).

Don't oversize an A.C. unit. You wil be cold and damp. It's is called air conditioning for a reason.

Most current building codes require 1 hour fire rated drywall (5/8") in an attached garage on all surfaces adjacent to the living space at a minimum. Some require the entire attached garage to be 1 hour fire rated drywall. One community near me requires it on a detached gareage if it is within 15' of the house. In other words, check your local codes.

If you want the AC to help remove moisture from the air thus keeping your humidity under control, then don't oversize the AC. The AC removes moisture while the compressor is running. If you need 6,000 BTU and install a 12,000 BTU, the compressor will run roughly half the time it would on the smaller unit. Using this example, the properly sized unit running twice as long will remove more moisture.......and the air will be recirculated through the AC more often.

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Formerly known as Adaboy.......

I too am in the process of setting up a new shop. It had been sheathed with anything the previous owner could put on a wall to presumably keep the spiders and wasps at bay: the gallons of mud daubers, wasps nests and black widows webs would seem to indicate otherwise. I have been contemplating this same decision.

Definitely going to go with the gloss paint. Great tip. Can't wait until it's done.

The upside to this work of destruction thus far is that I found a couple of pieces of what look like mahogany in the rafters.

Darrin

I'm also in the process of building a new shop. My research/experience has shown that flat white paint reflects the light more evenly, gloss paint creating glare/"hot spots". I used sheet rock and lots of white pegboard (sometimes whole 4x8 sheets) so I can move things around easily.

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- Ben Pak
North Wales, Pa.

An issue with gloss paint is that it shows every defect in your surface prep prominently. Some may not care, others do. Just work it into your expectations. If you choose to use plywood, buy G1S, or something with one smooth surface.

More importantly than how the paint reflects the light into the room is how much light you have to reflect. It is easy and pleasant to work in a well lite room, not so much in barely adequate light. Provide for overall room light and task light.

Drywall can still hold quite a bit of load if you use large screw anchors. Also, keep track of where the studs are so that you can screw through your wall covering right into the stud for heavy loads.

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Expectation is the source of all misery; comparison the thief of joy.
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It's a shop

Semi-gloss Antique White works for me. Easy to wipe clean, if I bother, and such a common color that it's cheap at the local BORG.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Being this is an interior wall partition...you could also use 1/2 " melamine (cabinet making material) in white or ivory for your interior walls. I would specify a 16" center stud wall construction for this application. 3/4 Melamine would be heavy heaver than doo doo, too pricey and overkill. It also comes in a gloss or mottled surface. There is also a material (hard masonite) 1/8 and 1/4 thickness that comes with a baked white or Ivory gloss finish on one side that can be glued/nailed and or screwed to a drywall surface. Predrilled countersink bit is necessary screwing along the edges of this material to keep it from breaking. The melamine and masonite ideas are only an option to replace any painting and the surfaces are easily wiped down. Just another idea.
Kent Bailey

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