New shop-suggestions for wall material

David Justice

David
Corporate Member
Builders have started on my new detached shop today and should be finished in a few weeks. After they are finished I have lined up to get it insulated and the ceiling dry walled. After this I'm about out of money for hiring help, so all the finishing inside will be me DIYing it. I was curious about what everyone has for interior walls? I definitely want something that I can drill or nail into without finding studs for lightweight things. I also want something I can paint white.
Also, I'm having the electric run over from the house and having a 150amp panel and lights installed, but I'll be running all of the outlets in conduit over the walls. Does anyone know of a website that will help estimate how much wire, conduit, etc. I'll need?

Thanks!
 

Jim M.

Woody
Corporate Member
I know a lot of people hate the look of this, but I have OSB painted white. I sprayed 3 coats on heavy, and rolled over any places that did seal well and its held up great. On several of the wall I added some lath and put up peg board for light weight tools, it works for me. J

 

Bill Clemmons

Bill
Corporate Member
I used 1/2" plywood on my shop walls for the same reason you mentioned. Unfortunately I did not paint them white. I wish I had. But they are great for hanging all sorts of things on.

IMG_3583.JPG
 

chris_goris

Chris
Senior User
1/2" OSB hang anything you want, anywhere! Why not run the electrical in the walls? thats one of the beauties of OSB, I put it up with screws, can remove it as necessary too!.
 

Skymaster

New User
Jack
agree with Chris, walls open wire as you wood a house inside walls, then screw 1/2 ply or osb on. NOTE NOTHING less than 12 ga/20a circuits. Dont forget the mini split, :D :D :cool: :cool:
 

bobsmodels

Bob
Senior User
Make sure you use 1/2 OSB and not the 7/16 stuff from box stores. My builder showed me the quality difference between the two, also get exterior grade. I put it on the ceilings (10') and all the walls of my 30' x 60' building with 4 rooms. My wife and I painted it with a primer first and then a good semi gloss white. we painted the floor a tile red for a contrast for your eye's.

Here is a photo of one area.

Have fun in the new shop

Bob

Installation-Complete-Thread-EM2.jpg
 

Cuprousworks

Mike
User
I used drywall because it finished well and looks bright when painted white. I hung two french cleats and haven't had any trouble hanging items. Plenty of flexibility without holes after something is moved.
Mike
 

Oka

Casey
Corporate Member
Send me a plan view and plot map Ill estimate it, pretty easy really.

Code wise you can run most in Romex provided it is above door height exposed if desired but coming down the wall it will need to be covered with either sheetrock or plywood. Unless you run it in conduit....... that way is too expensive and to slow to do.

Let me know ~~~ Casey

Builders have started on my new detached shop today and should be finished in a few weeks. After they are finished I have lined up to get it insulated and the ceiling dry walled. After this I'm about out of money for hiring help, so all the finishing inside will be me DIYing it. I was curious about what everyone has for interior walls? I definitely want something that I can drill or nail into without finding studs for lightweight things. I also want something I can paint white.
Also, I'm having the electric run over from the house and having a 150amp panel and lights installed, but I'll be running all of the outlets in conduit over the walls. Does anyone know of a website that will help estimate how much wire, conduit, etc. I'll need?

Thanks!
 

Dee2

Board of Directors, Vice President
Gene
Staff member
Corporate Member
I ran nickel gapped shiplap on my walls. Painted the boards before hanging an off-white color. Added French cleats to the walls from left over shiplap. There is a place in Wilmington that had a decent price for the materials.

Wiring is inside the walls. I cut the shiplap above and below the service panel so that I could remove the individual boards if I needed to add circuits as I have decent access above the joists.
 

KenOfCary

Ken
Staff member
Corporate Member
My first shop had 4' of plywood topped with 4' of pegboard. Painted the ply green and the pegboard yellow. Worked OK. The new shop is all just T1-11. Very easy to hang stuff from and looks good - left it unfinished. Used clear pine 1x4's as trim - also unfinished.

I've found a couple of strategically placed 1/4" holes and you can hang pegboard hangers on the T1-11 without having pegboard.
 

tvrgeek

Scott
Corporate Member
I used 1/2 inch plywood so I can hang anything anywhere. Sprayed paint. I was able to run armored cable on the surface. Your codes may differ and require thin wall.
How much? Make a drawing! Do consider the different quality levels of outlets and switches. Pay the extra $1.50 for the "commercial grade" stuff.
 

Skymaster

New User
Jack
forgot to add to my earlier post; if possible make as many home runs as possible! The least circuit sharing will make you very happy for years. Every machine on its own circuit. Bench outlets the same thing
 

DavidK

New User
David
I went with pre-finished slatwall with surface mounted power conduit. I am still working on the shop so I am not sure if I would do anything different, but I like it so far
21C2D0A3-9092-4345-8E39-71D12B603BA6.jpeg
 

JimD

Jim
Senior User
My ceiling is 5/8 drywall because there is living space above but all the walls are 7/16 OSB from a big box store. I skimmed it with drywall compound before rolling on cheap white ceiling paint. It is still obviously OSB but the drywall compound really helped to eliminate visible voids. It is screwed on but doesn't come off easily, the compound also hides the screws. I ran the wiring in the walls before insulating. I wired a garage shop in conduit and have no desire to do it again. It is a lot more work than wiring in walls. There are probably tricks I did not know but getting wire to go through conduit was surprisingly difficult.
 

Bas

Recovering tool addict
Bas
Corporate Member
Also, I'm having the electric run over from the house and having a 150amp panel and lights installed, but I'll be running all of the outlets in conduit over the walls. Does anyone know of a website that will help estimate how much wire, conduit, etc. I'll need?
Considering you have the walls still open, I would advise against conduit. It's not cheap, it's a LOT of work to install (especially if you're making your own bends), and while it gives you some flexibility to rearrange things afterward I don't think that's worth it. My shop had finished drywall, which is why I decided to go with conduit. In retrospect, it would have been better to cut a trench in the drywall, run the wires, and patch it. Yes, that's factoring in all the taping, mudding, and sanding.

As for how much wire you need, that all depends. I ran my conduit at the top of the wall along the ceiling, with drops every 4 feet. That requires a lot more wire than if you run it horizontally at the height of your outlets. Per circuit, ballpark is to measure the distance from the panel to where you want the outlet, then add 10%. You can use that to figure out roughly how many spools of 500ft of THHN or 250ft rolls of Romex you need, and if you run out you can always get an extra one or two. Same for conduit, except add 25% to account for screw ups :)
For conduit, don't forget you need lots of surface mount boxes, conduit connectors, hole straps, conduit clamps, the occasional elbow for tight corners, etc.
 

nn4jw

New User
Jim
I didn't bother with interior finished walls or even insulation in my 24x24 two story shop-not-garage. The exterior walls are OSB with some kind of foam insulation under vinyl siding. It's been sufficient for 8 years and only needs a window ac unit in the summer and a couple of electric heaters in the winter. Habitable in about 20-30 minutes regardless of the season. There are some pegboard surfaces on the side walls for utility. Ugly, but entirely functional. I'm usually the only one who sees it anyway. There are some pegboard surfaces on the side walls for utility. I put the money I saved on keeping it unfinished into lots of wiring and lights.

At my age this is where I'll stay and I'm not at all concerned with making it pretty for the next owners.
 

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