Drywall vs OSB: another thing to consider

I chose to use painted OSB on my basement shop walls. It just seemed more appropriate for me given how often I bump the walls and my desire to be able to screw tool holders anywhere I wanted. Then I had my house appraised. Evidently, a "finished" basement room requires drywall or paneling (and some kind of flooring). So, should I ever want to sell, I would have been better off hanging drywall since I could move the tools out, throw down carpet or laminate and my shop space would be considered a finished living area. I read lots of threads on the topic and don't recall this aspect being disucssed so I thought I'd share my what I learned with you all. I suppose if it really mattered to me I could put 1/4 drywall on top of my OSB.

You are right. My daughter and her husband bought a home last summer. The basement was finished by the builder and is the same quality as the upstairs, however the original buyer left one room in the basement with a painted floor, Completely finished otherwise, but because is had no flooring, the basement could not be deemed 100% finished.

I actually did that - Put in Drywall over OSB. All the benefits of OSB, and of the drywall and I can hang anything I want anywhere.
The temp control in the basement workshop improved as well...

Ben, I immediately share your frustration. Builders and Real Estate Agents advertise garages as "finished", but they do not have flooring other than concrete. What about these restaurants that have stained or painted concrete floors, are they considered "unfinished" too? If so, how do you have a health score in an "unfinished" space. Also, most of the restaraunts do not even have ceilings, they just paint all the bar joists, electrical, and ductwork black thinking we can't see it.

We had our house appraised a couple of years ago, they did refer to my basement shop as finished (OSB walls, drywall ceiling, and concrete floors). Maybe its a state by state thing or something new to further reduce our home values and make them more affordable to those that can't afford them. I'll stop now.

I do like the OSB walls. I did slick side out anticipating to paint it, but never did. They are pretty much covered now anyway with cabinets, jigs, clamps, etc. Besides, The shop might be worth more money to the right buyer than a finished room would be (I know it would be for me.)

Mike

I wouldn't sweat it. Had you used drywall, the damage done would have to be repaired anyway. Are you anticipating selling at all? If so, wait till that time and drywall over the OSB, at least then it will be fresh and new. The "kicker" is the OSB vs. paneling, not much difference IMHO.

If you were to skim coat the OSB in joint compound and repaint, would you be able to tell that it wasn't drywall? Seems like that would be easier than install drywall later.

You might end up considering it a blessing since your property taxes are quite likely to get jacked up big time over the next few years. Gotta pay for those schools and city government somehow since the state cut the local government and school budgets this year. I suspect we have just seen the tip of the iceberg on local levies...

Another thought, my shop is a room above the garage, 5/8" drywall, underlayment flooring, no heat. If I heat it, it's considered finished and have to pay the elevated taxes on it.

So far, I'm fine with the drywall walls. I'll hang cleats or just design to the studs if I add more cabinets or tool racks.