OSB for shop ceilings

[John Janson]

I am thinking of using OSB for my shop ceiling. The ceiling joists are 2' on center. Has any one used this, and if so did you use 7/16",1/2"or 5/8", was there any sagging after time, and did you expose the smooth sid or the rough side? I plan on painting it. It seems lik it would be more durable on my 8' ceilings than sheet rock. I would appreciate any input.

[Lee Schierer]

I've never used it for a ceiling, but I would think that 7/16" might be a bt thin for 24" centers. If you plan on adding isulation, I woud go with the 5/8 thickness unless it is significiantly higher priced than 1/2"

Your best appearance would be smooth side to get painted, but you are still going to see voids in the paint where the strands meet.

[Phil Watson]

I put 7/16 osb on my shop ceiling, been up there now for 3 years, no sagging with 16 inch centers, 3 coats of white paint on the smooth side, I also have 7/16 sanded osb on the walls, very happy with this set up

[David G Baker]

John,
Use the metal clips between sheets, this will be all the extra support you need for 7/16" sheets. The clips will show but with the 2' spaces between sheets you will need something or go to 5/8". Ask your OSB supplier how many clips you need for each sheet.

[David Freed]

I used (white) painted metal from my local pole barn dealer on my ceiling. It is on trusses 4' apart with no sagging. The overlapping method of installing it means no gaps. I wouldn't use anything else.

[Matt Meiser]

I did the same as David. It was just as easy to put up as the OSB, maybe easier, and no painting. I don't find it to be particularly noisy either. Mine has about 2' of blown in cellulose above.

[Jim O'Dell]

I've got 7/16" OSB on my walls and ceiling. Smooth side out. The paint will make the loose strands buckle and show, but it's a shop, who cares? Now, I only have mine in 2' wide sections on joists that are on 24" centers. I have home built reflectors for the lights recessed into the other "bays". I don't see any sagging, and mine has been up for about 2 1/2 years or so with no climate control in the shop at all. For the joints, use some 1 X 4 blocking or scraps of the OSB as blocking to hold the sections together. Keeps it from moving different directions. Oh, and just 2 coats of Kilz for me. It's white enough!
The metal sounds very interesting. Wish I had known about it, but it might have been too hard to cut into 2' widths for my use. Jim.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

I've used 7/16" on 24", smooth side showing before. It was the ceiling in my shop, two shops ago. The clips are a good idea for structural reasons, and they also give you another set of hands when you are hanging the OSB. Nice to hang something less fragile then sheetrock, but the seams always bugged me. Never did get around to trimming that shop out all the way...

[Jim O'Dell]

I did caulk all the seams with a paintable caulk. Use a putty knife at a high angle down the length of the seam, or in a criss cross action, and it all but disappears. It's still easy to run a carpet knife blade down the seam to separate the pieces if you ever need to take one down. Jim.