Shop walls

[Cliff Polubinsky]

Hope you post some pics when you get it completed. I can only dream of that much space.

Lee,I've been dreaming of this much space for years. Have been working in a 1 car shop forever and finally having the space to actually move around the machines will be nice. This space was the reason we bought the house and this will be my last shop 'cause I'm not moving again. They'll carry me out.Cliff

[Art Mann]

Art,

How was it on screw holding? The consensus seemed to be that since it was composite it wouldn't be as good as OSB so you couldn't mount anything anywhere, but that seemed to be coming from people who hadn't used the material. Can you offer any experience for that area? And what thickness was your siding? Seems there is only 3/8 around here.

Cliff

I have walls in my garage that are OSB and as I mentioned, I have replaced some of them with the material you were considering. Eventually, I will replace all of it. The Masonite siding is more dense than the OSB and holds screws and nails as well or better than OSB of the same thickness. My problem with the OSB (other than it being ugly) is that it has swollen and warped over time so that the walls look bowed in places. The joints are uneven due to inconsistent thickness. Thin slivers are starting to peel and separate. It hasn't always been that way. I have walls in my shop that were covered with Masonite exterior siding over 10 years ago and they have shown no such tendencies, even though the environment out there is considerably more harsh.

Masonite type siding got a bad reputation many years ago when certain brands didn't hold up to the weather. They have improved the material since then, but I would still think twice before I would use it outside. For interior walls, it looks quite nice, in my opinion, even if it is left unpainted as it is in my shop. I definitely can't say the same for the OSB.

[Cliff Polubinsky]

Art,

Is the material you're using 3/8" or 7/16"?

Cliff

[Tom Clark FL]

In most shops the walls will have so much stuff hanging on them that they don't show up that much anyway. Paint them a light color to keep the area nice and bright. A small shop can be painted with rollers in just an hour or two. I used two coats of white Kilz primer on my 7/16 OSB walls. Looks great to me and shop is nice and bright so you don't feel like you are working in a dungeon.

[Art Mann]

Art,

Is the material you're using 3/8" or 7/16"?

Cliff

I just went out and measured a scrap with my calipers and it is 7/16" material. I noticed on the Home Depot website they list the "Assembled Depth" as being 3/8". They also list the "Thickness" as 7/16". I don't see how you can install a sheet on a wall and it suddenly shrink by 1/16". The 3/8" is a typo.

[Cliff Polubinsky]

Art,
Possibly the thicker dimension is the thickness of the panel and the thinner the thickness of the groove?

Cliff

[Jeff Erbele]

When it comes to all things shop I don't give an rip about looks.

And that is fine, to each his own, what works for you is perfect. But that would not work for me. Mine is soon to be the best hobby-shop that fits within the maximum attached garage space that the city would allow us to build.

For me, appearance is one of my top criteria following functionality and universal work space.
Its my hobby shop and I want it to work very well and look great.

[Kevin Andrist]

Cliff,

I know you're leaning, or have leaned, toward OSB, but I still think the composite/masonite siding material is a better path. As I mentioned elsewhere, it's the direction I'm heading. It'll hold screws for hanging lighter things and for heavier pieces french cleats (naturally, mounted into studs) are a flexible and strong system. The flexibility is nice as needs and organization changes. Once the weather gets a bit better I'm going to pick up a sheet of the siding and run a few tests on it with respect to hanging things, but I think it'll be fine. I have a 24x30x12 garage-shop that I'll finish out this year.

[Matt Krusen]

Anyone have thoughts on using Hardi board/siding? I've seen that done a couple times.

[Cliff Polubinsky]

Kevin,

After hearing from Art who has actually used the material, I'm not leaning as strongly as before. I'll stop by Home Depot and take a closer look.

Cliff

[Kevin Andrist]

Cliff..you may want to look at this stuff too, I saw some stuff at Lowes..I think this is it:

SmartSide 47-7/8-in x 95-7/8-in Light Brown Solid Soffit

Item #: 139413 | Model #: 27875

Nice color, smooth-sealed surface(easy to keep dust off of), exterior grade, shiplap edge. Could be painted easily, but on an interior application I imagine the finish on it would be perfectly fine. Please post back what you find..etc..

..or this might have been what I saw..again, Lowes..it's hard to tell from the web pics..

SmartSide 4-ft 9/16-in x 7-ft 11-7/8-in Structural 1 Aspen Treated Wood Siding

Item #: 55897 | Model #: 27874

[Bill Sutherland]

I used FRP 4x8 panels over chip board to do all my walls in my 3.5 car garage. It worked great. You just about can't dent/hurt this stuff and there's no painting required. If you ever want to clean it just hose it down. I've nailed to it and it holds like a gorilla. I had some things I changed out and simply put a little putty in the holes and wiped it down and now you can't see where they were. Many commercial kitchens/barns/bathrooms use this because it's finished once it's up and is so easy to clean and tough.

[Cliff Polubinsky]

Kevin,

Thanks for the suggestions. I saw the soffit material but it has to be ordered at my local Lowses and it's a 45 panel minimum. The Aspen material is around 5/16 thick. I'd like something more around the 3/8 to 7/16 area.

Cliff

[Deb Malloy]

Tom,
That ceiling material looks different. What did you use ?

[Kevin Andrist]

hmm..seems to me the stuff I looked at (it's was about 2 months ago) was thicker than 5/16. I have a Lowes, Menards, & Home Depot all within a half mile of each other...I'll hit the trifecta this weekend and take a look.