View Poll Results: Plywood or OSB?

Voters
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  • Plywood

    37 62.71%
  • OSB

    15 25.42%
  • Other

    7 11.86%
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Thread: Plywood or OSB?

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    New Hampshire
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    2,796

    Plywood or OSB?

    If you were to cover the walls of your shop so that you could drive a screw anywhere to hang tools, would you use plywood or OSB?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2013
    Location
    Wayland, MA
    Posts
    3,651
    I put slatwall on the walls, I can hang anything anywhere without having to drive screws.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2012
    Location
    Haubstadt (Evansville), Indiana
    Posts
    1,294
    I have OSB because of cost. Plywood would look better and provide the same. I have a few slat wall boards, but I don't think I would want the whole shop as it would collect dust.
    Edit: I wouldn't want drywall as damage can occur more easily. No metal as hard to hang stuff. Hardboard is just too thin.
    Last edited by William C Rogers; 09-30-2015 at 11:24 AM.
    When working I had more money than time. In retirement I have more time than money. Love the time, miss the money.

  4. #4
    I'm a huge fan of the OSB with the washboard frp face on it. Bright, tough, and easy to clean. Expensive though.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Location
    Seattle, WA
    Posts
    1,495
    I'd go with plywood if money were no object. I will be using osb for budget reasons, but will go with 3/4" for screw holding. The 7/16 stuff I've used from home Depot really doesn't seem like it would be able to hold much weight via screws.

  6. #6
    Most shops I've been to have had OSB on the walls. I'm leaning towards that when I build again. I will follow this post in case something new has popped up as a good wall cover.

    Red
    RED

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jul 2003
    Location
    Winterville, NC (eastern NC)
    Posts
    2,359
    One of the former FineWoodworking editors chronicled the build of his new shop in TN. He used MDF on the bottom 4 feet of the wall, a divider strip, then drywall to the ceiling junction. Looks good and offers bump protection below. Look in one of shop special issues for shop ideas.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    New Hampshire
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    2,796
    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Wilkins View Post
    One of the former FineWoodworking editors chronicled the build of his new shop in TN. He used MDF on the bottom 4 feet of the wall, a divider strip, then drywall to the ceiling junction. Looks good and offers bump protection below. Look in one of shop special issues for shop ideas.
    But that fails the requirement to be able to 'hang anything anywhere".

  9. #9
    My last shop had 7/16 OSB and my current shop, as yet unfinished, is also getting OSB walls, also 7/16. I have 9 sheets up and about that many to go, the shop is 14x24. I force drywall compound into the surface voids and then paint it with white ceiling paint. I hang a handtool chest via a French cleat on the OSB, it weighs maybe 40 lbs, probably less. If I hang a cabinet, I try to hit studs. Something like a DC gate I just put wherever. As long as you look for a stud with really heavy stuff, I don't think 7/16 is an issue. I've never had a problem with it.

    Plywood should work at least as well but would cost at least twice as much. It might also have more issues with delamination when you paint it. That happens occasionally with OSB too but less so because of the small particles. When the outer layer of wood is very thin, it sometimes separates from the underlying material when I put paint on it.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    SoCal
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    Plywood here. I have both in different places in the shop. The OSB is great on the cleat wall where I don't mount anything directly to the OSB and expect it to hold it. Modern ply is pretty unpredictable but, OSB is even more random. A screw may hold one place and not 6" to the left.
    "A hen is only an egg's way of making another egg".


    – Samuel Butler

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Dec 2003
    Location
    SF Bay Area, CA
    Posts
    15,332
    Plywood all the way but OSB is significantly cheaper so it does cause one pause. Of course, my garage-ma-hal is drywall.
    Wood: a fickle medium....

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  12. #12
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    In the foothills of the Sandia Mountains
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    16,614
    It's not my wallet so I voted Ply. How much money do you save using OSB over plywood in a typical 500 ft2 shop?
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  13. #13
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    McKean, PA
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    I'm not a fan of OSB. I've seen it fail in too many applications. It degrades quickly if exposed to moisture. Screw holding ability is questionable.
    Lee Schierer
    USNA '71
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  14. #14
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Hot Springs, VA
    Posts
    763
    I put plywood on my wall. OSB, as everyone say is cheaper, nail/screw holding much less and I don't like OSB for any kind of inside shop application - smell bad, bad looking, easy to delaminate.

    Ed.

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Location
    fayetteville Arkansas
    Posts
    629
    I just finished an addition on my shop and covered the inside walls with 7/16" OSB. Painted it with a coat of primer and a coat of gloss white. OSB will easily hold screws supporting jigs, misc tools, pegboard, etc. Most things I hang on the walls are a few pounds or less, which OSB easily supports. I try to screw into studs if hanging heavy objects like lumber racks, cabinets, etc. OSB has worked fine for my needs.

    DSC_0576.JPGr.jpgDSC_0573.JPGr.jpg
    Last edited by julian abram; 10-01-2015 at 5:33 PM.

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