# Best walls for workshop



## Marlys

Next year, I will be moving my shop from my old house (that I'm currently renting) to my present residence. I spent lots of time and labor to get my 2 car garage into the "perfect" shop before I ended up moving to a different house. The new house has a 18×20 dedicated space for my shop…no more sharing with any vehicle…yay!! The problem is that I have to start over to get this space ready. Back to stud walls, no wiring, insulation, etc. I will even have to add more ceiling joists again to support any type of ceiling. Ugh. It was no fun the first time and enjoyed tendonitis for months after as a result.

So…the insulation and wiring is fairly straightforward. My question is with the walls. My last workshop, I had drywalled and painted and very pleased with result. But I have seen some shops with plywood walls (painted and not) and was wondering if this is a better option. One wall will have lumber storage and some open wall space above machines that will be "empty". Another wall will have mostly cabinets, window, and pegboard/wall slat tool storage. The other two walls are garage doors (front and back drivethru).

I don't know that there will be a cost savings unless you take into account installation cost (hiring someone). Is there an appreciable difference in noise? I am worried about lots of echo or noise bouncing off the walls and also my neighbors that might not want to hear my tools or singing all the time. I don't anticipate hanging anything on my walls that won't be anchored into a stud.

Lots of time to decide because I'm slow. Just a thought that ran through my head and thought I would throw it out to you knowledgeable folk.


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## chrisstef

As far as sound goes, beef up the insulation to totally fill the wall cavity. You could use double layer drywall for some serious sound deadening. If i had a choice i think i would go with OSB painted white. It would make haning stuff super easy and durable.


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## americanwoodworker

*"I don't anticipate hanging anything on my walls that won't be anchored into a stud."*
You never do till you get it built. Once you have your machines in their place you will find all open spaces on walls will be between studs. It's Murphy's law. If money is not an issue I would go with OSB. Its a few dollars more per panel where I live but well worth it vs. headaches.


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## Knothead62

I used OSB for a section of my basement/garage. Should paint it for more light.


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## Marlys

Never occurred to me to double the drywall. It is painful enough to do it once  But it would certainly help with sound, in and out.

I'm sure the money will be there for either option when the time comes and I do understand the headaches of studs not being where you want them to be. I just don't have a lot of free wall space to mount or hang things with the two garage doors on either end.

With OSB, is sound bouncing off an issue? How do you deal with seams? What thickness of OSB do you recommend, 1/2"?


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## SnowyRiver

I used 3/4 pine plywood then covered it with unfinished 1/2 beaded plywood paneling. I love it. Granted, a white wall reflects more light, but I have plenty of lights so no problem with that. I can hang cabinets, bins, etc anywhere without looking for studs. I wouldnt have it any other way.


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## agallant

I would go with peg board over drywall.


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## joebloe

I used 7/16 OSB on my shop.The way I look at it,the sturder the wall the better.Drywall is good for inside a house,but in a work shop you need something stronger.things happen ,boards get kicked back,stuff get's dropped,and the walls get hit.I also used OSB for the ceiling,if you do that get some help to do it,don't try to hold up the Osb and nail it by your self like I did.My back still hates me for it.


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## Marlys

Snowy, you must have strong studwalls to hold up all that ply. I like overkill and it might even make the workshop tornado-proof  However, I probably won't put 1 1/4 of wall thickness up.

John, I put up ceiling joists in the other workshop (24' span) by myself and spent a fair amount of time and money recovering from tendonitis in elbow and opposite shoulder. I might just be dumb enough to try it, but I don't bounce back like I used to from stupidity.

The OSB would definitely be easier to install and wouldn't have to mud/sand like drywall. Could even prepaint and touch up as necessary with OSB.

However…no one has addressed what it will sound like inside this big wooden OSB/ply box. I know what my machines and tools sound like with drywall. Sound is absorbed for the most part with drywall or has minimal "bounceback".


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## jerkylips

as far as sound-deadening goes, I don't think 2 layers of drywall will help all that much on their own. Usually when doing double-layer drywall, something like "green glue" is used between the layers to create a barrier for the sound waves.

I think you have a couple moving parts here - sound-deadening issues and hanging stuff on your walls issues. A while ago someone had posted their homemade slat wall solution. I plan to do that in our next house on one section of wall. It consisted of a layer of…something (OSB, plywood?), then a layer of evenly spaced vertical strips - maybe 1/2" thick - then a layer of horizontal strips. The vertical strips create to void for hangers & such. It looked like a nice system. Another option is to do a cleat wall for french cleats. Both of these systems will give flexibility to basically hang anything anywhere.

As far as the rest of the walls, I personally wouldn't use drywall - it damages too easily if you bang into it with something. I would probably use 1/2" plywood - maybe a B/C grade that will take paint relatively well..


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## Brickman

For sound absorption you can use fiberglass bats inside of 2×4 boxes hung on the walls and ceilings. It is cheap and can be covered with flags, designs, etc.


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## BentheViking

OSB with drywall over it? Then hang things wherever you want yet still get the finished look of drywall


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## AandCstyle

You didn't mention if the new shop is attached to the house or not, but if it is (and maybe if it isn't) the local building inspector may require drywall. In our house we had to use 5/8" rather than 1/2" to satisfy the inspector. If we choose to use ply or OSB it would have had to have been behind the drywall.

Sound travels through solid structures, so Google "z strips" or "resilient channel". The best approach is to create 2 walls that are one in front of the other without one touching the other. The same holds true for ceilings. Denser materials will absorb sound better, so drywall would be preferable to plywood or OSB.

A lot of this depends on how crazy you want to get, how close the neighbors are, how late in the evening you work in the shop, etc. HTH


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## Marlys

It is a detached garage and no restrictions as to interior walls. Insulation and "something" will be adequate. I am primarily worried about

A) having a workshop with finished walls
B) insulation for sound and comfortable temps 
C) non-echo like sound in shop and noise buffer for neighbors outside
D) cannot break the bank (dent probably, but not break)

It does not have to be soundproofed as I won't work past bedtime with power tools. if I go the drywall route, I will probably hire out the work. If I go ply/OSB, I can do walls and then get help for the ceiling. I don't mind drywall and have it in my current shop. Haven't dented or scuffed walls yet, but maybe I'm not doing something right 
My biggest worry is the unknown…OSB/ply is a great wall surface but I have no experience with how it "sounds" when I'm running a jointer or router. Does that sound weird? Maybe I think too much.


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## OnlyJustME

Unless the 2 garage doors are insulated it really doesn't matter what you do to the other walls. Talk about working in a tin can.


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## Marlys

The doors will be insulated. No worries there. My current shop is a two car with three separate garage door with one entry door. Two of the garage doors and the entry door are wood and the other garage door is fiberglass. It has worked out pretty well. Doors are not insulated at current shop, but heater keeps it comfy in winter. AC has more trouble, but it has hit 105° several times and I just try to make it tolerable.


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## helluvawreck

I like 3/4 inch plywood walls in a shop painted after installed. I like white paint because it seems to make the shop larger looking, gives a cheerful atmosphere, and reflects and spreads light all over. The nice thing about plywood is that you can simply drive a nail or screw into the plywood and it will hold a fair amount of weight. It's certainly harder to damage than some other choices. However, I would not install the wiring inside the walls as you would a house. If you drive a nail through the plywood you can damage a wire and even cause a fire. I like to use EMT conduit and boxes wherever needed. This way you can see your wiring and can also add to it easily or modify it. Be sure your electrician installs a nice, modern breaker box.

helluvawreck aka Charles
http://woodworkingexpo.wordpress.com


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## helluvawreck

Don't forget to install insulation.

helluvawreck aka Charles
http://woodworkingexpo.wordpress.com


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## Smitty_Cabinetshop

I have painted plywood walls, a painted OSB wall, and a steel ceiling in my shop space. Sounds doesn't bother me, but then when I run the jointer or shaper or table saw, I've got hearing protection on anyway.

I added the partion wall that uses OSB, and wouldn't have it any other way; just don't care to have drywall in the shop because it can't take abuse and severely limits options to hang anything from the wall (even as simple as a broom hook!) 

Congrats on your soon-to-be workspace, good luck!


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## helluvawreck

If you ever decide to expand outward from the two garage doors you'll be glad you installed the insulation. No matter what, you'll still be better off with the insulation IMHO.

helluvawreck aka Charles
http://woodworkingexpo.wordpress.com


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## Marlys

Very true. It is 107 degrees in the new future shop space right now. Insulation is a must. This space used to be the original garage and is about 18' wide and 20' deep. The garage doors are extra tall and there must have been a mobile home parked here at one time with 10' tall doors. There is a double car garage built on the back of the original garage, which unfortunately will remain a simple garage. The original garage is, however, now referred to as the "workshop" and will not hold anything but tools. Unless, the aforementioned tornado is predicted. Then patio furniture, grill, plants, etc. will probably get thrown in.

I guess I will not worry about sound bounce. Perhaps with all the tools and lumber, it is a moot point anyhow. The ply seems more appealing by the minute. I hadn't thought about the wiring underneath and now I will have to put some brain cells to that front. I did the wiring in the current shop and set the wires back 1.5-2" from interior wall stud face. Seems like shouldn't be worries with accidental screw/nail into wall near wires as it would have to be mighty long to impact any wires. But something to consider. The garage garage has a brand new 200amp breaker box to draw from. I think I have 100 in the current shop and no problems with present tools.

Have learned a great deal about what didn't work in current shop. With only having one side of a two car garage as a shop, it limited what I could do with tool placement. So I will put things where I want to instead of have to.

My next post will probably be concerned with dust collection. Currently, I have a delta dc hooked up to a chip collector with a hose that I drag from machine to machine. Not ideal. It is better than nothing, but would rather wrangle wood than hoses. Thank you all for your input on the walls. I will pick your brain on many other matters I'm sure.


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## Finn

I used prepainted 1/8" Masonite on my insulated walls in my garage workshop. Shiny white walls are good for lighting. I put all wiring in conduit inside the workshop , surface mounted. Future outlet additions and changes are easier this way.


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## Charlie5791

Use Roxul instead of fiberglass insulation. MUCH better sound deadening and you won't have to do fancy crap with your wall covering of choice to knock down sound. Also Roxul is a better insulator than fiberglass, you can cut it with a bread knife, and it doesn't ITCH. Also won't burn like faced fiberglass.

I used OSB for some walls and plywood for others. I have open trusses (more storage….just keep it light) so I put soffit vents and ran airchannel on the underside of the roof deck and just put insulation up there. It's only a 4:12 pitch roof so I wouldn't have any "attic" space anyways.


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## ClintSearl

I used 1/2" ply over the studs in my shop. It works great, but if I were to do it again, I'd use 1/2" Advantech OSB sheathing instead because it's more uniform and flat.


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## Marlys

Jim, if I put up shiny white walls, I'd be tempted to write on them since I'm a teacher. I am not a fan of conduit and would prefer to put wire in the walls if I can. Although it is about 6 months to a year before I can get the new shop ready, I think I have drawn about 8 different revisions of wiring, tool placement, storage, etc. By the time I can start work on the shop, I will have figured out where everything will go. I might be one of the anal people in this forum 

Charlie, I didn't think I was going to have to question the pink stuff for insulation. Now I have more to think about!! I looked up the Roxul product you mentioned. The safe 'n sound won't work because it is not great for external walls and keeping shop warm/cool. Although it seems to be outstanding for sound control. They have comfort insulation that is R15 for a 2×4 stud wall, which would be slightly better than the R13 that the pink stuff would give me. But the soundproof qualities, fire protection, and "ease" of installation make it worth a second look. Thanks for the suggestion.

The advantech seems superior to regular osb and I'm checking into cost on that too. Thanks, Clint.

More to think about. Thanks guys.


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