Plywood for lining out workshop walls

[Matt@]

lined mine with 18mm green grade flooring chipboard. Very hard surface to this so great for fixing things to. I mounted them end up and they slotted together so no joins as such. I found this the cheapest 18mm man made board.

 

[MattRoberts]

I've just recently clad my shop in 18mm osb, mounted on 20mm battens. I painted it white (one coat of cheap emulsion). I'm very happy with it - 18mm is thick enough to take a screw and hold a decent amount of weight. The white paint helps with the light a huge amount.

One thing I wish I'd done though, is put some insulation behind it. If I didn't care about the cost and I cared about the look, I'd go for plywood, but only the cheap stuff - zero point in getting anything more expensive if you're going to paint it. Crappy void ridden 18mm ply takes a screw just as well as baltic birch

 

[Moonsafari69]

I've just recently clad my shop in 18mm osb, mounted on 20mm battens. I painted it white (one coat of cheap emulsion). I'm very happy with it - 18mm is thick enough to take a screw and hold a decent amount of weight. The white paint helps with the light a huge amount.

One thing I wish I'd done though, is put some insulation behind it. If I didn't care about the cost and I cared about the look, I'd go for plywood, but only the cheap stuff - zero point in getting anything more expensive if you're going to paint it. Crappy void ridden 18mm ply takes a screw just as well as baltic birch

The plan for mine will be similar Matt, but adding the insulation. Plan to use 2x4 batons so I can use 4” of sound insulation behind the board. Have enough space now so figured I’d do it right and do it once. Same with the white paint job too, that worked well in my old workshop so I’ll do that again.

 

[memzey]

18mm OSB 3 lines my shed. Not the prettiest but takes screws well and is hard wearing. The other consideration I had was sound proofing: OSB3 is denser and has better soundproofing properties than ply. This may not be important to you but in my circumstance, with near neighbors that like a moan, it made sense.

 

[decas]

I built a garden studio a few years ago and lined it with 18mm spruce ply. The ply came from B&Q on a trade account with an extra discount for 10+ sheets. Reasonable price, easy to work, very pleased with the result. Ply was applied over a good amount of insulation. Given 2 coats of trade emulsion it has stood about 6 years of use very well. The sheets were fixed with stainless screws and the edges joined with dry fitted dominoes to keep them tidy without having to cut the boards to match the joins to the fixing battens. If I were to do it again I would use 12mm softwood ply but it was not readily available then.
Cheers
Dave

 

[Moonsafari69]

That’s a proper job Dave. Good idea with using the dominoes so you didn’t need to line the boards up with the batons, hadn’t considered that. Why the 12mm if you were to do it again, have you found 18mm just not needed? Looks great btw.

 

[fezman]

I did one wall of my WIP garage to workshop conversion with 18mm hardwood ply - worked a treat. Use it for fixing shelving to, having a tool wall.

When time / costs permit - I will likely board out the rest in the same way.

F

 

[Bodgers]

I built a garden studio a few years ago and lined it with 18mm spruce ply. The ply came from B&Q on a trade account with an extra discount for 10+ sheets. Reasonable price, easy to work, very pleased with the result. Ply was applied over a good amount of insulation. Given 2 coats of trade emulsion it has stood about 6 years of use very well. The sheets were fixed with stainless screws and the edges joined with dry fitted dominoes to keep them tidy without having to cut the boards to match the joins to the fixing battens. If I were to do it again I would use 12mm softwood ply but it was not readily available then.
Cheers
Dave

No issues with fire/building regs doing this?

Sent from my MI 3W using Tapatalk

 

[decas]

18mm is overkill. I used it because it was available and I didn't want to use OSB where it shows (it's the wife's studio). I think 12mm would be quite strong enough and it is lighter and cheaper.
Dave

 

[decas]

Bodgers
B Regs were not involved. Structure was less than 30 sq.m and away from boundaries.
Dave

 

[Moonsafari69]

Has anyone had need of following building regs (given size of building or proximity to boundary)?

Guess this is your point Bodgers?

 

[Bodgers]

Has anyone had need of following building regs (given size of building or proximity to boundary)?

Guess this is your point Bodgers?

Sort of yes. I also have an interest in not unnecessarily causing a fire hazard as well

I think with my workshop being an actual brick built garage, I'm not sure if the regs will come into play. It isn't attached to the house.

My other issue with plywood on the walls is filling the gaps, cosmetic I suppose, but with plasterboard there is set method of taping and plastering the gaps.

 

[Moonsafari69]

Suddenly, and maybe unnecessarily a tad fire paranoid... damnit

I also have a detached garage that’ll soon be a new workshop. Have you installed dry lining on yours then? How has that panned out?

 

[decas]

Softwood ply has a rough/textured surface which was fine for the studio and would I think be fine for a workshop. Accurate and straight edges align very well with the dominoes. Wipe decorators caulk into any cracks/splits/gaps.
Take the point about fire risk but there is always something that will burn. Have a couple of extinguishers installed.
Dave

 

[Bodgers]

Suddenly, and maybe unnecessarily a tad fire paranoid... damnit

I also have a detached garage that’ll soon be a new workshop. Have you installed dry lining on yours then? How has that panned out?

Not yet.

I was planning on getting insulated plasterboard. Haven't done it yet, but I was planning on doing it in the summer in prep for next winter. A builder/contractor friend recommended this route as a way of not eating into space too much by going the kingspan route.

http://www.building-supplies-online.co. ... EwQAvD_BwE

It's basically 22mm thick, and you are getting plasterboard and some basic insulation rolled into one for less than 20 quid a sheet. Possibly overkill though, and you aren't getting the benefit of being able to mount stuff as easy.

 

[Bodgers]

Softwood ply has a rough/textured surface which was fine for the studio and would I think be fine for a workshop. Accurate and straight edges align very well with the dominoes. Wipe decorators caulk into any cracks/splits/gaps.
Take the point about fire risk but there is always something that will burn. Have a couple of extinguishers installed.
Dave

Dominoes for alignment - good idea.

Yeah, its true, you have to sensible about it.

 

[user22161]

Has anyone had need of following building regs (given size of building or proximity to boundary)?

Guess this is your point Bodgers?

When I extended my detached garage/workshop, had to get planning permission but exempt from building regs.

Single brick construction, used slate battens on dpc lined with 12mm plywood.

 

[ED65]

Osb is ugly, painful to paint well, and still ugly afterwards.

I like the look of OSB. I like how it looks with a clear finish on it, painted with a washy coat so it's coloured but you can still see the wood, and painted solid white so you're left with an interesting variegated texture.

Obviously it's a taste thing but something I think can be said in favour of OSB from an objective standpoint is that one piece tends to look very much like another, they have a useful sameness. With plywood though you can have one piece that's gorgeous and the next in the very same stack could have an ugly grain pattern you wouldn't want to stare at for years to come on the workshop wall.

 

[harvestbarn]

You might also consider 18mm white melomine covered mdf I used this for a large new workshop battened out 5"; to allow 4" close cell foam insulation to be sprayed in. The area now has air con making the electric heating much more cost effective.
I had previously used 18mm ply on another workshop but found the painting needed a lot of coats for a good solid white colour.

 

[Yojevol]

My w/s is lined with 18mm chipboard and has given good service for the last 12 years. It takes all the weight of tool racks, cupboards and shelves. Sometimes it is worth spreading the load with battens.