Garage walls...Drywall or osb?

[scapegoat]

I am a ways through my insulating project in the garage. What would be the best to use for the interior walls? Drywall or osb? Thanks fellas.

[Wyoming]

Drywall will give you a fire rated wall. I went with 5/8" sheetrock and 5/8" plywood 2 ft. out around each door opening.

[ptsideshow]

I have to go with the drywall, as here in my location with a garage they don't care what you use it for. If it has a furnace and has gas fumes in it. it has to have two things. a auto closing damper on the heating duct side between the furnace and part were the cars park!. And 5/8th sheetrock minimum floor to ceiling/joists sealed to prevent fume cross over.

It didn't make sense sine the gas can storage is on the side of the wall with the furnace room. Go figure codes!

[Grumpy]

Why not Durarock or something like that? It's fireproof and waterproof and won't get 'dinged' quite as often as sheetrock.

[ptsideshow]

Why not Durarock or something like that? It's fireproof and waterproof and won't get 'dinged' quite as often as sheetrock.

Just for a point of information, Durarock and all the fireproof/retardant underlayment type material all have warning on them about the fact that they are made with sand and therefore are a breathing hazard (silicosis hazard) and shouldn't be used uncovered. That's way it not good for making gas welding work surfaces form the wear factor and dust raised for stuff being dragged across it.

[scapegoat]

Yeah at first I was thinking osb for the durability factor. But I started thinking about welding in the garage. I am always cutting or welding some type of metal out there. I don't think osb and flyng molten metal mix well.

So then I considered drywall. It should be more fire resistant than the osb.

[hankj]

5/8ths drywal = 1 hour fire protection. If the garage is attached, code requires that the wall next to the dwelling side be 1 hour rated.

OSB is strong, for sure, but it is not very fire resistant. It is loaded with resins and glues. Makes a nice, BIG fire!

Hank

[scapegoat]

The garage is detached. What is the standard thickness for drywall for the walls? Any certain drywall to look for? Also I would be doing the ceiling eventually.

[hankj]

For a detached building, 1/2" is code, but 5/8" is so much better that the additional cost is far outweighed by the added safety factor, IMHO. I'd do the lid in /8 also.

Hank

[boilerman79]

I used dry-wall on all the walls except the welding area,there I used hardy-board-[cement board?].I bought a roll of welding curtain to separate the open area [double stacked it to get 10 ft height],made a frame out of 1/2 inch pipe to hang it from.So far it has worked great.The welding area is 24 x 20.So it took almost the whole roll to do it.I believe you can never do to much as far as fire saftey is concerned.It wasnt the cheapest way to go but I think it may be the safest[unless you finish the inside in brick.

[MAC702]

If doing drywall, I don't think it is much more expensive to get the bathroom/kitchen stuff with the green mildew-resistant paper. You won't see it on your tract home except where necessary, but it may not be a budget blower for a one-time installation.

Or is there a reason why you wouldn't put this somewhere unless it was required? I'm not a drywall guy. Is the stuff really worth it anyway or mostly a gimmick required by bribed Code writers?

[JustPassingThru]

scapegoat,

Hi this is my first post, I was reading the thread on how to build a pipe burner for my bbq and looked around a little and found your question. Many moons ago I was a rock hanger so maybe I can help you a little for the help I received on the pipe burner.

For the ceilings we used ⅝” regular drywall because it was stronger and didn’t sag between the 24” spacing of the joists (something to consider if you have high humidity), we hung the ceiling first and then the walls (much easier to hang the ceiling first and not have to worry about having a tight fit and wrestling with the board over head trying to make it fit, always leave a ¼” gap, the drywall on the wall will cover it). For the walls you can use ½” or ⅝” regular drywall with the ⅝” being the stronger of the two and will hold up better.

Back then the houses had ½” plywood as a shear wall between the house and the garage and then it was covered with ⅝” Firecode drywall to make a 1 hour fire wall. The plywood behind the drywall made a strong wall less likely to be punctured by normal usage in a garage.

The green papered drywall is moisture resistant; probably something you wouldn’t need in a garage and the hardy board is brittle and can be punctured relatively easy. With the hardy board it is difficult to repair whereas with the drywall just cut out the damage, replace it and retape.

I hope that helps you, Gene

[JustPassingThru]

scapegoat,

I did a little more reading and found your post about the insulation, maybe I should explain a little about how to hang the drywall. You might already know this, but here goes, start off with hanging the ceiling first, frame in a trap so you will have access to blow in your insulation, make a support T out of 2x4, 4” longer than ceiling height and 3’ wide, lean it against a wall leaving about a 1” gap, place a ladder about ⅓ of the distance of the board length away from the T, place the board on top of the T and the ladder and then walk up the ladder pushing up the other end tight against the joists.

We held up the board with the top of our heads and then nailed it, you might make a second T to hold the other end or have someone hold the second T and then you will be free to nail it.

For the walls start at the top next to the ceiling, cut the tee leg in half and make a rectangle that is 3’ wide with the 2 leg pieces nailed to each end on the 4” side, nail a piece of scrap on the other side, lean it against the wall, place the drywall on top of it and holding it to the wall with your hands, kick the bottom towards the wall raising the sheet up until it is tight against the ceiling board.

For the bottom sheet be sure and stagger the joints 4’ and then nail a piece of ¼” plywood to the end of a 16” 2x4, use a piece of ¾” pipe for a fulcrum, set it next to the wall, place the board on the jack and then step on the “jack” until the sheet is tight against the top sheet.

This is assuming you have used standard 92 ¼” studs, if you walls are taller put the “ripped” piece between the top and bottom sheets, and always run the drywall perpendicular to the framing members.

Drywall hanging 101, again I hope this helps, Gene

[ptsideshow]

Durarock and all the fireproof/retardant underlayment type material all have warnings on them about the fact that they are made with sand and therefore are a breathing hazard (silicosis hazard) and shouldn't be used uncovered.
Here is the USG site and the MSDS http://www.usg.com/navigate.do?resou...ment_Board.htm

[scapegoat]

Wow great info fellas! Yeah the garage is 20'x22' but its all I have so I want to make it as comfy and as safe as possible. You guys have posted some really great help.

I am almost done with insulating and vapor barriering the walls and I was thinking about drywalling the walls first. But it sounds easier (JustPassingThru) to do the ceiling first. I imagine I should go with 4'x8' sheets for the ceiling (im sure a 4'x12' sheet would be impossible to lift to the ceiling.

I was thinking about cutting an "attic" hole/door for the ceiling to use for the blow in insulation and also for a small storage area in the rafters. Hey thanks again guys.