Garage walls...Drywall or osb?

[JustPassingThru]

scapegoat,

Glad to be of service, how I would love to have a 20'x22' garage.

We hung 4'x12's, cuts down on the taping time, maybe you could rent a drywall jack, it holds the sheet tight against the joists so that you can nail it. A drywall supplier, like Home Depot, might have them to rent, or maybe even free use with purchase of the drywall.

Since your garage is 20'x22' you need to think about how you are going to support the T out in the middle, if you use 8' sheets, the first sheet will cover to 8', then the second will be from 8' to 16', ...no wall to lean the T against, see what I mean? However after the first 12' sheet the next will be either 8' or 10' allowng the T to be leaned against the other wall and only one butt joint to tape.

One more thing, mark out with a pencil where the trap is, but dont cut it out, the board will break when you try to lift it overhead, nail it first and then cut it out with a hand saw staying close the the framing members, the cut out is the piece for the trap, just picture frame the opening with wood allowing the wood to protude past the framing members about an inch and then set the cutout piece on the frame.

Last thing, do you have a drywall axe, the head has a special form to dimple the rock so that the nail holds the sheet and the dimple fills with taping mud.

Gene

[Rick Barter]

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

I got a question. I have a barn that I want to sheetrock, but was worried about mildew/moisture, etc. Is the green board what I need?

[TuscolaMatt]

Well, I'm quite the minority here. My shop (NOT connected to anything) has all OSB for interior walls for the bottom 4 feet. My shop (a 24 x 24 steel building) had the insulation installed between the skin and the perlins. I just wanted a little protection for the insulation and something to mount plugs into. My main thought was how easy it would be to accidentally bump a hole into sheet rock. OSB can take a much stiffer hit. I still haven't painted the stuff (I plan to eventually), but I've showered these walls with sparks from grinding and cutting for the past couple years. I've never had any burning issues. Granted, if a fire from another source were to start, it'd burn up quite nicely!

On a side note, I built a catwalk last year and used OSB for the floor of it. The rest was all metal. Anyway, the last part I did on it was to weld a railing on. I was welding withing an inch of the OSB flooring. Out of the 12 welds I made, only 3 started to burn at all (and they mostly smoldered). Since then, I don't see OSB as a fire waiting to happen. The stuff is certainly not fireproof to any notable extent, but it's not exactly a powder keg either - heh heh.

[JustPassingThru]

Rick Barter,

Sorry for taking so long to respond, I don’t have much time during the week for the computer.

When I was in the trades the green board was used in the bathrooms and kitchens and was usually covered with tile, sometimes it was just painted. I personally wouldn’t use drywall in a barn because it is very easy to break or puncture.

What I was refering to about the 1/2" drywall sagging with high humidity is before the taping and painting is finished and the house is occupied, we tried hanging ceilings with 1/2" drywall on 24" centers and came back the next day to find it sagging between the joists, it was an experiment that our boss tried to save money that didn't work.

Drywall is intended for use in homes that are kept at a comfortable temperature and insulated from the outside elements, if you were to hang it in a barn that is open to the outside elements the humidity or moisture could pose a problem, when drywall becomes wet or saturated from the humidity it is very weak and easy to break. If it were hung over head it is possible for the nails to “pop” and the sheet to fall, I suggest you look for a different material, maybe OSB or plywood.

Scapegoat will probably be ok because he is insulating the walls and ceiling and “closing in” his garage to the elements.

TuscolaMatt,

I agree with you, if there was a concern for fire I would paint it so that it wasn’t bare.

Gene

[Rick Barter]

JustPassingThru:

Thanks for the advice.