New Shop build Plywood wall finishing ideas needed.

[Renze]

I was thinking - all that $$$$ spent on a new barn. I would be looking for some type of fire retardant or fire resistant paint.

When the fire is hot enough, the hot wood gas will just ignite on the other side. A guy i know set his mancave on fire when the wet firewood he threw behind the stove, was heated to the point that a single spark sponaneously ignited the wood gas from the heated wood.

Intumescent (?) paint is what my neighbour, who worked at an industrial painter, used to paint structural steel with. It foams up when hot, creating an isolation layer to keep the steel structure under the temperature where the yield stress reduces so far that the columns buckle. It just buys the tenants of the appartment, or the workers of the plant, an extra hour to evacuate before the structure collapses.
After that, the building needs to be demolished anyway.

So intumescent paint in a shed is a waste of money if you ask me. The fire will foam up all that paint so you will have to replace the plywood anyways, and when it has been that hot inside, your tools and project car are gone anyway.

Great stuff to buy time before structural collapse to evacuate people, but its not going to save a wooden shed from requiring full replacement.

In my shed i primed all the OSB to keep molds or light from discolouring it.

 

[EddieWalker]

Just looking at my shop walls, I remembered another huge advantage to using screws and not covering them up.

About a year after my AC unit was replaced, we noticed water on the floor of my shop. The unit is on the other side of the wall. The AC guys didn't get a good seal on the drain line. Looking at it, I realized that it was an easy fix if I could remove the OSB on the shop wall. I think I had it all done in an hour, including putting the OSB back up.

Another time, I wanted a bigger electrical line to go from my panel to an exterior wall. I removed the OSB screws, ran the wire, and screwed the OSB back on the wall. You can't get any easier then that!!!

 

[not2old]

You can fill and tape the joints on plywood just like drywall. When done, you won't see the difference. I've used 5/8 plywood in several areas in my shop and after I get it wired, I expect to blend the two together.

 

[dieselscout80]

I used cabinet screws to hang my OSB (716” or 1/2”) and painted it white. I may caulk the seams later as it will seal it tighter.

 

[Renze]

I may caulk the seams later as it will seal it tighter.

Tongue and groove doesnt come standard in North America?

 

[EddieWalker]

Tongue and groove doesnt come standard in North America?

Yes, it's available in the stores, but rarely used for walls. The only time I use it, is for a subfloor.

 

[ArlyA]

Yes, it's available in the stores, but rarely used for walls. The only time I use it, is for a subfloor.

Its specially made and designed for floors here.

 

[thepumpguysc]

When I put up my plywood walls, I ordered BC plywood..??
The type that’s sanded on 1 side..
It makes for a nice finish and it’s “blonde” so it’s pretty light in there..

 

[mark in portugal]

I made a few houseboat interiors with plywood walls. The last one has 110 sheets of 1/2" luan.

The best result I had was as follows; make small 45 degree bevels down the edges with a router. Push the sheets together; for any tiny gaps, fill with calk using a notched nozzle that fits into the 90 degree groove between the sheets.

This was fast, efficient, and still looks great 15 years later.

I used evenly spaced screws that show.

 

[sixdogs]

I just finished having my 42x60 shop/barn insulated and have chipboard on the walls up 8 ft from the floor. This chipboard does move and a minor edge gap is required. 1/8" to a soft "press" comes to mind. It's printed right on the chipboard. I had an excellent crew with an excellent major barn builder but on installing the chip board the gap was left too narrow and the stuff started to buckle. They had to come back out, tear off 50 sheets and put new chipboard back up. Pricy error and tells me that guys better leave a gap between panels.

Also, there is a nailing pattern that must be followed.Since the walls were strapped with narrow 2x4's, I think a nail was required every 6" in the chipboard but I'm not sure on that so research.


I'm going to paint my chipboard and have looked at many barns and many jobs. A somber red diminishes any gap and your eye doesn't see it. The barns I saw with that red looked the best and hid any imperfections. It did not diminish any light inside the building and looked good. I'm going with red. It looked like the old IH Red.

On sealing the wood. For decades I have made and finished many pieces of cabinets, wooden walls, etc and had to seal them to decrease paint or finish absorption. What worked best for me was to first paint a mixture of part varnish and part thinner to the wood. More than half was thinner. When it dried, it "sealed" the wood in that it had a coating that resisted absorbing paint. The paint didn't soak in so less was required. So that's what I'm going to do. No filling any gaps or nail marks because one will never be successful since the wood will move, the filling will move too and the eye will be drawn to that imperfection. Gaps and nail holes in that red wall were not noticeable unless you looked for it. And I looked at a dozen huge ag and business barns many multiples of my size.

 

[EddieWalker]

Why is the wood moving?

The only time clips are needed is when OSB is installed on rafters that are spaced 24 inches on center. The clips help hold the OSB in place at the middle space between the rafters or trusses.

On a wall with studs every 16 inches, the OSB should be installed tight to achieve maximum sheer strength for the wall.

 

[Mtsoxfan]

I used OSB in my garage, screwed every 16ish inches. Some areas buckled, so I installed more screws there, and problem solved. Unless it causes another one.

 

[dodge man]

Unless you are picky and want a finished look I can’t imagine caulking or otherwise finishing it. I went with OSB in mine also a put a coat of primer and white paint on mine.

 

[Bad Boy Biker]

I would put a nice clear finish on it. Why cover the beauty of the wood?