New Shop - Ideas for Walls

[Scotty Dive]

We are having a new addition put on and I get the bottom half - meaning about 300 sq feet of basement space. The walls are stick framed and insulated with a foil like paper over the insulation. I plan on using old kitchen cabinets as a bench and for storage. I like to have my tools and items hanging on the wall and have used peg board in the past. My question is - do I sheetrock this area, or put up T-11 or are there any other ideas I am not thinking of?

 

[ultrarunner]

I went with plywood and screws.

Much harder to damage and panels removable if you need to run something behind the wall later.

Might have to use sheetrock under the ply if the code requires fire rating?

 

[Cliff_Johns]

Consider putting up at least one sheet of the shiny white panneling -- hardboard based. You can use the stuff as a giant white-board; that is, use dry erase markers. Having a big board to write/draw/make lists etc is realy useful.

They also reflect a lot of light, improving ambient lighting and reducing shadows. When I do my next shop in a few years, I plan to most of the walls that stuff.

By the way, make sure you run lots of electrical before you put in the walls and cabinets.

Also, I painted the floor with a good concrete paint before I installed my current shop and I am very glad I did. It's much less dusty, easier to sweep, and you can find stuff you drop easier.

Cliff

 

[brin]

Have you considered 4X8 sheets of peg board...then you could hang your tools up...Home Depo and Lowes sells all kinds of attachments for peg board to hold tools and all kinds of things and they sell the peg board as well...That is what I use in my shop.

 

[KennyG]

A lot depends on how you're are using the shop, but I would recommend drywall. Codes may or may not matter to you, but a shop/garage area should be finished with 5/8 fire rated drywall. If you are concerned about dings, consider T-11 wainscot in the vulnerable areas. Pegboard is good, but I'd just put it over the benches and install it over the drywall since it needs to be spaced out.

A note on pegboard - I just put some up in my pole barn and bought a bunch of plastic 1/4" peg hangers off ebay. They are great - I'll never go back to the wires except for those odd configurations that only wire makes.

 

[vwnotrunning]

Give some thought on backing in the walls if you put up sheetrock. Having some plywood behind the sheetrock to have something to anchor to helps in putting up hangers or support.

Never too many electrical outlets. Stagger the spacing on the circuiting also so all the plugs in an area are not on the same circuit.

 

[TRR]

And put electrical outlets above 48" so you can lean sheet goods against the wall and still use the electrical outlet.

 

[CurlyDave]

I would put in lots of electrical outlets, then 1/2" plywood or OSB for backing, then 5/8" sheetrock for fire resistance.

Think about heat in the winter, summer cooling and ventilation for the next time you do something that makes smoke, a bad odor, paint fumes, solvent fumes, etc. Put a smoke detector and a CO detector down there, preferably permanently wired in. No one has ever complained about having a 240 volt outlet or two.

If you at the early stags of construction, a floor drain can be a lifesaver, and you definitely want a slop sink.

 

[newbury]

We are having a new addition put on and I get the bottom half - meaning about 300 sq feet ofbasement space. The walls are stick framed and insulated with a foil like paper over the insulation. I plan on using old kitchen cabinets as a bench and for storage. I like to have my tools and items hanging on the wall and have used peg board in the past. My question is - do I sheetrock this area, or put up T-11 or are there any other ideas I am not thinking of?

Lots of 20AMP power. And take pics/drawings of where the lines REALLY run.
Think long and hard about running pipes for water/drain for a wash sink.
Exhaust system.
Drywall GREEN moisture resistant (bsmt), or if there's the SLIGHTEST CHANCE of flooding Durarock up to several inches beyond flood zone. I had a sump pump fail.
Then 1x2 strips to put pegboard on where applicable.