Plywood for lining out workshop walls

[Moonsafari69]

Loads of input on this, so thank you to everyone that’s contributed. There’s a lot of consideration to taste and some more to product and durability. To be honest my conclusion is I think I can’t really go wrong, which in itself is a big help.

I’ll be getting started on the workshop after Christmas so I’ll pop a few photos on here to show you the progress.

Thanks again!

 

[Peter Sefton]

Sorry I haven't read all the comments but I would use OSB for strength but over board it with plasterboard for bouncing light, sound proofing and it's fire retardant qualities. Any moisture control should be done with a vapour barrier under the OSB and a breather membrane outside the wall cavity in my opinion.

Have a happy and productive Christmas!

Cheers Peter

 

[MikeG.]

........Any moisture control should be done with a vapour barrier under the OSB.......

That's not necessary, as the OSB has such a high resistance to the passage of water vapour that it acts as a vapour barrier itself. This is the reason that it should be used on the inside of walls, not the outside.

 

[Peter Sefton]

........Any moisture control should be done with a vapour barrier under the OSB.......

That's not necessary, as the OSB has such a high resistance to the passage of water vapour that it acts as a vapour barrier itself. This is the reason that it should be used on the inside of walls, not the outside.

Interesting Mike, looks like advice is moving on since I built my workshop a few years ago. I just quickly found this article on the web.

https://www.backtoearth.co.uk/blogs/res ... trol-layer

I am sure you are more up to date than me.

Thanks Peter

 

[MikeG.]

I have to be, Peter. Beware of that article: it is somewhat simplistic, and discusses only one approach out of the many possible ways of dealing with vapour, insulation, and walls.

 

[MattRoberts]

One last thing - I ripped the sheets in half lengthways - made them much easier to handle. So battens at 605mm on centre

 

[DoctorWibble]

OSB or ply seems to be the go to lining for workshops but I think there's quite a good case to be made for soundboard or better still a combination of soundboard and OSB.

The advantages are thermal mass, far better sound insulation, light and looks / ease of finishing.

Thermal mass or rather the lack of it is an issue when insulating existing buidlings /garages from the inside. Essentially the only warm thing inside is the air and so the building cools down very fast when doors are opened for example. A layer or two of sound board (a denser more sound proof version of common plasterboard) is a very effective heatsink in a workshop sized space and helps give your workshop a very stable temperature. My workshop even retains a good deal of heat overnight and through the next morning.

Soundboard is only marginally more expensive than ordinary plasterboard and so is still very cheap. If you do two layers you need only tape and joint the top layer so its quick and easy. Taping and jointing isnt hard either. I followed some youtube videos and managed a good finish first time.

If you put up osb first you will have something solid to fix things to including of course the layer(s) of plasterboard you then fix to it so you only need to worry about studs with the osb.

The awkward part of linging out buildings is dealing with windows and doors. But those complications are there regardless of how many layers you add. Extra layers underneath usually add suprisingly little to the work.

If I ever do another one I'll probably go for osb (cheap, flat and of reliable quality) followed up with two layers of sound board plainted with flat matt white emulsion.

 

[Moonsafari69]

Yes i agree, the soundproofing is really important, for me definitely. For the walls I’ve opted for 4” RWA45 sound block set in battons 600mm apart and topped with 12mm ply.

So far I’ve installed about 100m Twin & Earth for power and lighting. Next step will be the ceiling (before I do the walls) which will be 4” RWA45 again but with 9mm ply.