|
Southwest Illinois | We looked at a lot of stuff when we built ours. OSB can be a PIA to paint plus you probably need to go to 5/8" if you want some durability. Painted plywood looks better and is easier to paint and 1/2 plywood is probably as tough or tougher than 5/8 OSB. There are a lot of different coated plywoods coming on the market that look pretty nice and easy to install. We went with 1/2" OSB covered with fiberglass reinforced panel(FRP). The FRP is tough as nails which makes it challenging to work with until you get the correct tools. FRP makes the best looking finish, is extremely durable, won't ever need painting, offers some noise reducing properties and dust will not stick to it. It is more expensive as you will probably spend $1.50 per square foot or more until you get done trimming around doors and windows, etc. But when you add up the cost of a decent plywood, the cost of paint and all the labor you will wind up close to $1 per square foot. If you are spending the money on a new shop my opinion would be that OSB or painted OSB is the cheap way to finish it and it is the finish you will look at for the life of the shop. If you need to save money I would find another place to save it. | |
|
OSB or Plywood for bottom 8' in shop
