Lining a timber garage

[Stones]

I have a double detached timberframe garage.  It is clad externally with breather membrane, battens and larch cladding, roofed with concrete tiles.  Inside it is the bare timber frame racked with OSB. It is dry and well ventilated, but depending on the time of year and ambient conditions, have relatively high levels of humidity.

 

Whilst a useable and practical space, it really could do with brightening up.  I am therefore thinking of lining the walls.  The ceiling / trusses would probably remain open as this space is used for storage.

 

The space doesn't need to be insulated, although if covering the ceiling may be worth doing.

 

The question is what should I use to line the walls.

 

Plasterboard would no doubt be the cheapest, but given its an unheated space, and RH levels at certain times of the year, may not be a good choice (albeit I would be delighted if the collective view was that it would be okay).  I then move up to MDF or PLY, but this seriously pushes the cost up.

 

Any thoughts or suggestions?

[ProDave]

OSB is similar price to plasterboard, plus you can screw stuff to it. But you either love or hate the look of OSB.

[lizzie]

I have plasterboard but my garage is cavity brick wall with a cold unventilated roof.  So far its OK will be a test to see how damp things get with RH over the winter.

[Russell griffiths]

Why not just paint the osb.  

 

[Stones]

14 minutes ago, ProDave said:

OSB is similar price to plasterboard, plus you can screw stuff to it. But you either love or hate the look of OSB.

 

Had thought about OSB, but really would prefer something that looked a bit more refined (smoother)

 

3 minutes ago, Russell griffiths said:

Why not just paint the osb.  

 

 

Had considered that, but as per above, would prefer something a little more refined.

 

14 minutes ago, lizzie said:

I have plasterboard but my garage is cavity brick wall with a cold unventilated roof.  So far its OK will be a test to see how damp things get with RH over the winter.

 

I did have a plasterboard lined garage a couple of houses ago, but the DHW cylinder and boiler were in the garage, so there was always a little bit if heat trickling into the space.  How much of a difference this makes I don't know.

[dpmiller]

is there any requirement for fire protection?

[Stones]

No is the short answer.

[Russell griffiths]

I think it would depend what you painted it with. 

I spray painted plywood with a two pack white, then sanded then another couple of coats of two pack. 

It looked just like melamine smooth as a babies bum. 

 

If you spray it with 3-4 coats of a high build acrylic and then give it a good sand, then hit it with 4 coats of acrylic eggshell I think it would be fairly flat. 

If you pick a flat colour it will hide many imperfections. 

Edited December 31, 2018 by Russell griffiths

[lizzie]

17 minutes ago, Stones said:

 

I did have a plasterboard lined garage a couple of houses ago, but the DHW cylinder and boiler were in the garage, so there was always a little bit if heat trickling into the space.  How much of a difference this makes I don't know.

Will let you know in the spring...mine is completely unheated and the back wall is retaining a couple of metres of earth so even being a cavity block/brick will have an element of damp about it

[ProDave]

My garage is plasterboard lined. Because it is attached it has to be 2 layers of the pink fireline stuff with staggered joints. That is just taped and filled and painted.

 

The garage is not heated and so does get cold but I see no signs of damp anywhere. The "insulated" roller door  however runs with condensation sometimes so I guess that is a good dehumidifier for the air in the garage.

[PeterW]

MR plasterboard would be my choice as it’s a lot harder than normal stuff and takes paint easily. If you used a standard square edge cladding fascia board at the bottom it would protect the bottom of the wall and let you stop the board a couple of inches up from the floor.  

[Nickfromwales]

5 hours ago, PeterW said:

MR plasterboard would be my choice as it’s a lot harder than normal stuff and takes paint easily. If you used a standard square edge cladding fascia board at the bottom it would protect the bottom of the wall and let you stop the board a couple of inches up from the floor.  

I like that idea. Cheap as chips, and no need to paint it ( the uPVC ) ever. 

[Ferdinand]

I have lined with hollow shiplap plastic fascia board before now.

 

It works out at about £6 per sqm, can be wiped or even hosed clean, and does not suffer from mould or deterioration if it gets damp or wet.

 

I have known it used successfully for eg The ceilings of bathrooms in HMOs subject to much abuse.

 

Ferdinand

Edited January 1, 2019 by Ferdinand

[Stones]

Some interesting ideas.  Will price up what I can get locally and take it from there.

[Jeremy Harris]

I'm happy with OSB that's been given a few spray painted coats of white emulsion in my workshop, but that decision was largely based on the ease of fixing things to an OSB wall.  It doesn't look that rough after a few coats of paint, especially not the area behind the benches, where I added a couple of coats of white gloss, just to make it easier to keep clean.

 

I've also used relatively cheap plastic T&G boards to line a rubbish bathroom ceiling in our house, that had been (badly) artexed.  These were 250mm wide, matt white, around 3m long IIRC and went together with near-invisible joins.  The stuff isn't thick, around 6mm or so, so needs to go onto an existing panelled surface, but it is quick and easy to install and gives a nice, wipe clean, finish.