Morning all.

I'm coming to the point of needing to decide what I line my new garage/workshop with, and I am undecided as to what's best. This will be a "hobby" workshop as opposed to a full time working place, but there will be welding and so on going on. If I line the walls with wood, the welding area will be lined again with metal sheet to prevent and direct contact with splatter. Wood appeals to me the most at the moment as it's something I can do as I go and doesn't need any outside help or time consuming processes.

The garage is 7m x 3m x 2m, so I'll be needing about 15 8'x4' sheets of whatever I go with, and cost is as always important! For example, I don't want to put up cheap OSB if it then needs loads of expensive paint to make it look half way decent as that seems to defeat the point of cheap wood.

11mm OSB is cheap, but could be a PITA to paint and may look rough. I'm also not sure how good it will be when I come round to putting cupboards up.
Cheap 12mm ply is the same price, but decent ply is about £8 a sheet more expensive. Not sure how difficult either will be to paint, but should be easier than OSB. And I know I will be able to hand anything anywhere.
Taper edged plasterboard I can put up and then maybe get someone in to do the jointing, but if I use square edge, will the entire thing need skimming?

So either what did or would you pick, and why? Is there something out there I'm not thinking of that would be better/cheaper to use?

[Edited on 2/7/13 by DIY Si]

OSB in the areas where there are no cupboards going, or even throughout. Then where the cupboards are to go, just overlay and fix a sheet of ply. This will add more strength as well as provide a good mounting point for the cupboards.

Paint with an oil based paint, and OSB isnt too bad.

I would stay away from plasterboard, unless the garage is attached to the house, or heated.

Try a farmers supplier they sell white plastic sheets to go in milking parlours easy
to put up and fully washable

It's a detached garage that is currently unheated but getting insulated. I hope to have a small wood burning stove in by the winter time, but where ever that goes will be fire proofed regardless.

25 mm / 1 inch of expanded polystyrene,.. and then low cost board,.. however don't run right to the floor so that any spills aren't absorbed by your walls.

It's already getting 100mm of Rockwool RWA45 between the studs as it is! Since the Mrs is a child minder, I've had to go a bit OTT on the insulation. There's 220mm of loft stuff in the roof joists as it is.

that will all help to make it easier to work all year round - cooler in the summer and warmer in winter,.. perfect,....

That is very much the idea. I just need to finish the verges and the outside drainage to keep the Mrs quiet and then I might be able to get the inside sorted.

Just doing mine.

Gone for 1mm foil insulation £26 100 sq m

That goes on wall glued. Then 2x2 timber frames then plasterboard

As above the areas that have cupboards ill put plywood under the 2x2 and the space out any none ply walls.

Ill fill the gaps with insulation roll. 200mm stuff.

Not sure how the plasterboard will get effected on cold weather but I may cover it with paper n paint.

Ill use a heater n dehumidifier in winter....

Don't ply in a damp garage....

[Edited on 2/7/13 by jossey]

my garage is a bit bigger than yours but i went for 12mm external ply inside. managed to get the price down to about £18-20 a board in the end but i did order 50 sheets. once it was up i painted it all with white emulsion, looks good and you can hardly see the gaps between the boards. as for welding no issues to date.

my whole garage is timber frame and is constructed as follows. (from the inside) 12mm ply then 4X2inch frame(with rockwool in the middle) then 12mm ply on the outside covered by a damp proof breathable membrane then batons on top then cladded in 25mm shiplap every bit of wood in it is pressure treated and tanalised. stays warm in the winter cold in the summer. it wasn't cheap garage build but im very happy with the result.

Plasterboard is fire retardant, which is worth bearing in mind, and around 6 pound a sheet over that quantity. You could get taper edged and fill it yourself. It would be more prone to damage than other finishes though.

give chd whittlesey a ring all they do is insulation and plaster board and plastering equipment 01733 202 299 they deliver too

I have a 20' X 30' workshop, insulated 6" glassfibre in the walls, 10" glassfibre in the ceiling, sorry to scare you but it gets down to -30 here a few times each winter.

The shop has in floor heat by hot water, but the temperature is kept a 10 C when I am using it and 5 C when not. The walls and ceiling are all what we call dry wall a 1/2" paper covered plaster.

There has been no problems with the drywall in 6 years of use, I try to keep the humidity down to 50% which is helped by the heat source and limited air exchange during humid summer weather.

I have welded a complete chassis in the shop and there is now the Locost and a restored 58 Sprite being re-assembled in there.

If oil based paint is still available and is used to paint the drywall it cleans up well.

The drywall is far superior as a fire supressant than any wood product I can think of.