On Sun, 13 Sep 2009 01:08:51 -0700 (PDT), fftt
wrote:

On Sep 12, 9:14Â*pm, "John Gilmer" wrote:
The code allows drywall in garages....in a yuppie garage, maybe ok but

in a working garage drywall alone sucks.

What's the alternative? Â* Drywall material does a very good job of keeping
fire from spreading for a time.

Thing is that the wiring is inspected BEFORE the drywall is installed.
Often, new homes are sold with with all the drywall being installed or, in
the case of party finished basement, drywall only on one side of a wall.
Yet the house will have the necessary "occupancy permit."

The wiring inspector (if he actually visits) will assume that after he
leaves the exposed wiring will be covered. Â* But it often isn't.

This is a case where there really isn't much risk. Â* Nominally "exposed"
romex in a basement is less likely to be damaged that romex hidden behind
drywall. Â* You aren't going to accidentally put a screw through exposed
romex. Â* The main risk, if any, is that someone might literally hand
something from the wiring or put some heavy tools where they might abrade
it.

But some perfectely legal surface wiring stuff is much more likely to be
damaged or permit human contact with a live wiring than is modern "romex"
(NM) which, if you think about it, is "double insulated!"

What's the alternative?

drywall over OSB or plywood

drywall is pretty weak material, esp for a garage

OSB is pretty cheap but has decent strength

cheers
Bob


Georgia Pacific DensArmour Plus walboard. Twice as dense asdrywall,
with fiberglass surface. About the same price (or less) as cheap
drywall and OSB. It's about 86 lbs per 4X8 sheet in 5/8" thickness and
about $20 Canadian a sheet.