"Ryan" wrote in message
om...
I recently had a new 24x34 garage built. I will use it as a shop and
for parking two cars in the winter. I'd like to have some kind of
ceiling in it, to reflect light down, and to keep heat in during the
winter.

Finished, painted drywall would look the best, but be difficult to put
up. I'd have to rent a jack, and I constantly be worried about the
jack damaging my newly painted floor. But I'm not worried about it
getting dented (as I've read here before) because my ceilings are
about 10.5 feet high.

But what are the other alternatives? Plywood? (OSB more likely). I
will be putting insulation in the 'attic', too. Not sure if it will
be bats or blown-in yet.

Also am thinking about what I should put on the walls... that will
probably be drywall, I think.

Thanks for any suggestions.

-Ryan



I did something a little different in my shop. I got the 1/4" vinyl-
coated hardboard and used it as both wall covering and ceiling covering.
My primary motivation for going this route vs. drywall is the fact that
removal is easy if one ever wishes to access behind any wall, any time.
I went with the white vinyl vs. OSB for several reasons: 1. OSB out-
gasses horribly for a long time after insulation. 2. OSB sucks up primer
and paint by the bucket, 3. The white vinyl is already white, so,
although it does cost more (mine cost $14 per sheet), I did not have to
either prime or paint it, so in addition to saving on paint, I saved
tons of time.

I just finished installing all of the walls and 2/3 of the ceiling, so
I don't have a long history with the stuff to state how it will hold up,
but this is a shop, I see no significant downsides to this choice, and
the white walls made a bazillion percent difference in the looks and
lighting level. Now comes the rest of the reconfiguration project, got
the wood rack re-installed yesterday and the large dimension lumber
replaced in the rack. I am going to build compartmented storage on the
top shelf for scrap wood storage and also for some other storage (such
as extra flourescent lightbulbs).