I wanted oh, how I wanted to use plywood on my walls in the shop I built.
No way Jose said the city. Double layer of 5/8" drywall, required by code
for an external "garage" tied to the house. I don't know how much you guys
in the Islands worry about inspectors but if there ever were a fire and it
turned out to have been in an unpermitted structure there could be issues
with insurance coverage.

Those are your only reasons. Otherwise plywood is a better choice. Ain't
life grand?

At Tektronix in Beaverton after WWII they put EEs to work building their
own cubicles. They made them all out of plywood. They're still there, nicely
made and varnished, and boy do they look better than the crap they make
white-collar slaves sit in now.

GWE

Eric R Snow wrote:

This is sorta on topic because its for walls in a machine shop. My
shop is a steel building. Inside are steel stud walls that hold the
insulation. Flammable materials, such as acetone, alcohol, and solvent
are present is less than 1 gallon quantities or in a fire protected
parts washer. The other flammable stuff in the shop consists of papers
and cutting oil. So I don't really see a fire hazard in the shop. It
is a no smoking shop. There is a weld area but it is away from
anything that can burn. And all stick welding and torch cutting of
metal is done outside. All that being said, is there a reason NOT to
use 3/8 cdx on the walls instead of 5/8 drywall? It seems to me that
the plywood would be more durable and less likely to suffer any damage
from things banging into it than drywall. Also, the plywood doesn't
need to be taped. Painting and caulking is all the plywood would need.
The shop is full of machines which is one of the reasons I'd like to
avoid taping, mudding, and sanding. All that dust. And labor costs
would be substantially higher with the drywall. I can't do it myself
for at least 6 weeks but I can hire someone to get it done next week.
Thank You,
Eric R Snow