Exterior Sheathing for Wood Shop

[clintnelms]

I'm in the process of building a 30x30 wood shop now and I'm trying to mill most of my lumber and build as cheap as possible. I'm almost finished with the roof and fixing to start the outside. OSB sheathing is pretty expensive when I add up all that I'll need. I'm planning on doing lap siding so I'm wondering if I really need to have OSB sheathing under the lap siding. Could I mill up say half inch x 6 inch boards and just put house wrap over those and then put up my lap siding or what about even just putting up the house wrap over the studs then installing the lap siding? I do plan on insulating the interior and probably using ship lap for the interior or maybe tongue and groove. I live in South Georgia so heat and humidity is the only weather concerns here.

[Texas Ranger]

Sounds good since you have the facility.

[Ljohnsaw]

The OSB will give the building lots of strength and keep it from racking.  You can do the same thing with your boards by doing one of two things.  You could lay the first layer of siding on the 45°, add the house wrap and then your final layer.  OR, save a bunch of material and just put a single 45° board, let in to the studs, at each corner from top plate to sole plate - each end - each side where it works around doors and windows.  Then apply your house wrap and siding.  If a 45° doesn't fit because of a door or window, you can go a little bit steeper or shallower on the slope but ideally, at 45°.

[clintnelms]

That was a concern of mine too. When we were on the roof I could tell the building rocking back and forth. So you're right. I may just have to bite the bullet and put the OSB up anyway.

[Joed]

Here on Cape Cod, the old timers used hurricane bracing. They made it through many hurricanes.
I have a small barn I used this type bracing on, it's very ridged.

[clintnelms]

Here on Cape Cod, the old timers used hurricane bracing. They made it through many hurricanes.
I have a small barn I used this type bracing on, it's very ridged.

Can you post a link or some pictures of what you are talking about?

[WDH]

If you are sawing your own framing lumber, be sure to check with the County Building Inspector as some Counties mandate that all framing lumber has to be grade stamped.

[MrMoo]

When I built my shop I ran the inner sheathing horizontally. It consisted of narrower boards 6-8". I put the Typar on that and then ran the outer sheathing vertically as I was doing board and batten. So far it is a good shop.

[Don P]

Triangles are rigid, they do not change shape, that is the reason to apply diagonal sheathing or bracing to a building. If you install diagonal bracing in the frame then the siding can be "single wall" rather than sheathing and siding. Often when an architect draws plywood or osb sheathing they will draw a dotted X across the sheet to signify that it is providing this triangulation

[Larry]

Classic 1 X 4 inlet diagonal bracing on my stick built metal skin shop.



There are two other ways to accomplish this (that I know of).  Metal "T" bracing which is installed by cutting a saw kerf.  Haven't seen any for a long time.  The third way is steel strapping similar to the strapping plumbers use to hang pipes, but heavier gauge and wider.  High quality pole barn builders use this method a lot.  Of course you may want to check local codes.

One way or another you need to build shear walls to resist strong winds. 

[tacks Y]

When I built my house (2x6) I would build a wall on the floor. Square it up and lay a 1x6 at a 45 degree (2 on long walls), (from floor to 1 side) mark it with a pencil remove board, set saw at 1". Saw at the lines and every 1/4" or so, take a hammer with a straight claw and remove the sawed wood. Put the board on and nail in place, stand up the wall. Makes it very strong. 

[edwin dirnbeck]

Hi ,I am a complete non builder of buildings. I would like to bring a completely different idea to the table.Install plywood sheets to the INSIDE of the shop.This would provide triangulation ,eliminate drywall and best of all, allow you to hang things on the wall WEREVER you want without trying to hit studs. Just my Idea.My work shop is my 2 car garage.I had a fire and insurance replaced my garage .Their were many details to work out. I tried to get the contracter to do the inside of my garage with plywood and GLOSS WHITE PAINT. I offered to pay extra cost incurred. The contracter was flabbergasted and said this was no good. I stupidly let him talk me out of it. Now I have Flat offwhite drywall that is imposible to clean and must allways find studs even to hang a broom.My personal experience with builders is bad. All they seem to care about is cheap fast and make it look good.Edwin Dirnbeck

[Don P]

Sorry to hear that. Yes, you had an acceptable method in mind. Provided all edges land on framing or blocking the wall doesn't care which face is braced. In some cases the drywall can be considered the bracing... but that flabbergasts this builder  :D

If you look in the wall bracing section of the code they describe many of the methods discussed and where they are applicable. solid diagonal and plywood/osb are the strongest bracing. Let in diagonals are less, etc on down the line. You won't see things like vertical and horizontal boards since they don't triangularize. Good brush up for a rainy day.

[Brad_bb]

It is important that your sheathing is dry.  You don't want to trap a green board so mold can form.

[Ljohnsaw]

Edwin,
There is a possible issue with plywood on the inside.  Was this garage/workshop attached to your house?  Might not even matter if not.  A garage now out here, for quite some time, is required to have 5/8" sheetrock to act as a fire stop.  Maybe the builder was thinking but not communicating that.  You could, however, put up plywood and then come back and cover it with sheet rock.  My house is old enough (1988) that there is 1/2" sheet rock on the walls and nothing on the ceiling (open, 2' spacing 2x10s) so not much fire protection there!  My first house (late '70s build) the owner covered the two side walls with pegboard - the house wall had sheetrock.  Everything was painted an eggshell white (not quite semigloss) that wasn't too bad to wipe down.

But I do agree that is an excellent idea - the ability to put a nail or screw wherever and have it hold!

[Kbeitz]

I build only with plywood. Never with what I consider temporary OSB.

[Crusarius]

Hi ,I am a complete non builder of buildings. I would like to bring a completely different idea to the table.Install plywood sheets to the INSIDE of the shop.This would provide triangulation ,eliminate drywall and best of all, allow you to hang things on the wall WEREVER you want without trying to hit studs. Just my Idea.My work shop is my 2 car garage.I had a fire and insurance replaced my garage .Their were many details to work out. I tried to get the contracter to do the inside of my garage with plywood and GLOSS WHITE PAINT. I offered to pay extra cost incurred. The contracter was flabbergasted and said this was no good. I stupidly let him talk me out of it. Now I have Flat offwhite drywall that is imposible to clean and must allways find studs even to hang a broom.My personal experience with builders is bad. All they seem to care about is cheap fast and make it look good.Edwin Dirnbeck

If it is an attached garage some fireproofing is required by code. The drywall is your fire rating. If you want plywood just go over the drywall. Plywood offers zero fire proofing.

[Hackeldam Wood Products]

15lb Felt paper (tar paper) is a good wrap on the bare studs. By the time you put the nailers in and the siding on the building will be rigid. Board and Batten is very common here in the north east. While it is true that osb or plywood add a lot of strength there a are a lot of buildings that have been standing square for decades with out it.
Most building codes are a little over board for a shed type building. There are lots of plans available online. And your farm or cooperative extension may have some good shed/barn plans at little or no cost.

[petefrom bearswamp]

My 24 year old 32x56 shop is vapor barrier and osb inside, 6" fiberglass insulation , 12" of blown in and additional 6" of fiberglass in the ceiling, Tyvek and home made 1x12 white pine lap siding outside.
No issues at all with wind but I am in a small  holler so it is protected from the wind.
the osb is painted with semi gloss white.
4/12 pitch painted steel roof which the snow used to come off of violently but now is oxidized enough that it just creeps.
I heat this bldg with a 55 gal barrel stove.
Darned thing is not big enough.

[Don P]

They're never big enough  :D

These are some of the extension plans;
https://www.ag.ndsu.edu/extension-aben/buildingplans

This one shows some typical board wind bracing, not a good idea to omit some form of diagonal bracing, either sheet goods or diagonal boards will do that;
https://www.ag.ndsu.edu/aben-plans/5341.pdf

Putting a couple of threads together here, one of the reasons screws moved to the flats on 3' wide ag metal on post frame buildings is it often serves the purpose of bracing the building, it is a rigid sheet when screwed down tightly and often enough to avoid buckling. If that is the case when you move the screws to the tops of the ribs the screw is going through space and the panel no longer braces the structure.