Wood shop interior finishing ideas

5/8ths drywall on the ceiling. Don't forget to put radiant barrier under the roof sheathing, then insulate. I agree half inch drywall on the bottom 4 ft, Wall plugs set just above that. Wire the ceiling before you put up the drywall so you have plugs over your work areas and where your filter hangs. I used wire shelving for one major storage area. You can mount the posts into the studs with long screws. Make sure they are all level. You can adjust the shelves to suit any type of storage you want. I have a lot of stuff stored on two shelves in matching plastic boxes with covers. They nest nicely and come in two depths. I write the contents on the espoxed end with a marker.

do not put shelving in the bottom 12-16 inches from the floor, it will make it much easier to clean the joint out. Color code your electrical circuits so you can visually avoid plugging two tools into the same circuit. Use 2 gang boxes for four outlets at each box.

I would use a thinner ply, no more than half inch on the walls. I have one 24 foot wall that is covered with quarter inch pegboard. This is very handy and visible so I know what little items I have on hand, so I don't keep buying goodies I already have.

No open cabinets if you can help it. Doors keep the sawdust out, and you can make ultra simple enclosures for your wire racks too.

If you're using R13 or blow in a 2x4 wall, put radiant barrier in behind the insulation. If your garage has a peaked roof, you should probably put an exhaust fan in, with an access hatch near it, and that means having vents that feed fresh air into the attic.

Paint the floor with some tough stuff. Makes cleanup a little easier. Put good seals on all the openings, doors, windows. I have cheapo windows on my shop shed, so I covered them with 2 inch insulating foam. Don't get the sunlight, but don't get the heat and cold either.

I have 1/2" drywall on the ceiling, probably should have been 5/8" fire-rated, but it's been almost 30 years now and no problems - and 14" of blown-in insulation hasn't caused any problem either. Walls are 7/16" OSB, other than iffy re fire code, depending on your location, it's IMO one of the better ways to go for the reasons that others have stated. One thing I wish I'd done differently would have been to surface mount my receptacles - conduit is CHEAP, and easy to work with, and the added benefit of being able to easily move/add outlets is priceless as your shop layout WILL change over the years. 4x10 OSB sheets seem to be readily available here at Lowes - not sure about God's country up there, but I would think it would be too - about $8 for an 8', $10 for a 10" sheet - so no need to fool with patching in drywall. A note - OSB seems to have a glossy side, and a "porous" side - and the sheets are marked "This Side Out" - make sure that you put the glossy side out where you're going to paint. You're talking 24 sheets, if I did the math correctly, so rent an airless sprayer - the kind you stick in a 5 gal bucket and paint houses with - and cut out all the hard work - some cheap plastic taped around the floor and you can probably paint the whole place in 4 hours. The paint is definitely worth the effort as it brightens the place up, a big plus, but don't go glossy, I like semi-gloss, YMMV.

As an aside, I started attaching the OSB to the studs with a hammer and ring-shank nails which seemed to be taking forever, about halfway over I switched to 1-1/2" narrow-crown staples - the way to go, and the brand I use has some kind of heat-activated adhesive on the legs which is supposed to melt from the friction and then "glue" the legs of the staples into the wood to make them harder to pull out - seems to work as it's a bear when I've tried to take anything apart.

Couple of comments, unless of course you have already done this:

1) Whatever you use, make sure it's painted white, so you have maximum light reflection; have never been in a shop with dark walls that didn't seem needlessly dim, especially near the walls. Our old eyes also function better in high contrast situations.

2) Drywall is a fire barrier, even if it's not fire rated. Anything wooden is going to be kindling.

3) For mounting cabinets etc, framing up the wall with appropriate 2x4's is easy peasy once you have designed the setup.

4) Totally true about the insulation and vapor barrier being done before the final wall cover material needs to be worried about.

5) Drywall anchors (look like a baby corkscrew) that shoot in with a #2 Phillips bit and look like a big e z threaded insert work awesome and are a snap to put up, no drilling needed.

6) Drywall will quiet the room and transfer less noise to the outside / into the house.

Post up some pics of your kingdom mon ami.

Happy Canada Day to you tomorrow.