# OSB instead of drywall?



## wbsbadboy (Oct 3, 2005)

Ok your gonna love this one. I have a customer who ownes a buisness that does jobsite cleanup. Subsequently he has access to plenty of material that the people building the homes dont want and could care less what he does with it. 
To my question. I have built an addition onto his house for use as a pool/game room. Instead of forking out the money for drywall he wants to use the sheets of OSB that he has collected. All are 1/2' shear sheathing not roof type. ie: both sides are smooth (well at least as smooth as OSB can be).
Can anyone think of a good reason that I can use to convince Mr. Big Spender of the fact that he should get the drywall instead. I checked with County Planning and they have no absolute code stating that it must be gypsium wall board (except in commercial applications and where a fire rating must be complied with). Only the nailing pattern and that the seams be taped. 
I told him that the seams and the OSB chip pattern will show through the texturing But he doesnt care. 
After dealing with this guy on the roofing part of this job Im sure that there will be a problem with the appearance of the walls and ceiling when I texture them. Just like the roofing material that he had laying around that was not dimentional. He was upset when I told him it would be extra to try and make it look as if the tiles were dimentional and not flat. 
I would love to tell this turkey off but his father in law wants a BIG custom built. And he has LOTS of  $$$$$$. I like $$$$


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## mdshunk (Mar 13, 2005)

Hey, whatever the customer wants. If there's no code violation, then you should have no problem doing it. It's his money, and he can spend it on stupid stuff if he wants. If he wants you to paint it polka-dotted too, I'd suggest you also do that. You've already informed him of the potential aestetic problems that you feel will occur. He is making an informed decision, just not the one that you would make if you were him.


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## JustaFramer (Jan 21, 2005)

Tell him you will need to skim coat it first to make it really look spectactular and that will cost extra. I have seen 3/4" skim coated with hot mud then textured you would never know. 
This is actually great in bars/clubs. You will neve have to replace drywall.


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## K. Mendenhall (Jan 8, 2006)

And get him to sign something not holding you responsible when it looks like crap, and it will. This only happens with contractors, you never here of a guy standing behind a surgen saying "I think you ought to use a steak knife instead of a scalple".


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## K2 (Jul 8, 2005)

I just helped a lady with a few things in her new salon that she wanted to look like a garage, (well it was a garage). I thought she was crazy but she was cute as a button so i did what she wanted. So i went to get my haircut the other day and and the place looks very very cool ++ after she is done with spray paint and decorating. I think she is going to make alot of money! <P>

I asked her to make me look 20 lbs lighter and 20 years younger and she said she couldn't do that. I was happy with the haircut though.


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## Bazooka Joe (Jan 5, 2006)

......i wouldnt try skimming it. ....being half inch, i'ld put money on it cracking out.

.......maybe acoustic...... ......on the walls?:thumbup: :biggrin:


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## Teetorbilt (Feb 12, 2004)

You warned him, now give him what he wants. Later you can tell him how much it's going to cost to make it look decent.

I know a guy that put up OSB in his apt and then varnished it. HE thought it looked great. There is no accounting for taste.


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## Eric K (Nov 24, 2005)

Make them sign a paper saying that they not taking your advise on the drywall so he's absolutey responsible if it turns out crappy. But remember if it looks bad when yer finished whos to say his father wont come down and say "Who the hell did this???" Your work is your name. When I was slow I listened to the customer too much on doing things the "cheap way" and it came back on me big time. Now if something isn't done correctly the way I say it should be I don't do it cuz it's my image in the end. Hope that helps.:thumbup:


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## wbsbadboy (Oct 3, 2005)

Some great advice guys. Thanks to all of you. Ill let you know what happens.


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## wbsbadboy (Oct 3, 2005)

Update:
Well I installed the osb making sure that he knew that I would not be responsible for the results and would not make any extra effort to correct any problems after it was done. (unless of course he paid me to)
This is how I decided to do it.
1) install osb after helper (which he paid for) chamfered all edges with a palm sander. I did this mostly because of the way that osb splinters when you have to cut it.
2) painted it with a light primer coat to seal it and give the mud something to bind to.
3) using my texture gun and a thin mud I sprayed the whole thing with a fair coating of mud. Then using my good round nose cement trowel I spread it so that it was smooth. Or at least as smooth as possible. 
4) the next day I sanded the whole thing to knock down any trowel marks and taped as usuall. 
5) Touched up the taping and textured with a heavy pattern.
6) allowed it to dry over night and then sanded it to give it a knock down effect. 

Results:
I did have a problem with some of the osb chips bubbling and separating from the sheets. This was due to the moisture of the skim coat I applied in step 3. I just used my trowel and scrapped them off and applied a bit of mud to fill the void. You can still see a few smaller ones but you really have to look.
Over all it came out much better than I thought it would. You can hardly see that it is osb instead of drywall.
The customer??? 
Totally extatic. (CHA CHING!! Thats an attaboy. lol lol) Hes had 4 friends over to see it that I know of and 2 of them have asked me to look at projects at their homes.
Thanks for all your great advice Guys!!


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## bobster (Jan 14, 2006)

*I've done OSB too*

I've done a large gentleman's workshop and a janitor's closet in new 4x8 OSB. I laid the sheets flat and laid on three coats of urethane. The customers are happy happy. Fringe benefits: Rugged and easy to hang fixtures shelves etc And it discourages the ladies from doing the usual endless redecorating.


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## sage (Feb 3, 2005)

Sounds like a lot of work.
But Attaboy Wbsbadboy. Glad it worked out for ya.


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## King of Crown (Oct 12, 2005)

My dad is a wealthy realestate invester/broker. He has built a couple of shops with that. then he stains it. not my cup of tea, but it works for him.


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## mdshunk (Mar 13, 2005)

Staining OSB somehow seems a little bit like putting fancy wheels and tires on a Yugo. To each his own, I guess.


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## Blackhawk (Nov 12, 2005)

I put oxboard up fourfeet high all around a elementry school gym then the painters painted it with what looked like a light green koolaide looking paint then finsh .. i tried to get it changed didnt like it round kids but told to it to plans and specs oooook... splinter city..


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## JustaFramer (Jan 21, 2005)

mdshunk said:


> Staining OSB somehow seems a little bit like putting fancy wheels and tires on a Yugo. To each his own, I guess.



No I think the proper phrase here is "it's like sprinkling sugar on dog sh!t"


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## Mike Finley (Apr 28, 2004)

I just saw this post! Geezus! Drywall is like seven bucks a sheet, how big was this game room to make it worth while??????????? Between his helper being paid and the extra labor you got paid for, that OSB had to end up costing him more than just buying sheetrock in the first place didn't it?


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## Greg Di (Mar 12, 2005)

Mike Finley said:


> Drywall is like seven bucks a sheet


I wish...It's up to $9.75 at Home Dopey this week. Gonna break $10.00 soon I bet.


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## wbsbadboy (Oct 3, 2005)

Mike Finley said:


> I just saw this post! Geezus! Drywall is like seven bucks a sheet, how big was this game room to make it worth while??????????? Between his helper being paid and the extra labor you got paid for, that OSB had to end up costing him more than just buying sheetrock in the first place didn't it?


LOL it didnt cost him a thing for the osb. He gets the extra sheets from the job sites he cleans up. 
There is a big housing boom here in Tehachapi, Ca. Just last month there were over 200 new building permits pulled. Best part of this is that 99% of my buisness is remodles and additions, along with the odd handy man chore. So even if the houses stop going up the owners of the ones already up are going to be calling me as I have a long time track record for happy customers. LOL even the contractors call me when they need something done just so. Last week end a contractor I knew called me to go down to the brand new motel and patch a hole in the drywall that he put there durring a ruccous rendevous with a female companion that was .....well, not his wife. 
Sometimes in a small town discretion is more valuable than reputation.


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## KingOfDrywall (Oct 1, 2004)

tell him its gonna cost alot more when you have to call him back to fix it,,,,lol.
It always pays to do it right the first time. Good luck


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