I have my basement work shop walls installed (finally) – 1/2″ CD plywood. Size is 12’x26′ – 2 windows – 18″ x 36″ crank out windows along one wall. Not much light from the windows. Should I paint the plywood or leave as is.
If I paint them, I would use a white ceiling paint. If I leave them alone, even with bright white lighting, there is a yellowish color in the room.
Floor is cement.
What have other folks done?
Replies
"Should I paint the plywood(?)"
Yes!
Cadiddlehpooer
I presume you see that your handle is misspelled in your signature Mr. Skelton.
Regards,
Ken
"Do as you would be done by." C.S. Lewis
JJ,
I suggest painting them with a bright white scrubable paint. I know what you mean about the yellowish reflection from the unfinished plywood walls. The white walls will reflect and in effect, magnify and appreciably enhance the lighting fixtures you already have. Good on ya,mate. - the Woodshepherd
Paint anything that doesn't get out of the way.
I wouldn't use ceiling paint. That's a very flat paint and will accumulate dust and dirt quickly. It's also not very durable. Another poster mentioned using a semi-gloss (I think) paint, and that would be a much better choice. Be sure to prime the plywood first with a stain killing primer. Otherwise the resins in the CD veneer will bleed through the top coat of paint.
Zolton
Hi John,
I left my plywood walls unpainted. I intended to paint them white, but I move tool racks and stuff on the walls around frequently. As you might guess, the plywood darkens somewhat over the years. If I painted the walls, all those holes would look pretty bad. You can't really see them in the plywood. Here are two photos showing what it looks like now.
Best,
BruceR
Bruce,
My shed is rather like your shop in that all the surfaces are wood (tanalised pine, in my case). I like the warm ambience this gives but it has to be admitted that there are sometimes problems with insufficient lighting.
When I was powertooling, I made do with multiple spot lamps arranged in the shed roof space to point at various machine tables. This worked well as there is no need to see the absolute detail with machines. During daylight hours there is sufficient natural light.
Now I have begun handtool work I am getting problems.
During daylight hours the 5 windows of the shed supply lots of natural light which is diffuse and bright enough to enable me to see the details of DTs or other marked out work, when knifing, cutting and chiseling. At night, the spotlamps create too many bright spots and hard shadows for this kind of work.
As a result, the shed is getting festooned with more lamps, including a couple of portable spots on stands and a fluorescent-around-a-magnifying-glass item on an articulated arm. These solve the illumination problem but tend to get in the way sometimes. I have tripped over the foot of a light stand and banged the noggin on the articulated item more than once!
To sum up: the OP probably has a choice between white but clinical walls (nice diffuse light) or pleasantly warm (and forgiving of holes) wooden walls with the need to supplement the lighting to illuminate working areas better.
Lataxe, sometimes a bit dim
Hi Lataxe,
You are dead right about the light required for hand tooling; you need lots. I am ashamed to say that I have twelve 100-watt lightbulbs on the ceiling and six or seven smaller task lights I can move around over the benches. At one time I had a dozen or so 4-foot fluorescent lights on the ceiling, but when the temperature dropped below about 60 degrees F, there always was background noise that sounded vaguely like several hundred people, far away, humming Battle Hymn of the Republic, or some similar ditty. I took out all the fluorescent lights. I have friends who use them and like them. Not for me, though. I have enough extraneous stuff running around in my head without adding whatever you get from listening to chilly Chinese ballasts.
I'd think a power tool user might be happier with a paint job over plywood. Most of the ply we get here is fir, and it has all those tiny fingers that reach out and grab all of the dust in the air and hold it forever. I have no power tools in the plywood room, so I don't have that problem.
Best,
BruceR
Have you tried bouncing the light off of the ceiling or the walls? That could help to even out the spread and eliminate any "hot spots" that play tricks on the eye. You could do like the pro photogs do and use a white silk to bounce the light. Would Lady Lataxe notice if a pair of her bloomers were to find their way to the shop? Just as long as you could reassure her you wouldn't be wearing them.Andy
Finding new uses for old unmentionables.
Andy,
Yoe ask if: "You could do like the pro photogs do and use a white silk to bounce the light. Would Lady Lataxe notice if a pair of her bloomers were to find their way to the shop"?
Alas, the ladywife wears only skimpy things of lace and satin. The bloomers were the prerogative of me mam, whose genetic dsposition to a hoojars I have inherited. She is long deed and the crones have made off wth her bloomers, amongst other items.
Also, what would the neighbours think, as they peered into the shed only to find large white unmentionables festooning the place? Why, man, they'd call the coppers and I'd be had-up before a beak, who would frown and order me purged of wickedness, via an unpleasant procedure!
Lataxe, avoiding the temptations of perversion.
Well, you could meekly explain to the neighbors about some confusion with the term "drawers".And of course the ladywifes' lace and satin would reflect naught but dappled light. Fine (and sometimes appreciated) in the boudoir, but unfit for manly spaces.Perhaps the neighbors should curtail the wicked peeking lest their own faults be brought to light.Should the coppers come a-calling, let us know and we will set about raising bail.AndyFear not the light.
Lataxe
It's good to see that you haven't tightened down that loose screw.
Jeff
Jeff,
"It's good to see that you haven't tightened down that loose screw".
These days, its a little wooden wedge that has to be knocked in with a small hammer. It keeps popping out again - I must have got oil on it.
Whilst I am here being silly, I should mention a potentially useful point to the OP: there is a useful article, by Jeff Miller, on shop lighting (but not white paint) in FWW 168. There are some fine hat-hung magnifying lenses and a headlight strap in there - both highly suitable for blokes with loose screws or wedges, judging by the pictures.
Lataxe, perfectly OK actually, thenk yew.
No fair, Bruce! You showed us pictures of a very inviting shop, but didn't tell us how to get there, or what time luncheon is served ; - )-Jazzdogg-
"Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive." Gil Bailie
Hi jazzdog,
Luncheon is served any time you're in the neighborhood of downtown Driftwood, Texas. Bologna, cheese, Lagavulin and lies. Always welcome.
Best,
BruceR
<Laughing uproariously> Thanks, Bruce!
"Bologna, cheese, Lagavulin and lies" You're obviously a man of discriminating and eclectic tastes!
-Jazzdogg-
"Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive." Gil Bailie
Bruce,
<<Bologna, cheese, Lagavulin and lies. Always welcome.>>
Lies??? Woodworkers tell lies...? Naaaahhhhh...just a few shop stories here and there....
Lunch menu sounds mighty tasty!!
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"I'm sorry, Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that...."
--A.C. Clarke
Question - why do woodworkers continue to install plywood and other wood walls? Why not go straight to drywall and paint white for the lighting issues. I never bought into the "Easier to hang stuff from" argument - you can always get around that.
Oh well - to each his own!
Because it is easier to hang stuff. Want a shelf here? Hang it up. Want to mount some tools here? Hang 'em up. It just plain beats looking for the studs.AndyHangin' stuff where I want to
Drywall is for houses, not workshops. Yeah, drywall will work fine, and certainly holds the right color paint, but many workshops have very, very heavy items hanging on the walls, an studs aren't always conveniently placed right where we need them. I have 500 bf of hardwood at all times hanging on my wall rack in the shop. When I use some up, it gets replaced out of my wood storage shed, so it's always full. There is no way that drywall, with the most creative hanging bolt or molly, will hold that much weight. Also, I have tool boxes that weight in excess of 300 lbs each. Drywall mollies will pull right through.
That's why 3/4" wood walls are great for woodshops.
Jeff
What are you smoking? Hanging that much weight off of 3/4" plywood?! I tell ya, you gotta beware of what you read on the internet.
Moto,
You are absolutely right.
Check this out. This is a workshop!
http://www.furniturecarver.com/Turek2.html
(not mine!)
Rich
Edited 2/27/2007 2:16 pm ET by Rich14
While mine is not that fancy - it does have some of the same qualities. White ceilings, walls and floors. If you can - plan it right and do it correct up front.
Hi pzgren,
One of the lies was about the bologna and cheese, which I often skip.
Best,
Bruce
Does lunch include some of that Scotch I see under the sink in your shop? (Not that I was snooping, mind you!)
Hi Dakotan,
Is that Scotch? Oh, me. I thought it was mineral spirits, and I've been washing my paint brushes in it. I'd be glad to share.
Best,
BruceR
LOL Bruce,
As much as I abhor the thought of wasting good scotch on your brushes, I guess it's better than the other way around!
Where do you store the mineral spirits?!
-Dakotan
Personally, I would paint the walls. I made a great difference in my old shop, which was concrete block. Brighter light, easier to keep clean, etc. I agree with Zolton to use primer first, then a latex paint afterwards.
I would paint the plywood a bright white durable paint. I got a great lesson years ago in how white surfaces reflect light. I was a volunteer firefighter assisting a paramedic at an accident scene. We moved the injured person into the ambulance to continue working. The ambulance lost power and this was at night. The paramedic told me to take my flashlight and shine it up into the ceiling of the ambulance--all surfaces were a bright white color. I thought the power had come back on--it was amazing how much light was reflected into the space. Tom
John,
When I started on the interior walls of my workshop, I had a "fund raiser"... Garage sale and setup a table at a swap meet...made $500 strickly for the interior of the workshop.
Instead of plywood, I bought the 4X8 sheets of concrete soffit material made by Hardiboard. Instead of loading and unloading it by myself when purchased from Home Depot, I could get it from a local lumberyard and delivered in lots of 10 sheets for free. At the time, it was about $16.50 a sheet.
I used Exterior, Semi-gloss, latex house paint for the interior walls and ceiling of the workshop.... "Ceiling White" is a color that is hard to use even on an old white ceiling. Once you've got your streaks covered, the flat texture of the paint will catch dust and cobwebs in a workshop environment!!
The semi-gloss surface is smooth, very easy to dust with low pressure compressed air, and any splatter from liquids are simple clean away. In the picture below, I used Sears' Weather Beater paint on my walls and ceiling with an Eggnog cream color offically listed as "A-081". I've purchase addition gallon cans of the same tint-based semigloss paint for $5 each because they were dented during shipment and the paint people at Sears won't put them in their shaker machines when dented.
From my experience painting plywood used as my attic floor, You might consider using a white colored primer like Kilz to seal the plywood before you roll on you final color paint. It will give you an idea of living with a pure white on the walls while you decide what color walls you want.....and make you color paint cover more sq. footage.
With warmer weather and home painting projects increasing in the coming months, you might check the paint dept's return paint shelves at the big-box stores. Normally, a 5-gallon contain of Exterior Semigloss Behr brand will cost you $120. You can get the same 5 gallon container of paint that was returned due to a poor color match for only $15-$25... Even if you run short of the amount you need, let them match the color of a two or three gallons at full retail cost, and you'll still come out way ahead.
Also, if you are considering using 3/4" plywood as an attic floor to increase storage, using any light color of an Exterior, Semi-Gloss latex or oil based paint will seal the plywood and make sliding containers like cardboard boxes or plastic storage containers so much easier to move. I like rolling on the paint, on both sides, while the plywood sheets are lying on the ground. You can use a roller for speed, see the cracks and missing knots you might miss getting paint into, paint both sides, and the drying time is so much quicker.
Finally, for my shop lighting using this wall and ceiling color, I've used a ratio of 3- forty watt tubes (T-12 or 32watt T-8) to 100 square ft. of floor space with a 9ft. ceiling height. I've got plenty of task lighting with that ratio.
Good Luck with your shop interior, Bill
Edited 2/26/2007 11:55 pm ET by BilljustBill
Edited 2/26/2007 11:57 pm ET by BilljustBill
Edited 2/27/2007 12:10 am ET by BilljustBill
I noticed when I put some prepainted white pegboard above my work bench it really brightened up my benchtop. The bouncing light commenter is right. You can mount a couple of 4x8 sheets of this and have flexible storage space and you can skip the painting if you'd rather make sawdust.
Photographers bounce light off of whiteboards or white sheets.
Regards,
Ken
"Do as you would be done by." C.S. Lewis
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