In the Summer 2006 (# 179) Fine Homebuilding (Houses), Duo Dickinson talks about building his ‘barn of fun’. Sounds like a great building. It is built with SIPs and we are in the process of building our home out of SIPs. He mentions that he “applied two heavy coats of white paint to all the inside faces of the oriented-strand-board skin on the wall and roof SIPs, saving money and creating a delightfully textured surface”. We want to do the same thing but were told that we ‘had’ to install drywall for fire protection. So, questions:
Do we need to cover the inside with drywall?
Duo, if you read this, did you cover the interior walls with OSB also so the texture matched – or how did you handle this? Corners?
How did you cover (or not) the seams? We had thought of battens.
Thanks so much for any suggestions, Janet
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I don't remember the article, however it was titled "fun barn". This would be different than code requires for a "home". Osb might provide texture for a barn, but why would you want "wood fiber" for a wall finish? We need more info.
Actually, I remember someones sauna that was faced inside with OSB - no APA markings on it of course - and it was sealed and finished with a high gloss clear coat. It looked cool, I have ho idea how it performed in that environment though.Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CA
Also a CRX fanatic!
I've also heard of using painted OSB instead of drywall for rustic beachfront houses in extremely humid climates.
-- J.S.
It was called a fun barn but it was really a guest house kind of thing that seemed self contained with bedrooms and all and a two story screened porch. It is described as a "separate freestanding addition" and their son lives in one of the bedrooms. It was separate because a large oak tree kept them from attaching it directly to the house.
Depends on what the building code in your location requires. I have never had to have drywall for fire code on residential work except between garage and living space. Ive never really looked into it but I have done many wood paneled walls and never had an inspection problem. I have had to install drywall behind paneling in comercial applications. You might want to paint a piece first to look at it. Ive seen it painted before and it just might have been one of the ugliest painted surfaces ive ever seen.
Our garage is not attached. Good advise about painting a piece first and seeing what it looks like. Do I just ask my building department or do I just paint it and see what they say? I sometimes think they go a bit overboard with thier requirements (above and beyond even the code). Is it better to ask first or apologise later?
Id ask first. I dont see a problem with a freestanding garage, but like you say, you never know. The osb I saw was painted white so maybe a different color would look better.