Home Improvement Contractor - Licensed Contractors

plywood instead of drywall?

I have a split level home with a finished basement that I plan to close off in order to make a spare room. Originally wanted to hire a contractor, but the cost of labor was too much for me. Long story short, did it myself. I have the wall framed ready for the drywall and insulation. But started thinking, what's so great about drywall? Can't I just nail plywood on instead? Or particle board? I plan of finishing it off with wood paneling. I guess my question is, should I nail drywall on before the paneling or can I use plywood/ particle board instead?

Public Comments

1. Plywood seems fine, just make sure you insulate the thing...
2. the drywall is probably your best bet in the long run. you then could put up panelling or paint./wallpaper. now, if you just nail up panelling no drywayll, you haven't got much of a sturdy wall, incase things push up against the wall (or heaven forbid through it), and you may want to put up shelves or pictures. so drywall gives you something to hammer to. and makes changing the room easier. and is also a sound barrier, and insulator, and offers some fire protection. panelling/particle board can be a fire hazard so check with bi laws in your are about use in basement.
3. the dry wall absorbs water if it rains and it can suffer the force of wind whereas plywood can stop water but germs it it and they cannot suffer the force of air as wall can do and will be blown away so it is better to make a wall instead of plywood
4. advantage of dry wall is you can fix holes and repaint--as long as you run studs close enough use paneling-just as nice and can always repaint if ever needed-depends on fancy you want to get--particle board and plywood-if its handy use it
5. First off ..you need to have a vapor barrier..so after putting in insulation..cover across all studs with plastic sheeting(pefers to run horizontal)..since it is a basement..moisture might get thru...if u put up panelling u should have some type of backing ..whether it is drywall or particle bd...(or you may get wavey panelling)...Advantage goes to drywall...if u wanna repaint or redo...at a later date...but if it is a spare room and are going to use it that wat or hang heavy object on the wall do plywood...once again make sure you have the proper permits...
6. Actually, I dont see why you couldn't use plywood instead of drywall. It actually looks great just varnished or with Uretana on it too. But, get the grainy looking plywood. It looks fantastic. What I did with some of the projects I had was I'd put a first coat of Denatured Alcohol and Linseed Oil on it first. Let it dry and steel wool it. Then I painted it with High Gloss Urethane. The first coat prevented the Urethana from being soaked up too much and in light, the wood has a unbelieable hue to it that changes as you view it from different angles. added 01/08/08 I would not advise just using Paneling. Unless you can get really heavy stuff, all its going to do is flex everytime you put any weight on it. I've seen some rooms with just paneling with nothing in back of it except insulation and dont even look good.
7. Actually, unless you plan on hanging a lot of things on the walls, you can just put up the paneling. No drywall, no plywood. (If you plan on hanging cabinets, or shelves, then run some 2x horizontally between the studs to serve as an anchor platform.) I'd at least put some insulation in the stud cavities to help with sound absorbtion. Have Fun