PHPaul's been working on finishing his garage. His posts have inspired me to get off my duff and finish my detached garage. I have a roughly 20x20 detached garage, built by the previous owner. It is wood frame on slab, exterior stucco to match the house. Although it was built ten years after the house, it looks like it is original construction, matching the house's styling perfectly. I have insulated and drywalled the ceiling, and I am soon to start on the walls. My motivation is to provide climate control, but more importantly, to provide fire resistance relative to exposed wood framing.

When it was built, the walls were built with 4x8x96 studs on single plate bottom, double plate top. This makes the wall 101" after accounting for the ceiling drywall. Using two 4x8 pieces of drywall horizontally, this will leave the wall 4" short.

My question. How would you deal with this deficiency, and how would you finish the bottom of the wall. This is a shop, so there are oils, kitty litter, and general crap on the floor all the time, and the wall extends all the way to the slab. Should I fill the 4" gap with a strip of wallboard? What about the wallboard extending all the way to the concrete? It may be subject to water/spills occasionally.

My thought is to finish the bottom with a piece of 1x4, raising it 1/2 off the concrete slab, and just putting the wallboard directly on top of the wood strip. I can't get 1x4 in pressure treat, but I could paint it with copper naphthenate and then regular paint. It would be slightly off of the concrete slab, and Utah is usually a dry climate. Another option would be to buy half the drywall in 4.5x10 sheets and use one of those paired with a 4' sheet. This would put the wallboard right against the concrete slab.

Any downsides or ideas about my idea of using a wood strip to fill the extra four inches of wall, or should I just sheetrock down to the slab? There will be no finish base.

I would think you'd want the sheetrock off the base just in case of a water leak/flood, keep the drywall from wicking up water off the floor.

just a thought

start at the top with the drywall, (assuming you are going to run the sheets horizontally, not verically)

leave gap at the bottom,


get a 2x10 or 2x12 (either real wood, or some of that synthetic decking type) and use like a big piece of baseboard along the bottom

might use some of this pvc material as baseboard

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Royal...d-PVC-Board/50092312

Well, might look like man-work but, since it is a shop; what about setting a layer of brick long the bottom edge which the drywall butts down to? (just set the brick down, not cemented or anything "permanent")

Insulation about the same gap. This way IF oil, solvent, or other insulation/drywall destructive material runs up against the wall, the [replaceable] brick gets hit (call it "patina").

This is a "man's garage" after all, not a formal living space.

Agreed. I would use 1x4 facia treated and kiln dried on bottom. It will be a bit more expense, but better longevity, cleaner finish and protect the lower drywall from damage when cleaning and things being pushed up against the wall.

If you have block or other raised footer the bottom plate sits on, you can wood wrap it.
(I did that in my garage, and prepped with heavily with termite treatment prior to wrapping.

I also like the brick idea.

Was any moisture barrier applied to exterior sheathing prior to the stucco?

How about using a 6" wide deck board at the bottom for trim and to keep the sheet-rock off the floor?

quote:

Originally posted by sigmonkey:
Was any moisture barrier applied to exterior sheathing prior to the stucco?

The exterior is 7/16 osb, tyvek wrap, stucco board, stucco, in that order. There is no raised footer plate, just a treated 2x4 directly on the slab. There is a man-door that was not caulked at the threshold, so water would intrude beneath it. I removed the door and there was some decay in the plate by the edges of the door. I painted the wood with copper napthenate, replaced the door, caulked the bottom, and ground down the concrete slab a bit so that the water would drain away from the threshold. So far so good.

Doesn't Hardi make exterior 1x4 facia? Maybe using some of that exterior concrete corner board trim would make a good bottom for the wall.

quote:

...Hardi make exterior 1x4 facia...

Yes. That would work very well.

Diamond plate sheets would look pretty cool and give durability

https://www.cutsmetal.net/48-x...ln0QMkBoCMYQQAvD_BwE

azek. the only choice of anything that's near the ground and subject to rot etc.

if you plan on using a piece of wall board for a seam fill put it in the middle not top or bottom much easier to mud tape and sand. that is how all the local drywallers do it. if it was me I would just put a 4 inch wide wood material right on the floor chances are the concrete to ceiling height are not all exactly the same around the building so this would be more or less trim.

Thanks for the advice. I think I’ll go with a wood or Hardi spacer at the bottom the drywall.