Sheetrock over plywood. WHY?!?!?

[Cameramonkey]

I went to do some cabling at our church that was built in the 70s. I discovered that at least the common wall between the hallway and the office is sheet rock over plywood. Why would somebody do that?

I assume noise insulation? Why not double rock it? That always how I’ve done it.

 

[Dante1983]

I knew a guy who did that to his closets so he can hang whatever wherever. Maybe that was their reason?

 

[Bugzilla]

Isn’t drywall considered a fire retardant? May be code related.

 

[Jaybird1980]

I've done it so that you can anchor stuff to the wall anywhere, also to help smooth out a wall with old rough sawn studs that was lathe previously.

 

[KittySlayer]

Church = Volunteers = Mystery Construction

 

[Cameramonkey]

Church = Volunteers = Mystery Construction

Brother, you dont know the HALF of it. Like the plumbing nightmare Im dealing with. They added on a fellowship hall and full kitchen back in the early 80s. Afterwards they realized they needed a water heater in that wing because it takes a while for 200 linear feet of water line to deliver hot water.

So they installed a water heater in the kitchen which is at the farthest point. They ran some grey (now "outlawed") flexible tubing and ran it across the fellowship hall to where the water comes in at the bathrooms to supply the heater. They then ran another hose from the new heater ALL the way back to the feed line instead of tapping the hot side where it was capped off 5' away and reversing the flow. So now it takes only 100' of water line to deliver hot water to the kitchen sinks. I'm going to have them reverse the flow of hot when they install the new heaters next week. (I considered demand heaters, but due to insanely hard water, we'd destroy them with lime scale buildup.)

And don't forget them being too cheap to build the building just 1 block taller to give us better ceiling height. Because of that they installed the drop ceiling so close to the rafters that they had to slide the tiles in as they installed the grid. (using piano wire and securing each square on at least 3 sides) Now we cant replace damaged tiles because you cant lift them up and out without destroying them, even if you could work it past the wire obstructions on each side.

 

[Leo]

Was the building something else before it was used as a church? I have seen a lot of plywood offices in warehouse, or shop use buildings because drywall is too easy to damage.

I have intervened in many projects in church buildings where good hearted people just don't know how it is supposed to be done in a commercial building. ESPECIALLY Electric, Plumbing and HVAC. They are usually proud of how cheap they did it, not even realizing that is how you burn places to the ground.

 

[Cameramonkey]

Was the building something else before it was used as a church? I have seen a lot of plywood offices in warehouse, or shop use buildings because drywall is too easy to damage.

I have intervened in many projects in church buildings where good hearted people just don't know how it is supposed to be done in a commercial building. ESPECIALLY Electric, Plumbing and HVAC. They are usually proud of how cheap they did it, not even realizing that is how you burn places to the ground.

Nope. Built by the church for the church. It was 10 acres of land when they bought the property.

 

[JettaKnight]

I knew a guy who did that to his closets so he can hang whatever wherever. Maybe that was their reason?

You know, that's not a bad idea...

Isn’t drywall considered a fire retardant? May be code related.

Type X drywall is. Usually one or two layers depending on the requirement.

 

[Ingomike]

You know, that's not a bad idea...


Type X drywall is. Usually one or two layers depending on the requirement.

I believe 5/8 is to code for fire for residential, not sure for a church.

I any of you have seen all those attic access holes in the garage ceilings that the hole is filled with drywall, plywood is stronger for the door purposes but drywall meets fire code…

 

[Phil502]

I believe 5/8 is to code for fire for residential, not sure for a church.

I any of you have seen all those attic access holes in the garage ceilings that the hole is filled with drywall, plywood is stronger for the door purposes but drywall meets fire code…

Mine is drywall.

 

[The Bubba Effect]

Office is storm shelter?

 

[churchmouse]

Was the building something else before it was used as a church? I have seen a lot of plywood offices in warehouse, or shop use buildings because drywall is too easy to damage.

I have intervened in many projects in church buildings where good hearted people just don't know how it is supposed to be done in a commercial building. ESPECIALLY Electric, Plumbing and HVAC. They are usually proud of how cheap they did it, not even realizing that is how you burn places to the ground.

Soooo much truth here.
Best of intentions and the worst results in HVAC especially.

 

[CHCRandy]

Yep, fire wall my guess. They probably thought plywood would be good and inspector thought otherwise.

 

[Ark]

Brother, you dont know the HALF of it. Like the plumbing nightmare Im dealing with. They added on a fellowship hall and full kitchen back in the early 80s. Afterwards they realized they needed a water heater in that wing because it takes a while for 200 linear feet of water line to deliver hot water.

So they installed a water heater in the kitchen which is at the farthest point. They ran some grey (now "outlawed") flexible tubing and ran it across the fellowship hall to where the water comes in at the bathrooms to supply the heater. They then ran another hose from the new heater ALL the way back to the feed line instead of tapping the hot side where it was capped off 5' away and reversing the flow. So now it takes only 100' of water line to deliver hot water to the kitchen sinks. I'm going to have them reverse the flow of hot when they install the new heaters next week. (I considered demand heaters, but due to insanely hard water, we'd destroy them with lime scale buildup.)

And don't forget them being too cheap to build the building just 1 block taller to give us better ceiling height. Because of that they installed the drop ceiling so close to the rafters that they had to slide the tiles in as they installed the grid. (using piano wire and securing each square on at least 3 sides) Now we cant replace damaged tiles because you cant lift them up and out without destroying them, even if you could work it past the wire obstructions on each side.

Ain't nothing so expensive as free labor

 

[femurphy77]

Yep, fire wall my guess. They probably thought plywood would be good and inspector thought otherwise.

They do have treated plywood that's fire retardant. Don't know the rating though

 

[Pepi]

Something I would not do with today's wood prices LOL

 

[dudley0]

Have a place that had a shoddy addition added to it decades before. Had some issues so pulled all the sheetrock and flooring out. Replaced the joists and some of the studs.

I ended up putting osb on the exterior walls to help stabilize the place. It worked wonderfully. The bonus was being able to install the TP holder, robe hook, towel holder and shelves easily.

 

[Brandon]

Church = Volunteers = Mystery Construction

This is why I try to avoid jobs in churches.

Last church I was in had the attic access over the stair well. Up to this room where you had to go up another level to reach the space above the worship area where 2 hvac systems were. I probably stepped on 50 pigeon eggs and as many dead birds.

 

[CJM]

Plywood covered walls are sometimes structural, called sheer walls that keep the building from just folding over like cardboard in a high wind.