No-mess garage interior

Every day spent building out his garage meant another day away from the pleasure of working on his cars. To avoid the mess of drywall mud and sanding, Craig Woodruff chose easy-install products for the walls and ceilings.

The bar was added to one end of the shop so garage owner Craig Woodruff and his friends, like Mike Asman and Kevin Bailey shown here, could kick back and enjoy NASCAR and races on TV.

"Easy and no mess' was Craig and Kim's mantra when they selected materials for their garage interior. The Maryland couple installed the 38 x100" Ag-Tuff panels (H & F Manufacturing; hfmfgcorp.com) over two weekends. Now that the garage is finished, Craig, an aerospace engineer, has more time to work on his Pontiac Firehawk. Always looking for a bargain, he watched for cabinet specials as part of the Sears Craftsman Club Days promotions.

For a no-paint, no-mud ceiling, Craig chose Ag-Tuff corrugated panel shown at left. The ¹⁄₃₂ "-thick panels were designed for farm buildings and food processing plants, but feel right at home in shops and garages.

After insulating the walls with 3¹⁄₂ "-thick fiberglass batts, Craig and Kim adhered 4x8' panels of FashionWall by DPI (decpanels.com). A 1x4" molding hides the horizontal seam; Craig butted the other joints according to the manufacturer's instructions. He used a panel adhesive to adhere the panels to his studs (16" on center).

When Craig upgraded his home computer, he moved the older PC to his shop so he could check online shop manuals and shop for parts. He has a garage Wi-Fi link to the Internet hub in his home.