The gym I help out at has two non-load bearing walls down at one end. They enclose two rooms with a hallway to the bathroom between them. I THINK that it is framed 24" OC and covered with 1/2" sheetrock. The framing is sturdy but the sheetrock has been damaged 3 times in the last year by thrown balls, people doing handstands, etc. Owner and I are getting tired of patching and painting (me especially!). Originally I was going to attach 2' x 8' sheets of MDF (or something) horizontally in the 5-7' zone. 2 4x8 sheets ripped down the middle and cut to length would have been simple and easy. Well, latest damage is at about 3" from floor, so now she thinks just covering the entire wall would be best. Have to re-measure but I believe one is about 14' and the other is 11'.

Adding another 1/2" of sheetrock is not in my plan. It needs to be paintable, no splinters and strong enough that you could push off with your hands to run or take the impact of a thrown 10lb medicine ball. (The balls are pretty much like bags of sand, no bounce).

I'm thinking maybe 15/32 sheathing (cheaper by a third than BC ply) or maybe 5/8" MDF (would 3/8" MDF be too thin?). It needs to not be all wavy when done (the wall now is pretty flat).

I plan to position them and use my finish nailer to hold them up, then deck screws to the studs about every 18-24".

One concern is that the right hand wall has 2 receptacles, so I'll have to extend those I guess.

All thoughts welcomed.

 

I don't understand your drawing

Years ago we painted a new handball court. They used plywood instead of drywall and we used caulking and a wide putty knife to finish the joints between the sheets of plywood. It was primed and then painted with an epoxy.

I don't know how well it held up long term. I did go back to the job [for something else] a month or two later and stopped to check on those rooms and with the exception of a lot of scuff marks in the paint - they still looked good.

 

Sorry...thats the end of the gym that has the framed walls. Everything down the left and right sides is poured 100 y/o concrete. No need to worry about it. The little hingey looking things are doors of course. I'm only wondering about the 2 walls that the arrows point at. Turns out the shorter is 8'6" and the longer is 13'10". Don't have to go edge to edge (though to hit studs I may have to), so I'm looking at 5 sheets of whatever for what I need.

 

Not sure how pricey plywood is there, but you may be able to use 1/2" Sandeply in a soft wood finish, not oak. Counter sink screws and caulk over them like Marksr said. He'll have to guide you on the paint, but Epoxy paint is bad stuff. You would not be able to use the gym for a day or so, and whoever did the painting would need full respirators. Finish will be battle ship steel tough.

Our local college used an epoxy paint in the bathrooms of the latest dormitory they built. We couldn't even be in the wing, much less the floor where they were painting. We had to move to another area to work. And the building was touted as a LEEDs building....go figure

 

Originally I was thinking 1/4" masonite but I'm not sure it'll be strong enough with the framing at 24" OC.

 

I wasn't necessarily saying to use epoxy rather that was what we used on that particular job. There is a latex version of epoxy, not as stout as the solvent based but not as smelly either. We painted a jail remodel back in the 70's. The 2nd floor lockup was epoxy [walls,ceilings, bars,bunks,etc.] When I sprayed it, the carpenters sealed off the stairwell with plywood which left me with only the fire escape door for access .... and fresh air any beer I drank that night was part of the sobering up process

What finish to use should be dependent on what the rest of the walls have. I'd probably suggest using a waterborne enamel, they're pretty tough, dries fast and low odor. It would be best to use an oil base primer! Ideally - oil prime, sand, caulk, 1st coat of enamel, sand and final coat of enamel.

 

Well, after going down there yesterday to mount some speakers, looks like the longer wall is already 2 layers of sheetrock. Looks to be one 5/8" and the other 1/2". I probably won't even be messing with it since there are normally tires, steppers, and such stacked up in front of it. Might be able to swing the good plywood now. Should only need 3 sheets and that should be doable for the better stuff.

Just need to go down and look at what they have.