Expert: Daniel Humphrey - 3/3/2009

Question
We live in the Chicago area in a 1960s split-level and would like to finish off our one-car attached garage to improve it's look--not for living space.  The house side of the garage is covered with exterior siding.  Should we tear down the siding and replace it with drywall?  Or should we leave the drywall intact, build out a frame and then cover that with drywall?

Answer
Craig,

You can go either way. The advantage of taking off the siding is that it gives you an immediate surface to attach drywall. It's probably about the same amount of labor either way--to take the siding off or frame up--but you save on materials by taking the siding down.

The only advantage to leaving the siding up is that it gives you a better sound barrier, and some insulation. If the siding is wood, you may not even have to frame out. I have attached drywall directly to wooden lap siding with great results. Just remove any trim that sticks out and replace it with something like 1x2 strips that come even to the siding surface. Make sure all the edges of the sheetrock are backed up, and screw only into wood that touches the sheetrock.

Good Luck.

Daniel