I did end up calling Tolko Industries. Talked to their plant manager and he put me thru to one of their engineers. Very nice and helpful bunch of gentlemen to take the time to answer my questions. Read that as "great customer support".
There is no coating added to the surface of the product. They could not tell me why the older OSB has a different surface finish compared to the newer OSB. The blue paint along the edges of each panel is a wax/oil they apply to seal the edge of the panel and it might give a problem along the edges , but the surface should be ok.
And they were correct.
Prepped 6 of these up and took the time to hang them on the far wall. The photos do not do these justice. Amazing look. The hard part was sanding the sheets to the same look. Too little sanding, the sheet was too dark. Too much sanding the sheet was too light.
I moved the industrial shelving to the middle of the garage so I could work around it and give myself a little challenge. Without the shelving it would have been far too easy.
I prepped up three more sheets to finish around the entry door. These sheets look even better. They are left over from my buddy's garage which he built in 2001. The pattern in the OSB is different and in my opinion far better looking then the first set.
These will be used to close in around the entry door and electrical panel area.
With most of the walls complete I installed the rest of the plugs and wall plates. To meet the final wiring inspection requirements everything needs to be installed and switchplate/plug plate covers on. So I temp installed the switch plate on the entry door location and set up my appointment last week for this Monday. Well double checking stuff I found that my new 240V 50amp breaker (electric car charger plug) was only supplying power on one side. The breaker was no good from new. This was purchased last February.
They would not accept a return, but did split the difference with me. I had to pay 50% to replace it. I should have plugged these into the rail and checked voltage on the terminals when I bought the breakers but you never think that one would be failed. Of course it was the most expensive one in the bunch.
So today the wring has passed the final inspection with no issues.
Need to finish up the wall near the entry door. Add some trim to the window, door, attic door, etc. Then come up with a plan to hide the cables along the right side of the power panel. After a good clean up I might be able to start setting up some of my equipment from the basement in the garage.
A year of spare time gone...just like that. Well actually 1/2 year.......I slacked off most of the summer.
I appreciate the help and suggestions everyone threw at me over this little project.
Happy Holidays to all my brothers (and sisters) here on Canadianhobbymetalworkers.
Perry