Plasterboard. Types. Installation.

• Admin
• April 23, 2024

Plasterboard is a building material that consists of two cardboard sheets between which solid gypsum material is sealed. In fact, it is not just a building material, but a perfect and universal invention of the 21st century. Its benefits in the modern world are so many that we will not be able to collect in one article every single area in which plasterboard occupies an important place. You can literally create anything you want with plasterboard as long as you have enough imagination and of course a certain amount of knowledge in this area. Therefore, today we want to introduce you to everything about this material.
  Let's first recognize plasterboard. It represented a large sheet with a width of usually 1.2 meters. Its length can be different. The most common are 2, 2.5, 2.6, 2.8 or 3 meters. The thickness can also vary for individual elements. It can be 9.5, 12.5 or 15 mm. The color of plasterboard sheets is white, but you may also come across green, pink or purple.
  Now you might be wondering why there are different colors of drywall. Simply put, manufacturers add various additives to the plaster and color it according to its composition, or in other words, green plasterboard means that it has added moisture-resistant particles and is suitable for bathrooms, kitchens or other rooms where there is moisture, as well as for a foundation for tiles. This plasterboard is a little more expensive compared to ordinary plasterboard, but this guarantees you that there will be no mold and mildew in the room, which is essential for the health of the residents.
  The pink or red color is an indicator of resistance to high temperature or, in other words, fire resistance. In fact, it is not correct to say that it is completely resistant to fires, but rather it burns slowly, which gives you a big advantage in reacting to such an accident.
  The purple color is a symbol of good sound insulation and can be used in rooms where there is a lot of noise, such as discotheques or rooms of teenagers who like to listen to music loudly. The composition of this plasterboard model includes wood fibers and polymers, to which we owe the good sound insulation. Last but not least, we can say that, in addition to the above-mentioned properties, plasterboard also has excellent thermal insulation qualities and can even be used for insulation from the outside.

After we have familiarized ourselves with the types of plasterboard, it is time to start the installation. Plasterboard installation is considered to be difficult and complicated, but this is actually not the case. I suspect that the construction on which it is mounted is responsible for the unwarranted fear of most hobbyists builders. Before I tell you how to make a plasterboard construction yourself, I want you to know that every craftsman makes a construction in a different way, and I by no means claim that my way is the most correct, but for more than 10 years, my plasterboard elements have not been moved. In fact, the metal frame, which is built under the plasterboard, is just iron fixed with screws and there is nothing complicated about it. Let me explain...
  We start with the metal elements, which are long and thin irons with a characteristic U or C shape, which is where their names UW and CW come from. There are, of course, flexible profiles, but we will not talk about them now. The shape of the profiles allows them to be easily fixed to each other with the help of suitable screws. In the picture below I show you a false ceiling construction and I will explain one by one exactly what I did.

  First of all, you need to know in advance what shape you want your suspended plasterboard ceiling to have, i.e. whether it will be end-to-end, solid on the ceiling or have a more specific shape (as in the photo above). Based on this, you should prepare a sketch (preferably to scale) where you can estimate how to place the hangers that will hold the entire structure. The hangers are metal plates, which are driven into the ceiling with the help of suitable dowels. These plates are long and bend easily, which will help us in leveling and gripping the metal profile. The distance between the hangers should not be greater than 70 cm, but in some cases greater distances are allowed. After we have drilled all the holes in the ceiling with a drill and installed the hangers where they should be, it is time to attach the metal profiles, which are usually 3 meters long. If your room is smaller, don't worry, because even though they are extremely strong, the metal profiles are easily cut with suitable scissors. We take a screwdriver and self-tapping screws and attach the profile first to one hanger (It is not necessary that the profiles are located end to end on the ceiling and there can be a distance of 20-30 cm between the walls where the profile is missing.) After we have fixed one end of the profile, with the help of a level, we determine at what distance from the ceiling we should install the profile at the hanger at the other end of the ceiling. If the distance is too large, of course you need to put more hangers between the two ends. We also fix it there and thus get the construction, which seemed so complicated to us. We repeat the same procedure with the rest of the profiles and now we have a metal grid on which to mount the plasterboard.
  However, there is one more thing to consider before nailing down the suspended ceiling. For the light (if there is such a built-in one), cables should be provided, which you should place above the metal profiles and after each sheet of plasterboard successively pull the cable, because then it will be very difficult for you to find the cable hidden on top. And now it's time to lay the plasterboard.
  If you are going to install it yourself then you will need a lifter to help you fix the heavy sheet of plasterboard on the iron grid and you will be able to safely fix with screws. Of course, if you are a group of friends, you may not need a lifter and do the job yourself. Screwing should be at the point of contact between the iron profile and the plasterboard. Be careful not to screw the screws too close to each other to avoid cracking (it hasn't happened to me, but...). At the same time, there should be enough screws to hold the drywall sheet firmly.

Plasterboard can also be used on walls, including for building them. There, the principle of the metal grid is similar to that of the suspended ceiling. The only difference is that placing plasterboard on a wall does not require the installation of hangers. There, the profile is placed directly on the wall and firmly fixed with dowels. There is also an option to stick plasterboard directly on the wall, which will save you wasted space. In the photo below I show you a small partition wall in the bathroom.

  First I fix the profile to the floor, then I fix to the wall and finally I fix to the ceiling. You can use any dowels. Do not forget to use a spirit level at all times. Then I build the grid and fix it with screws. And finally I lay the plasterboard.
  Once you're done, it's time for the coating. You can use any type of plaster or whatever you want. You just have to pay attention to the places where the next sheet of plasterboard begins. There is the weak point of the construction, because it is possible to crack the plaster in these places after time, therefore, before putting any coating, you need to pass with special tapes or with an ordinary fiberglass mesh. After we are done with the plaster, it is time to install the lighting and here is the final result.

As you can see, this is a universal material with which you easy can build anything. You can even build houses, but I haven't done that and I don't feel qualified enough in that area to give advice. Of course, like anything in life, drywall can be damaged by a strong impact or something else. In this case, you can replace the entire sheet or cut out the damaged part with a utility knife and put a new one in its place, but I will tell you about this in another article. I hope I have been helpful to you at least a little and once again I want to say that by no means do I claim that this is the most correct installation of plasterboard. And if you have any questions, I'll be happy to answer them. :)