Tips for the selection of drywall for wall decoration, the advantages and disadvantages of partitions made of this material, the procedure for performing installation work. Drywall is a popular building material for arranging various structures and decorating walls indoors. It is loved by inexperienced builders, because gypsum is processed very simply. We suggest that you familiarize yourself with the variety of gypsum plasterboards and the differences when installing them on walls in different situations.
Advantages and disadvantages of drywall
Plasterboard is indispensable in the construction and decoration of premises due to its practicality and versatility. The most notable positive aspects of the material are as follows:
- The technology of working with this material is simple, two or three visual lessons are enough for a beginner to gain knowledge on handling the stove.
- The sheets allow you to create a flawlessly flat plane that does not require finishing with putty.
- Plasterboard walls have optimal sound and thermal insulation characteristics.
- Drywall absorbs well and gives off moisture, which allows you to maintain a good indoor climate.
- There are several types of drywall that allow you to use the material in rooms for any purpose - in the living room, bedroom or even in the bathroom.
- The building material is easy to cut, the edge is quickly cut off when fitting.
- The light weight of the sheets allows one person to carry out the work.
- Using the simplest technologies, you can bend drywall and make any geometric shape from a flat sheet.
- With the help of sheets, a false wall is created, behind which wires, cables or heat insulators are hidden.
- Plasterboard wall finishing is cheaper and faster than plastering the surface. Installation is carried out without the formation of dust and dirt.
- After installation, the wall can be decorated in any way - wallpaper, tiles, or simply painted.
- Drywall is non-flammable and does not emit toxic fumes when heated.
Like other building materials, drywall has disadvantages that need to be considered to minimize future problems:
- Drywall cannot resist the fungus, even if the sheets are impregnated with an antiseptic.
- Only special types of gypsum plasterboards may be installed in damp rooms. Ordinary material is quickly saturated with moisture, the cardboard swells and becomes not rigid.
- Sheets are fragile; after a load is applied to the plane, they can be squeezed or crumbled.
- Heavy things must not be attached to walls made of this material. If necessary, plywood inserts are mounted in places where massive objects are suspended.
- After installation, a complex surface finish is required to seal traces from fasteners and gaps between the sheets.
- Working with fragile material requires accuracy and precision. Cracks appear on obliquely exposed sheets, the wall is deformed.
- Plates can only be stored in a dry room, otherwise the drywall will become saturated with moisture and lose its shape.
- After installing the sheets, it is difficult to access the communications located between the false wall and the main partition. For repair work, you will have to dismantle the structure.
Selection of drywall and wall cladding accessories
Plasterboard systems consist of sheets and elements of their attachment to the walls. The choice of accessories for finishing the walls with plasterboard depends on the location of the building and the purpose of installation, and in order not to redo the partition, learn to choose the desired building material.
How to choose drywall sheets for walls
A drywall sheet consists of a gypsum base, closed on both sides with building board. The composition of the core determines the properties of the material, and the cardboard gives it rigidity. To obtain building materials with different properties, certain additives are added to gypsum and the cardboard is impregnated with special mixtures.
On the front side, the paper has a protective function, it is abrasion resistant. Also, the cardboard restrains the internal stress of the board filler.
Depending on the characteristics of the additives, the material is divided into the following types:
- Standard drywall sheets … Low-cost building material, used in dry heated rooms for finishing partitions and erecting new walls. Traditionally painted in a light gray shade. It is not recommended to mount it in the kitchen and bathroom, the sheets will swell and begin to crumble.
- Moisture resistant drywall … It is not afraid of water, it can be mounted in bathrooms, kitchens, closed loggias. But this does not mean that the factory coating will completely protect the material from water. The technology for installing sheets in the bathroom provides for additional waterproofing of walls and workpieces with water-repellent agents before and after finishing. After additional waterproofing, the curtain can be installed even in showers. The material is easy to distinguish from other types of drywall due to its green color and blue markings.
- Fireproof drywall … It is stained gray and signed with a red marker. To increase the fire resistance, mineral fibers are added to the gypsum, and the cardboard is impregnated with special additives. Differs in the ability to withstand high temperatures twice as long as normal. It is used for plasterboard wall cladding in rooms with high temperatures and in fire-hazardous places.
- Moisture and fire resistant … The most expensive type of drywall is designed to resist moisture and heat. It is painted green, the inscriptions are in red. Most often, office premises are trimmed with such sheets.
Plasterboard sheets are produced in lengths of 2, 5 and 3 m and a width of 1, 2 m, but panels of any size can be ordered from the manufacturer. More convenient for installation - sheets with a width of 600 mm, but their cost is higher. For cladding, panels with a thickness of at least 12.5 mm should be purchased. Thin layers (6 mm, 9 mm) are used to create curved surfaces and are stacked in two layers.
When buying an item in a store, use the following tips:
- Always check the storage conditions of the goods - they must be kept in a dry, covered area.
- Carefully inspect the condition of the sheathing of the sheets; the paper should not be torn on the plates.
- When buying a large batch of material, the seller can offer sheets in closed packs. Check the condition of the bottom sheet in it, after repeated loading and unloading operations, they often crumble and are unusable.
Selection of profiles for the wall frame
Profiles for creating a partition are used in the case of attaching drywall sheets to the frame. The choice of profiles for the frame depends on the material of the base surface.
If you decide to build a drywall wall with your own hands, read the rules for using drywall profiles:
- To fix the canvas to wooden walls, the base is made only from wooden slats. The bars are nailed horizontally or vertically, according to the planned layout of the sheets on the partition. Buy dry slats, because the tree decreases in width over time and provokes the formation of cracks in the canvas. It is recommended to nail a patch of metal cap profiles over wooden blocks, which partially compensates for the unwanted effects of wood drying.
- To fasten the panel to metal or brick walls, metal guides of two types UD and CD are used: for guides - PN 50 (65, 75, 100) x 40, for racks - PS 50 (65, 75, 100) x 50.
- When buying, estimate the thickness of the metal. The profile should not bend by hand. If the rail is lifted by one end, the profile must withstand the deformation load.
- When buying, examine the condition of the galvanized product. Primed profile ends indicate incorrect storage of the profile. High quality galvanized battens shine evenly. There are no white spots on them.
- The profiles are up to 4 m long, but you can agree with the manufacturer to make longer guides.
The choice of reinforcing tapes for plasterboard finishing
Reinforcing tapes are designed to strengthen the seam between drywall sheets and prevent cracking during operation. Builders use several types of tapes to strengthen and mask cracks, the most popular are polypropylene, polypropylene, fiberglass, paper and self-adhesive in the form of a mesh.
The properties of each tape are different, so you need to know in which cases their disadvantages appear:
- Lavsan and polypropylene products stretch, and the entire load falls on a small layer of putty, which often breaks down and crumbles. The reliability of the seam with such tapes is low, although the strip itself will remain intact.
- Fiberglass tapes are stiff, do not stretch, but do not differ in strength. After the application of loads, they break.
- Net tapes also do not reinforce the seam. Despite the high strength of the mesh, the design feature of the product does not allow protecting the seam from external bending deformations.
Companies that produce drywall are advised to seal the gaps between the sheets only with paper tapes specially designed for such purposes. They are quite strong and very effective. When buying, pay attention to the following points: rough paper tape adheres better to the putty; the presence of small holes in the canvas allows air to escape unhindered and prevents the formation of bubbles.
Methods for decorating walls with plasterboard sheets
With all the variety of wall decoration with plasterboard sheets, there are only two ways of fastening the material: frame and glue. Fixation methods depend on the complexity of the design and the preferences of the master. They are often used in the construction of a single wall, for example, in decorative finishing. The vertical walls of the niche are fixed with self-tapping screws, and the bottom of the niche is put on glue.
Frame method for mounting drywall on walls
The frame mounting option allows you to mask large irregularities in the wall or build a partition in the room. Before starting the assembly in the room, ensure the normal humidity and set the temperature not lower than +10 degrees. In the cold season, turn on the heating.
Consider the technology of plasterboard wall cladding, in a similar way, any frame gypsum plasterboard structure is being installed:
- Using a plumb line, determine the curvature of the wall and mark on the floor the position of the lower frame profiles at a minimum distance from the base wall.
- Drag and drop the positioning marks of the framing profiles to the ceiling and walls perpendicular to the base surface.
- Mark the position of the horizontal support rails on the base wall. Place the upper guide 15 cm from the floor, the lower 15 cm from the floor.
- Mark on the floor the position of the vertical (rack) profiles, which are placed in increments of 600 mm, take measurements between the axes of the racks. It is allowed to reduce the gaps to 300-400 mm. The gap between the slats determines the width of the slabs, equal to 120 mm. The seams between the panels must be in the middle of the strip.
- Measure the width of the room at the place where the markings will be made, cut the profiles from the blanks to size. For ease of assembly, cut the vertical posts of the frame 1 cm less than the height of the side wall.
- Stick on the guide profiles with sealing tape or apply silicate sealant.
- Fix the profiles along the markings to the floor, ceiling and side walls with dowels, at least 3 pcs.for 1 profile, with a step of 1 m between them.
- Install the rack-mount profiles in the ceiling and floor guides according to the markings and connect using short self-tapping screws or using the "punch-out" method. During construction work, check the verticality of the uprights with a plumb line. Also check that the edges of the drywall boards fit into the vertical slats of the frame.
- Fasten the guides to the base wall according to the markings in such a way that their joining surfaces are in the same vertical plane with the already fixed ceiling and floor profiles. Use a plumb line to control the position of the profiles in the vertical plane.
- Connect the vertical and horizontal profiles with short self-tapping screws.
- Pull electrical wires, cables and other wiring behind the profiles. Route the ends of the wires to the locations of the sockets and switches.
- Put the parts of the pipelines that cross the partition in special sleeves.
- Fasten wooden or plywood sheets to the frame, in places where heavy appliances are suspended.
- Before fixing the drywall to the wall, install sheets of heat and sound insulation in the cells of the frame.
- When installing the slabs, position them so that the edges are in the center of the vertical profile.
- Whole sheets are mounted first.
- Self-tapping screws are screwed in with a pitch of 10-15 cm along the edges of the sheet and 20-25 cm in the middle.
- The fasteners are screwed in until the head sinks into the sheet by 1 mm. For fastening, use special self-tapping screws made of special steel, they are black. The fasteners should be screwed in carefully so as not to spoil the surface of the sheet.
- Fasteners are placed no closer than 10 cm from the corners of the sheets to prevent chips.
- Make openings in the panels for electrical fittings. Install electrical boxes, sockets, switches in special sleeves for plasterboard structures.
After mounting the sheets, the gaps between them are sealed with putty. In your work, use the following recommendations:
- Close the seams at a temperature of +10 degrees and above.
- Use a filler that is designed to work with drywall.
- Check for the presence of a chamfer at the edges of the sheets, which increases the reliability of the seam. If not, make it with a sharp knife at an angle of 22.5 degrees (2/3 of the sheet thickness).
- Clean the joints of the sheets with a damp cloth from dust.
- Fill the gap with the diluted filler and allow to dry. Apply a thin top coat of putty to the joint and cover immediately with reinforced tape. Make sure that the joint is exactly in the middle of the tape.
- Remove excess solution.
- Wait for this layer to dry, apply a final coat of mortar and seal the joint carefully.
Glue method for attaching drywall sheets to walls
This method involves fixing the sheets with glue. Thus, the construction sheets are fixed if the non-flatness of the base wall is 4-7 mm. Using a frameless method, walls up to 3 m high can be finished.
Before making a drywall wall, find a ready-made structure from friends and carefully study its device for a better perception of the structure. By the beginning of installation, finish all wet work (screed, plaster) so that the material does not swell from excess moisture and does not deform until the glue hardens.
Perform the work in the following sequence:
- Remove dust and dirt from the wall.
- Prime the wall with a product that matches the material of the partition. You can also use the Aquastop universal primer. It is sold in a concentrated form, before use it is diluted according to the instructions.
- The gluing technology depends on the condition of the partition. On quality surfaces (with a flatness of 4-7 mm), the glue is applied in a thin layer using a spatula with notches. For fixing, use Perfilix glue or Fugenfüller gypsum putty.
- If the unevenness of the wall reaches 20 mm, then blotches from the gypsum mixture "Fugenfüller" are applied to the drywall, which are placed with a step of 300 mm. The surfaces of the blotches are processed in one plane. After leveling the surface, the putty is lubricated with glue and the sheets are pressed against it.
- If the unevenness of the partition is more than 20 mm, the gluing plane is made using pieces of drywall 100 mm wide. The strips are glued to each other and processed in one plane. After checking the verticality of the resulting surface, drywall is glued to it.
- After installing the sheets, check for 10 mm gaps in the drywall-ceiling and drywall-floor joints, which are left for air to reach the glued surface.
- The last stage is filling the gaps between the sheets with putty. The technology is discussed in the previous section.
How to sheathe walls with plasterboard - watch the video:
If you adhere to our recommendations, then decorating the walls with your own hands will not take much time. The partition will turn out to be perfectly flat, and the only drawback will be the loss of a small area inside the room.
