What should be the thickness of drywall?

Drywall has established itself as a durable and reliable material used for finishing various surfaces. They can not only decorate the interior, but also make a partition, thereby turning one room into two. The indisputable advantage of this material is a large selection of sizes and designs, which allows you to choose drywall for finishing different rooms.

Before choosing a material for finishing, you need to know about all its advantages and disadvantages. Knowing all these nuances, you will prevent all possible unpleasant surprises during the repair and future operation.

Drywall has a lot of positive properties.

• Thermal insulation. Walls made from plasterboard can save on heating, especially if they are additionally warmed with foam or mineral wool.
• Flexibility. From this material you can make absolutely any shape, allowing you to create a truly original interior. You can often find beautiful arches in apartments instead of doors. You can also make niches from drywall and install built-in lights in them.

• Fire resistance If a fire starts, then only the top cardboard layer will light up. In the catalogs of building stores there are special sheets that are completely resistant to fire.
• Moisture resistance. Drywall can be installed in the kitchen and in the bathroom: in conditions of high humidity, the material is not deformed and does not collapse.
• It is easy to hide communications behind drywall. The space that remains after the installation of the drywall panel can be filled with unnecessary wires. But do not forget to make audit hatches that will provide access to communications.

In addition to the advantages, like any other building material, drywall has several drawbacks. Be aware that it is fragile.

If you plan to make a plasterboard partition, it is better to use noise insulation material, for example, mineral wool: the material itself does not absorb sounds. And finally, the shelves of drywall are not able to withstand the severity, so install on them, for example, the TV does not work - you must first make a frame.

The choice of sheet parameters GKL is very important, as it reduces the amount of material used and allows you to save money. Thickness occupies a special place, because it depends on its strength.

Drywall is designed for "dry" workwhen the sheet and frame are the basis of the design. It is made by pressing a plaster mix between two sheets of cardboard. Special substances are added to the core, which give the sheet the required characteristics depending on its purpose.

The main parameter, which in the future will affect the selected thickness of drywall, is, of course, strength. When choosing a material, consider what loads the future design will be designed for.For partitions, it is important to choose the right type of plasterboard construction: single-layer, double-layer or cladding. Also in the range there are cladding with fastening to the base wall.

Another important parameter on which the choice of sheet thickness depends is its installation. For sheets with a standard thickness, the norms for the distance between the points of the location of the profiles of the frame made of metal, on which drywall is mounted, are established. If you ignore these standards and choose a material with poor-quality racks, and drywall - with a small thickness, the design will turn out to be completely unreliable.

Each type of gypsum plasterboard is designed for specific works, therefore, when choosing a material, be sure to consider all its characteristics, especially thickness.

There are the following types of GCR.

• Wall. The thickness is 12.5 mm. In its composition there are no various additional additives. Some experts use this material for finishing the ceiling.
• Ceiling. It has a thickness of 9.5 mm. There are also no additives in its composition. This drywall can also be used for slightly curved partitions, arched openings.The undeniable advantage of such sheets is an affordable price.

• Moistureproof. The maximum thickness is 12.5 mm. Designed for rooms with high humidity. Hydrophobic substances are added to the core, which add strength to the material.
• Fire resistant Typical thickness is 12.5-16 mm. It is used for installation in rooms with high fire safety standards. The core contains reinforcing additives. In case of a fire, only cardboard will be charred, gypsum does not burn.
• Arched. The minimum thickness is 0, 6 cm. It is used for the production of various curved parts. There is fiberglass in the core, due to its small thickness, the material can bend without damage. However, the cost of this drywall is too high.

Manufacturers offer a standard length in three sizes: 2 m, 2.5 m, 3 m. But in the catalogs you can also find sheets 1.5 m, 2.7 m and even 4 m. Thanks to this, each customer can choose the most optimal one for him. option.

As for the width, the standard size not so long ago was 1200 mm for all types of drywall. Today, the assortment of each company should be sheets with a smaller thickness - 600x1200 mm. This size greatly simplifies the process of installing the material, but is not always easy to use. For finishing large surfaces drywall with such a thickness is not suitable because of the large number of joints.

Drywall has been successfully used for leveling walls, installing partitions and much more. Also from this material make multi-tier curved ceilings that allow you to hide the imperfections of the surface, beams, as well as all sorts of decorative elements, such as niches, columns. Drywall is fixed to the base with a frame made of metal profile or mounting glue.

Depending on the area of ​​its application, there are three types of material.

• Arched. It has the smallest width and additional reinforcement with fiberglass. It is used to install structures with complex shapes. Also, the operation of such material is appropriate only in rooms protected from mechanical effects.Arched drywall can be used for partitions, niches, multi-level ceilings and much more.
• Wall. It is used to finish the walls and install lightweight partitions. It is important that there is no open fire and high humidity in the room.
• Ceiling. 3 mm thinner than the wall. It is used to create multi-level ceilings. There are species that can withstand the conditions of high humidity, so that such a drywall can even be used in the bathroom.

So that the repair of the premises does not “bring” unexpected surprises, great attention should be paid to the choice of quality material. Design and production technologies do not stand still, but when choosing new models it is better to give preference to proven brands with a good reputation.

Only well-established manufacturers ensure that toxic and health hazardous substances are not used in the production of sheets.Confirmation of this is the relevant safety certificates - do not forget to ask them from the seller.

To prevent the wrong choice of drywall, use the following guidelines.

• If you want to buy goods, time-tested, head to the company stores of companies that deserve a lot of positive feedback.
• Before buying, carefully inspect the sheets, consider the conditions in which they are stored.
• On the surface of the material should not be defects of various kinds, namely dents and cracks. The paper should not move away from the core or curled on the back side. The edges of the edges must be smooth.

• Particular attention should be paid to loading the material. If you were able to finally choose the perfect drywall sheet, this does not mean that it will remain so when it is delivered to its destination. That is why be sure to control the loading and delivery of material.
• If you need a large number of sheets, do not buy everything at once - take a little drywall "on trial". Cut a small piece from the sheet and carefully inspect it: the core should be uniform, the cut should be even, and during cutting the knife should go smoothly.
• Savings are good, but not always.Deciding to buy the cheapest option, you risk falling on a fragile cardboard, which will be impossible to work with. Choose sheets with an optimum ratio of the price and quality.

Buying drywall, it is recommended to calculate the required amount of material. To do this, you can use special online calculators available on the Internet.

The calculation itself is nothing complicated. The main thing is to correctly determine the area of ​​the wall being trimmed.

Consider doorways and window openings that may also be on the wall. If they take up little space, experts recommend not to calculate them from the total area: the remaining sheets of plasterboard can be safely used to finish these openings. If the openings are large or large, then it makes no sense to spend money on extra material.

Experts advise buying 15% more material: during work there will be a huge amount of unnecessary trimming, which can not be used.Often buy sheets with standard sizes - 1200 * 2500 mm, but often choose another format - 600 * 1500 mm. The calculator counts the required number of sheets of both formats.

You can install drywall yourself in any way: with glue or frame. In some cases, it is necessary to make a bend from the sheet. To do this, it is necessary to moisten the material in advance, fix it on the template and allow it to dry completely. To do this, use a special roller with metal needles. When they are carried along the surface, small holes are formed on it, through which moisture passes.

After installing the plasterboard structure, it should be cleaned of dirt and dust, and then covered with a primer. After it dries, either the wallpaper is glued to the surface, or plaster is applied.

How to make installation of the partition from plasterboard, see below.