A Few Simple Tips for Properly Installing Plasterboard
Plasterboard is somewhat easy to install on your own, when you're making home renovations or repairs. The material is lightweight and easy to cut and easy to attach to wall studs and framing, so you may not need to call a contractor when you're ready to add walls to your home. However, you want to ensure you take the time to install plasterboard properly rather than assuming you can just quickly cut and nail it to studs and have a flat and level wall surface. Note a few simple tips for properly installing plasterboard so the job gets done right.
Cut over your measurement, not under
When you measure and then score plasterboard and make a cut into the material, always cut past or over your measurement, never under your mark. You can easily trim down an oversized piece of plasterboard with what is called a plaster rasp; this is a handheld scraper that is designed to cut away at an oversized edge of plasterboard. However, if you cut the piece too small, it's difficult to fill in a gap between two pieces with mud or cover it over with tape and get a smooth, even line. It's always better to start with too wide of a piece and trim it than to undercut the piece, so note that when making your cut.
Avoid running the screws in too deeply
When attaching plasterboard to the wall, you want to install the screws just deep enough to cut past the paper. You might assume that you will feel resistance when you've buried the screw deep enough, but remember that plasterboard is somewhat soft and isn't likely to give you resistance as you would get with wood or another materail. If you attach the screws too deeply, this will usually just break the material and cause the piece to crack.
Check the level before attaching all the screws
One trick that many experts use when hanging plasterboard is to attach a few screws to the top of the piece, just enough to hold it in place. They then check the level of the board as it hangs and, if necessary, remove one or all the top screws and adjust the board. If you just attach the board to the framing of the home without checking the level and just "eyeballing" it, the boards could very easily wind up being crooked and with large gaps between them that is difficult to cover over with mud and tape. Check their levelness as you go along to avoid this problem.
Contact plasterboard suppliers for more information.