Experience from installing a plasterboard (drywall) on ceiling
Hanging ceiling plasterboard is one of the many things we have done in our renovation projects. From time to time, we also hire a tradie to do the work. In this article, I will share with you my experience as well as the additional stuff we learned from the tradie. It was really interesting especially when we watched the professionals do things. We asked them questions and why they do it their way, and there is always a reason. One of them is hanging the ceiling first before the wall because you have more space to play with, imagine you have all the walls up first, you lose at least 20mm and it is very likely your board will get jammed when you’re lifting it. We found this out the hard way.
Click photo to enlarge
Put up the biggest sheet first, all sheets should be 90 degree to the ceiling batten/joist. We found that it was very challenging to hang sheets by lifting it ourselves, so we hired a panel lifter from our local hardware store. It was a great device and certainly helped a lot. However, when the pro did theirs, two of them just simply lifted and screwed the panel in place.
While we were watching the professionals fixing the ceiling, I noticed that they screwed everything in rather than nailing (like us). You may ask how they managed to screw the panel, hold the board and still have hands free. It’s because they use a device called ‘Auto Feed Screw Driving System’. It’s a device that holds a plastic strip with approx. 50 screws on it, and the screw driving system works like a screw driver with the auto feed once the screw is screwed in. See picture below.
Click image to enlarge
You simply put a screw in once every 200mm to secure the sheet. However, you need more screws around the border at a rate of once every 150mm.
Once they are all secured, you need to ‘back block’. ‘Back blocking’ is simply getting a piece of plaster board no narrower than 200mm and stick it behind the joins using cornice adhesive. This will prevent sagging at the joins.
Quick summary:
- Plasterboard the ceiling first then wall
- Put up the biggest sheet first
- Use a panel lifter to save your back
- Use Auto Feed Screw Driving System, screw once every 200mm but 150mm for edges
- Back blocking to prevent sagging
Let me know how you went?
