Plasterboard Questions

I am redoing a wall in plasterboard, but I have not attempted this before and know nothing about plasterboard yet but I'm confident enough to give it a go. I have a question which will probably come across as a bit stupid, but when I am fixing the plasterboard to the timber studs, should the sheets be fixed horizontal, or upright? And also which side of the plasterboard should be facing outwards is it the actual plaster side or the paper side with Gyprock etc written on it?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Horizontal; get the sheets as long as possible (not the 2.4 meter sheets from hardware stores, they are available up to 6 meters long from a plasterboard place) so you don't have butt joins in the wall. The side with the recessed edges goes out - the recessed edge is there to help you do the join.

See Rod's two sites (link above) for more info on plastering, he seems to know a bit about it!

Rods site is great ... plus all the major manufactureres have downloadable guides on their sites. You need to have a read otherwise it will turn out not so good.

I have already purchased the plasterboard from bunnings because when I measured up the wall I had it in my head that it would be fixed upright, not horizontal and it was cut to that size.

Is there really any difference between fixing it horizontal or upright? Otherwise I am going to have to go buy new plasterboard sheets.

Hi There

It would be very unusual to fix it vertically. I would be affraid that the joins may crack with movement or because they are not well enough supported. What size are your sheets and what lengths / heights are your walls?

You may get away with using the sheets you have with a fwe butt joints.

Fixing sheets vertically is fine - they can be fixed in any direction - even diagonally if you want.

The height of the wall is 260cm high and approx 360cm wide. I have attached a photo of what it looked like before I started, but now the old doorway has studs put in matching the rest of the wall.

The plasterboard sheets I have are 2700mm long x 1200mm wide x 10mm thick

Plaster is often hung vertically on commercial jobs,because you can't get 6m sheets in to an elevator.In domestic situations it is generally hung horizontally with the longest sheet possible to reduce the number of joins.

Tools

Tools when sheets are hung vertically on commercial jobs they are hung on metal studs that can be moved to suit the join.

You would start with a 600 strip on one side then a 1200 sheet on the other thereby staggering the joins. It is also 13mm plasterboard for added strength.

In this situation it is ok to hang the sheets vertically provided that you place noggins at 450mm centers between the studs to support the join. That is provided that the join does not fall on a stud. if so it is ok, NOT THE BEST METHOD but OK.

Just looking at your pic for the first time I notice that your joins will be over the door. My info above stands for others reading this post.

However Ben your joins will be at the weakest part of the wall. These joins have a tendency to crack. The best advice I can give you here is to cut exacty the shape of the door out of the sheet to allow the join not to be directly on the door stud.

Then make sure you use nothing other than paper tape to tape the join. This will give you the best protection against cracking.

Over the next few days I will be putting up a video on Youtube showing how to use paper tape that you may find helpfull.

For others reading this post when hanging plasterboard avoid joins over windows and doors. We make our tradies hang full sheets over windows and doors.

Cheers Rod

Thanks very much for the advice everyone. I am going to put it all together today.