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Gypsum Board Wall Cladding

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Cladding walls with various sheet materials is becoming increasingly relevant due to the growing area of reconstructed and restored surfaces. This refers to old buildings, where internal spaces are formed using partitions made of slag block, old clay brick, and other outdated structures. Finishing such walls with plaster, rendering, or simply wallpapering is not cost-effective due to high time and resource expenditures.

In addition to old buildings, gypsum board is widely used in new construction. Primarily for sound-insulating wall and ceiling claddings, where a 100 mm layer of sound-insulating material made of mineral wool is installed under the gypsum board. Besides gypsum boards, cladding is also performed using oriented strand board (OSB), and external walls using cement-bonded wood fiber board (CBW). Compared to all these materials, gypsum board stands out for lower cost, low volume weight, ease of installation, and versatility.

Technology of Gypsum Board Wall Cladding

Gypsum board installation is carried out on a substructure made of vertical and horizontal guides from metal profiles or wooden beams with cross-sections of 40 x 40, 40 x 50, or 50 x 100 mm. The spacing of the guides must be a multiple of 600 mm, since the standard dimensions of a gypsum board sheet are 1200 x 2500 mm.

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The material is installed vertically, and at least three guides must be placed every 1200 mm. Any inaccuracies in substructure dimensions during installation may result in the edge of the gypsum board sheet simply 'hanging in mid-air'.

The spacing of fixing points for gypsum board may vary, but in any case must not exceed 40 cm in both horizontal and vertical directions. For ease of installation, metal profiles or larger-section timber (e.g., 50 x 100 mm) are preferred. Although small-section timber is significantly cheaper than the above options, pre-drilling holes at fixing points is necessary to prevent splitting of the wood.

After the gypsum board is securely fastened, it must be prepared for further coating application. Such coatings may include decorative plaster, wallpaper, painting, or unique design solutions such as cork panels, among others.

Preparing Gypsum Board for Coating Application

A highly critical stage in finishing gypsum board cladding is the application of joint compound. The type of troweling may vary depending on the final wall finishing method.

For example, when painting, gypsum board panels require at least three applications of joint compound. Before applying each new layer, the previous layer must be sanded with fine-grit sandpaper. The goal is to achieve a perfectly smooth surface with uniform texture (slightly resembling the pattern of an eggshell). After thorough troweling and sanding, the surface must be treated with a primer before painting.

If wallpaper is planned, it is not necessary to apply expensive and complex full-surface multi-layer troweling. In this case, it is sufficient to trowel the joints between gypsum board sheets and screw heads 1–2 times to prevent them from 'showing through' the paper base of the wallpaper. This is especially important when using light-colored wallpapers.

There are also coating types (e.g., cork) that do not require troweling at all. When attaching decorative panels, it is sufficient to treat the gypsum board surface with a primer to improve adhesive bonding and protect against moisture penetration from the adhesive solution into the board’s core.