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The better to level the walls with drywall or plaster. Which is better - plaster or drywall? What type of technology is cheaper

To get the correct geometry of the room, you can use plaster, but with a trowel it is very difficult to make straight lines, much easier leveling the walls with drywall, the pros and cons which we will consider next.

Leveling walls with drywall - the pros and cons are obvious

In any case, even if there are several shortcomings, one thing is obvious - to assemble a frame for wall cladding from special profiles with instructions and necessary tools even a beginner can. IN skillful hands master plaster is applied to any vertical surface or the ceiling with a smooth uniform layer, turning into reliable coverage for brick, concrete or even wooden walls. However, there are few such craftsmen, and often inexperienced beginners enter the fight with unruly building materials, getting something indescribable as a result. An excellent substitute for wet plaster is its dry and relatively cheap counterpart - drywall (for example, Knauf sheets), whose multilayer sheets have an ideal flat surface.

Step by step instructions with exclusive photos and video materials.

First of all, let's dwell on the positive aspects of the material in question. Its main purpose is the alignment of the walls, and the effectiveness in solving problems with irregularities is a definite plus of drywall. It is hardly possible to find any substitute that effectively forms the geometry of the premises even with differences in surface levels of up to 8-10 centimeters. The second positive feature is the ability to create vertical and ceiling structures the most complex forms, which is highly appreciated by designers. And another quality that provided the material with high popularity is the masking of communications. It is easy to stretch any wires and pipes under the skin between the frame profiles.

It would seem that all of the above is already enough to consider drywall the best option for wall decoration, but it would be wrong to ignore its other positive sides. In particular, such as environmental friendliness (material components - a gypsum layer with reinforcement and a cardboard shell), versatility - the coating is suitable for any type of room. With the exception of the shell, the sheets of the material in question are not combustible, and some grades are completely refractory, this is another plus. Some manufacturers claim good soundproofing qualities of their products, but this is only partly true. Drywall is only to some extent able to dampen noise, which is why various noise absorbing materials are always placed under the skin.

The website site masters have prepared a special calculator for you. You can easily calculate right amount drywall.

But leveling the walls with drywall has pros and cons in equally significant. So, a counterweight to fire resistance is high moisture absorption. That is why, starting to extinguish with water small fire in a room finished with drywall, you can say goodbye to the sheathing, even if the fire has not yet damaged it - water will do it. Also, an irreparable disaster will result in the flooding of the apartment by neighbors from above, or simply an increase in humidity in the room. Based on all this, it is not recommended to use this coating in the bathroom and in the kitchen. However, there are brands that are not afraid of water, but they are somewhat more expensive. standard sheets. Two more minuses, less critical, are the relative fragility of the material and a slight reduction in the volume of the room when using load-bearing profiles.

Drywall instead of plaster - what's the difference?

Both of these materials are similar in that they are used to level the walls, but otherwise they are direct opposites of each other. If the lining of gypsum sheets is laid in a matter of hours, then plastering the same area takes more than one day, due to the layering. The first of the materials is extremely light, it weighs approximately a little less than a kilogram for each millimeter of thickness (regular or moisture resistant drywall), which for a 9 mm sheet will correspond to 7.5 kilograms. The second type of coating is quite heavy, the mass of a square of a solidified mixture with a layer thickness of 3.3 centimeters will be approximately 25 kilos.

The thicker the drywall sheet, the smaller the gaps between the profiles must be made in the frame so that the structure does not deform under the weight of the sheathing.

Also, the difference between the finishing materials of interest to us is the magnitude of the loads they can withstand. If you glue a couple of plates with hooks to the plaster layer applied to the reinforcing mesh and hang a small bookcase on them, nothing will happen to the coating. The same operation carried out with drywall will lead to its deformation. Directly during finishing works kneading the mixture and covering the walls with it is always associated with a large amount of dirt: splashes, scattered mortar components, excess scraped off by the rule. The use of dry plaster sheets allows you to maintain relative cleanliness, a small amount of gypsum dust is formed only during the sawing of the material.

A number of factors pushing the use of drywall instead of plaster. So, for example, let's remember the simplicity of laying communications under sheet sheathing and look at a wall covered with cement-sand or lime-gypsum mortar. The frozen mixture leaves no other options than to ditch the coating, that is, to cut grooves in it for wiring. Further, the result after mounting the sheets immediately pleases the eye with smooth surfaces. The plaster applied to the walls requires additional attention to itself, in the form of smoothing with a rule, glossing with a grater and careful processing of the shells remaining after finishing work with putty.

What drywall has no equal

Shields made of boards brickwork, welded steel sheets- all this can become a partition in the apartment, but it will not look the best, and it will create little convenience. As for the leveling mixture, it can no longer replace the wall in any way. But drywall sheets for this purpose are used constantly and have proven themselves the best way. The technology is not much different from the standard room cladding, just bearing profiles are made into a frame not on the surface of the wall, but across the room with fasteners to the floor and ceiling. This is precisely the main advantage of drywall over plaster.

Flaws sheet material mounted on a frame built for a partition are quite standard. This is the fragility of the sheets, which becomes more noticeable when there is no rigid base - with some effort, you can break through a light wall, and this can only be avoided by strengthening the frame additional profiles. This is hydrophobia, which, by the way, may turn out to be positive quality when it is necessary to bend the sheet into any curly design(for this purpose, drywall is moistened and in this state it is attached to the frame). And, finally, low sound absorption, without a special soundproofing filling, a partition sheathed with sheets will turn into a drum, sounds will be transmitted from room to room through metal profiles.

One of the most popular questions that faces a homeowner planning wall decoration is what is best to use during repair work, plaster or drywall? The first material has a long history, for our ancestors it was practically uncontested, drywall is a relatively new trend in the field of repair, although it has already managed to gain considerable popularity and crowds out the time-tested plaster.

In order to facilitate your choice in this difficult dilemma, we examined the pros and cons of each of the materials in this article, found out what would be cheaper - to plaster or sheathe walls with plasterboard, and also asked a specialist about for which situations it would be preferable to use one or another finishing method.

Material Features

Plaster is an extremely flexible material with which you can get a lot of different final repair options. It can be used both for rough work, for example, leveling walls, and for finishing work. Plaster can be divided into two broad categories:

Advantages and disadvantages

Plaster as a material for leveling and finishing walls has a number of undoubted advantages:

1. Price. Who would not say anything, but in a prolonged crisis for everyone more compatriots, this item is decisive when carrying out repairs. Drywall also does not belong to the category of expensive materials, but plaster gives it a big head start in this matter.
2. Plaster, especially correctly applied, is the guarantor of the result High Quality and enviable durability. Unlike drywall, plaster has the highest maintainability, its structure allows you to point and accurately eliminate any defects that have arisen on the walls.
3. To maintain the ideal result does not require any additional work once you complete the renovation, for decades you can forget about interfering with wall decoration.
4. Plaster is loyal to intervention in the space of the wall. If you want to hang a TV or a picture on the wall, then nothing prevents you. This will not require additional work or the involvement of professionals, everyone can handle it.

However, like any other material, plaster has several disadvantages:

1. Repair using plaster is a lengthy process. Of course, if you have perfectly even walls at your disposal, and you yourself have good experience in repair work, then you can handle it in a reasonable amount of time, but otherwise other materials allow you to complete repairs faster.
2. Everyone who has at least once encountered the plastering of walls knows that during such work the apartment turns into a battlefield. This type of repair belongs to the category of wet work, which means that dirt will be an inevitable companion throughout the repair.
3. Plaster, although it pleases with its cheapness, but in especially neglected cases, when the curvature of the walls is visible to the naked eye, you may need an excessively large amount of finishing material, which will make the final estimate of work more than when using drywall sheets. Thus, the answer to the question of plastering walls or sheathing with drywall directly depends on the initial parameters of the walls themselves.
4. Working with plaster requires serious experience, not everyone will be able to understand by eye what result the person producing the finish has achieved. If you hired a specialist, it is advisable to have a person nearby who can accept work from him and note all the shortcomings, if any.

Drywall

Material Features

Drywall is a heterogeneous material with few differences from species to species. Yes, gypsum board can accept various sizes and forms, but by and large the main difference is the presence or absence of resistance to moisture. This item can become critical for your repair if you plan to finish the walls in rooms with a humid microclimate, for example, a bathroom or a bathroom. Let's take a look at the options available:

1. Plain drywall is a classic cardboard sheet with plaster base. It can be used for both wall and ceiling decoration. minus this material is, as already mentioned, the fear of water, which limits the possibility of its use.
2. specialized, more modern look drywall, easily tolerates moisture, which expands the possibilities of its application. It should be noted that despite all the additives, moisture is still detrimental to drywall, and therefore you can’t hope that you can make repairs with it, and you can’t forget about it for twenty years. Most likely, it will begin to lose its aesthetic characteristics in five years, and therefore it will have to be updated regularly. Another type of specialized drywall is fire resistant, which can be useful when decorating a kitchen, although it is also not optimal solution in fire fighting.

The versatility of drywall excites the minds and imagination of many people who are going to have repairs, so now we will try to review the strengths and weaknesses of the material.

Advantages and disadvantages

The advantages of drywall products include the following characteristics:

1. Drywall offers virtually unlimited possibilities for decorating a room. If plaster is able to please with a variety of shades and imitate appearance other material, then drywall gives real freedom of expression - convex shapes, curly patterns and much more can be realized with it.
2. Work with drywall is dry, and therefore the apartment in which the repair is taking place does not turn into a dirty non-residential premises for the period of repair work.
3. Drywall "breathes", and therefore a pathogenic fungus will not start on your walls. Also, a drywall sheet significantly increases sound and heat insulation, which is often a key indicator in the condition of thin walls of the Russian housing stock.
4. Works that use drywall sheets are fast, and therefore you do not have to live in a state of permanent repair.

But this material also has disadvantages:

1. Although drywall can be used in rooms with high humidity, it will add a lot of headaches. No water-repellent solutions will allow the material to exist in its normal form for a long time.
2. The main disadvantage when it comes to small spaces is that drywall eats up space.
3. Drywall is fragile, and therefore, to install a certain object on the wall, you will need to carry out preliminary work to strengthen the finish on the wall.
4. The cost of the material is low, but higher than that of plaster. As already mentioned, the final cost of repairs directly depends on the complexity of the work - if the walls are even, then plaster will be a more financially acceptable material. If they have to be seriously leveled, then finishing the walls with drywall instead of plaster can be cheaper.

Before performing repair work, the question arises of which material is preferable for finishing walls and ceilings - plaster or drywall.

Each of these materials, in addition to many advantages, has some disadvantages. In this article, we will consider the types, characteristics, pros and cons of these materials, methods of wall decoration. Based on these data, it is possible to choose the appropriate material for a particular case.

Drywall or plaster

Both materials are very popular when performing repair work. Let's try to figure out how to finish the walls with drywall or plaster, which is better to use to make the walls beautiful and durable.

To choose the best option for finishing work, you need to study the properties of drywall and plaster mixes.

Based on the knowledge gained about the types of materials, you can choose the most suitable option.

Everyone chooses building materials individually, based on their own requirements, functional purpose space and budget.

Drywall

Gypsum sheets are completely harmless to humans

Drywall is often used instead of plaster to quickly and efficiently level walls.

The material is a sheet made of several layers: in the middle is a layer of gypsum, with an outer and inside glued layers of cardboard. It appeared on the market not very long ago, but managed to establish itself well among builders due to many of its advantages.

Gypsum is made from natural materials, it is completely harmless to humans and environment. No special tools are required to process this material.

Having slightly wetted the sheet, you can give it a convenient shape, therefore it is often used for the manufacture of arched and undulating structures.

Produced types of drywall consider in the table:

№	Type of drywall	Characteristic
1	Wall sheets (GKL)	Gray sheets are made, 12.5 mm thick, 1200 mm wide, 2300-2500 mm long.
2	Ceiling sheets	They sheathe the ceiling, niches, make arches, multi-level structures. It has a thickness of 9.5 mm, a width of 1200 mm, a length of 2000 and 2500 mm. It costs less than wall due to the smaller thickness.
3	Flexible (arched)	They are characterized by a small thickness of 6.5 mm and the presence of fiberglass threads in the composition, which increase the bending strength. They fit in two layers, as they are very thin. The cost of construction is quite high due to the reinforcing threads and the double consumption of material. They produce sheets with a width of 1200 mm, a length of 3000 mm.
4	Fire resistant (GKLO)	It is distinguished by the presence in the gypsum layer of a large number of reinforcing fibers and other additives, making it resistant to fire. It is used in rooms with increased fire safety requirements and for finishing fireplaces and chimneys. Has a light grey colour, thickness 12.5 mm, width 1200 mm, length 2000, 2500, 3000 mm.
5	moisture resistant	Cardboard and core are impregnated with special moisture-proof compounds. Suitable for use in wet areas.

Sheets must be marked:

Any type of drywall does not burn and does not support combustion. When exposed to fire, the core is charred, which leads to its destruction. Flame retardant grades withstand fire and do not break down.

Plaster

Inside the premises, the walls are finished with plaster or lime mixture

Plaster has been used for a very long time, it has proven itself well when performing outdoor and interior decoration.

Plaster on cement base most often used for outdoor work.

Gypsum and lime mixtures are used for interior decoration.

They produce a wide variety of formulations that differ in components and methods of application.

classic plaster

Consider in the table the types and characteristics of plaster mixtures used for rough work:

№	Type of plaster	Characteristic
1	Mineral	They are made on the basis of lime with the addition of sand, sometimes gypsum. A wall lined with such a mixture has a high vapor impermeability, resistance to ultraviolet radiation, fire, bacteria, and mold. Sold as a dry mix, which must be diluted with water before use. The disadvantages include low elasticity, during operation it may crack.
2	Acrylic	Made from acrylic resin on a water-dispersion basis. The surface treated with this composition is resistant to moisture, withstands temperature changes, elastic, and is not susceptible to fungal infections. Durability 25 years. It is produced in the form of ready-to-use mass.
3	Clay	Made from clay with the addition of straw and cellulose fibers. Colored with pigments. Allows you to get both a flat and textured surface.

Decorative plaster

In addition to classic plasters, they produce many mixtures for decorative finishing work.

Consider in the table the main types of decorative plasters and their properties:

№	Kinds decorative plaster	Properties
1	Silicone	Made from silicone resin. Has the most high cost. Used in combination with a primer on silicone base. Forms a vapour-impermeable, elastic surface with high water and dirt-repellent properties.
2	Structural	Heterogeneous granular mass with the addition of quartz, wood fiber, small pebbles, marble chips.
3	Textured	It is made on the basis of lime flour. Gives a textured surface.
4	Venetian	Made on the basis of marble flour, it turns out transparent surface almost indistinguishable from marble.

If there is no experience in applying plaster, in order to get an ideal durable surface, it is better to turn to professionals.

Characteristics of drywall and plaster

To choose the most suitable material, you need to study its strengths and weaknesses.

Based on the table, consider the characteristics of the most popular materials used for finishing work:

Material type	Drywall	Plaster
Surface preparation	Not required	Required
Lead time	Quickly, within 1-3 days, you can finish the ceiling and walls in the rooms. Easy processing.	The work is carried out in stages, a rough layer is applied, when the surface dries, it is covered with a finishing layer.
experience	Not required. Simple even structures can be fixed by a person who does not have experience in construction work.	A rough coat can be applied by a beginner, but for some types of topcoat, you will need to hire a professional.
Laying communications	It is possible to lay cables, pipes behind drywall.	Walls need to be cut.
Warming	Thermal insulation material is easy to lay under drywall.	It is possible to insulate walls under plaster, but this will take time and additional work. Sometimes plaster is applied to drywall, under which insulation is laid.
Soundproofing	High.	Low.
Crack formation	Not formed.	The surface may crack during use.

Finishing the walls with drywall without plaster is undesirable. Thin layer plaster mortar is an additional material protection. When pasting wallpaper, it allows you to replace them without damaging the cardboard layer. If you paste the wallpaper directly on the cardboard, it will be removed along with the wallpaper during the next repair.

Drywall needs to be plastered

Drywall will have to be puttied

After the walls have been sheathed with drywall, they need to be plastered: seal the joints and apply a thin layer of putty.

This process is faster than with full plastering of the walls.

What is drywall plaster for?

1. Drywall has beveled edges, so the joints and caps of the screws need to be puttied. A tape is glued along the joint, covered with a plaster mixture on top. After it dries, grout with sandpaper.
2. After grouting the joints, you need to cover the sheet with a thin layer of plaster. To do this, use the finishing mixture, diluted to the consistency of sour cream. Apply it to the surface with a roller. To see what is cheaper, see this video:

The last step is to paint the drywall water-based paint or apply a third, denser layer of plaster for wallpapering.

Which material is better

We examined the characteristics of drywall and plaster. Even experienced builders they can’t unequivocally answer which is better, drywall or plaster. It all depends on many factors, and everyone will have to make a choice on their own based on the advantages and disadvantages of each material. For more information on which is better to choose, see this video:

If you want the room to have less dirt and humidity, then finish the walls without using plaster. Sheathing with drywall significantly speeds up the process of performing work. If you load the walls hanging shelves, it is better to finish them with plaster. Such a surface will withstand any load.

Building a new home or just renovating an old one leads the owner to think about choosing a finish. For many years, the walls were leveled with plaster, but now the situation has changed radically. The construction industry does not stand still, so manufacturers decided to make it easier by releasing drywall for sale. This is a worthy competitor to plaster, but both types of finishes have both significant advantages and disadvantages. It is for this reason that many people sometimes think for a long time about the question: drywall or plaster - which is better? We cannot give you a definitive answer, as both options are good in their own way. To choose one or another finishing method, you should get to know them separately, which we will do today.

Definition of drywall

Which is better - drywall or plaster walls? Let's start the review with drywall, which was invented in late XIX century in the USA. At that time, the material did not receive widespread, and only after his appearance in the USSR, he was appreciated.

GKL is a building material consisting of cardboard sheets and an inner layer of hardened gypsum composition. It is widely used as a ceiling finish, for exterior and interior wall decoration, and for room dividers. It cannot be used for facade works and in rooms with high humidity.

Important! Manufacturers produce GKL sheets in three standard sizes 1200 mm wide and 2 to 3 meters long. The thickness of the canvases can be 9.5 mm or 12.5 mm.

The main types of drywall sheets:

• Standard drywall sheet, labeled GKL.
• Waterproof GKL with GKLV marking. Its difference is the presence of special antifungal substances in the gypsum layer.
• Fire-resistant GKL with GKLO marking. In fire-resistant boards, the sheet is reinforced not only with clay, but also with reinforcing fiberglass. It is thanks to this structure that the canvases are able to withstand a strong fire for an hour without flaring up and spreading smoke around the room.

Important! The type of drywall can be determined by external staining. So, if the sheet has a gray color, then this is an ordinary GKL, the green designation indicates a waterproof material, but the pink one indicates a fire-resistant one.

Drywall instead of plaster - the pros and cons

So we come to the consideration of strengths and weaknesses given finishing material. Let's figure it out together.

Pros:

• Minimum dirt and debris. During the duration of the work, you will not find dirty and wet marks on the floor, since this material has a dry structure and does not require moisture at all.
• Ease of operation and installation. Anyone can level the walls of the GKL without any special building and carpentry skills. It will be easy to independently install drywall on the ceiling surface.
• Possibility of waterproofing. Sheathing with such material allows you to sheathe the walls in order to create a waterproofing system that will save the room from noise from the street.
• The use of flame retardant material will ensure fire protection walls.
• The ability to absorb moisture. Thanks to this property, your walls will be able to “breathe”, so fungus will not form under the finish.
• The possibility of masking communications. Between the GKL sheets and the wall there will be an empty space in which cables and other types of communications can be hidden, and it can also be filled with insulation.
• Good flexibility. Plasterboard canvases bend well, which allows you to design various design designs on walls and ceilings.

Flaws:

• Reducing usable area. GKL needs to be mounted on a special metal crate, which will take up most of the space of the room.
• Performing several finishing works. Wall cladding is just one stage of work, after which it is necessary to putty the joints and apply a fixing finishing material.
• The inability of sheets to withstand heavy loads. A plasterboard wall cannot hold a large and heavy shelf, bulky interior items, so additional elements are placed under the sheets.

Definition of plaster

Plaster began to be used a long time ago, and this is no accident. Thanks to this mixture, it is possible to produce internal and exterior finish walls, including the ceiling. As a result of the work carried out, you will receive a hardened surface surface.

Kinds:

• Normal. Used to level walls and protect them from negative external influences. Unlike drywall, plaster can be applied to both interior and exterior surfaces. external walls from the front side of the room. Ordinary plaster can be of three compositions: gypsum, lime and cement-sand mixture.
• Special. This name refers to the addition of certain components to the mixture, which make the coating heat-saving, soundproof, X-ray protective and waterproofing.
• Decorative. Carries exclusively decorative function. It is applied at the final stage of surface finishing to give the walls or ceiling an attractive appearance. Such plaster is produced in different variations: colored, silk, Venetian, stone and other types.

Material difference:

• Lime mortar is a mass consisting of lime and sand, diluted to a ratio of 1:4. Cement can be added for durability. This mixture is environmentally friendly and is used for outdoor work.
• The cement-sand mass, prepared in a ratio of 1: 4, can be applied both to external and internal walls. It is with this solution that large surface defects are removed, the plaster layer will serve without destruction for several decades.
• Gypsum mixture is used for interior work. The resulting coating will have an even and White color, which can be processed by any option: stick wallpaper, paint or lay tiles.

Advantages and disadvantages of plaster

This long-used finishing method is a drywall competitor, which has a number of significant advantages. But still, strengths the use of plaster is hard to miss. Let's take a closer look at everything.

Pros:

• Durability. It is considered the most important advantage of plaster. With proper work, in compliance with the instructions for diluting the mortar and technology, it allows you to forget about the problem of an uneven wall for at least 20 years.
• The ceiling and walls, aligned with the plaster method, will be strong, as reliable as possible, withstand impacts.
• Ability to support heavy objects. The surface covered with plaster can easily withstand large furniture, appliances and other items.
• When applying the plaster mixture on walls or ceilings, the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe room will remain the same.
• Possibility of installing single insulation wires on plastered walls.

Minuses:

• Lots of dirt. plaster mixture in any case, you need to dilute it with water, so after completing the work you will have to spend several hours cleaning the room.
• Long period of time for plastering. After applying the material, you will need to wait for it to completely dry and harden, and after that you can proceed to finishing. All these processes can take from a week to a month of your free time.
• By doing plastering works the customer will not immediately be able to notice flaws on the surface by a specialist, so the work will have to be redone. For such meticulous work, you always need to choose only responsible and experienced craftsmen.

As you can see, it is impossible to level the walls without plaster and drywall. In any case, you need to choose one option that suits you best.