Plasterboards - sizes / dimensions and prices

• Disconnect and disguise
• Advantages and disadvantages
• Commercially available drywall panels
• Accessories and tools

The load-bearing structure of a building defines the boundaries of the interior. Load-bearing walls or columns can not be removed and must be integrated into the interior design of a building. Partitions made of plasterboard are a proven way to do so.

Disconnect and disguise

Rigips panels have many uses. They have the advantage over masonry and plastered interior walls that they are easier and cheaper to build. Therefore, one of the most common uses is the construction of partitions. With plasterboards, large rooms can be divided into several rooms, long corridors can be extended through another room or niches and storage rooms can be set up in existing rooms.

Just as often plasterboard panels are used for cladding purposes. The conversion of a loft to usable living space is hardly possible without a cladding of rafters made of this material. Likewise, wooden walls, obliquely bricked or badly plastered walls can be straightened by a shell of plasterboard and optically adapted to the wishes of the residents.

Advantages and disadvantages

The advantages of a plasterboard panel is that it is very inexpensive and easy to set up. Although there are many differences in sizes, dimensions and prices, they are in any case cheaper than a bricked and plastered wall. This is even more so than that for the installation of an intermediate wall made of bricks, the floor usually lashed and the screed must be removed to the shell floor. This work accounts for the construction of a drywall, which is therefore also called "lightweight wall" because of their ease of construction and low weight.

The installation of a drywall made of plasterboard is also a very clean affair: all accumulated waste can be easily collected and disposed of. The dusts resulting from the cutting and breaking of the plasterboards are harmless and easy to dispose of. In addition, a plasterboard offers a certain degree of fire protection, especially in the face of unclad structures in the house. A roof truss, in which a fire breaks out, is completely faster in full flame without being clad than if its rafters were covered with plasterboard. The plaster itself is not flammable and the carrier material made of paper or cardboard is negligible in terms of fire technology. However, the plaster is not a good insulator, which is why the heat of a fire is passed through. A cladding made of plasterboard therefore acts as a fire retardant, a full fire protection, it is not.

With all the advantages plasterboard also has disadvantages . They are mechanically and technically hardly loadable and have considered on their own only a very poor sound insulation. In order to make them usable as partitions for interiors, some measures are required, which make the overall project more expensive. A plasterboard keeps a picture well attached to it. A hanging shelf or even a kitchen wall unit is hardly useful to hang on a plasterboard. This must be taken into account in the planning, otherwise there is a nasty surprise when setting up the room. Because another disadvantage of a partition wall made of plasterboard is that they can be repaired only bad. A hole in a brick wall can be easily applied and painted over. However, a damaged plasterboard usually needs to be completely replaced. Since they are also quite fragile in contrast to masonry, a complex repair work on a drywall can quickly be necessary. Rigips panels are also quite sensitive to moisture. Normal plates are therefore not suitable for toilets or bathrooms. However, there are special wet room plasterboard available. For the selection of the right drywall you need precise knowledge.

Commercially available drywall panels

The prices for drywall panels depend on their size, their thickness and their additional features. Drywall panels are usually colored light gray. Moisture drywall panels, on the other hand, are light green, so they are easy to distinguish. These panels have an additional impregnation that prevents infiltration and liquid soaking. In addition to the impregnation, a drywall can already be provided with a heat protection layer. This usually consists of a glued rigid foam board.

All plasterboards are offered in standard standard sizes and in the so-called "one- person board format" . "One man plates" are narrower and lighter. They can therefore - as their name implies - be processed with only one worker. This is very handy if you do not have help. The extra effort and the additional costs of the screws are negligible. The width of a standard standard plasterboard is 90 cm, the one-man plate is 60 cm wide.

Here are a few current market prices for plasterboards. The most meaningful are always square meter prices, because these are the easiest way to compare:

• Rigips plate miniboard
  • Thickness: 12.5 mm
  • Length / width: 1200 x 600 mm
  • 3, 97 EUR per m²
• Rigips board Multiboard
  • Thickness: 12.5 mm
  • Length / width: 1250 x 900 mm
  • 5, 73 EUR per m²
• Plasterboard one-man plate impregnated / fire protection
  • Thickness: 12.5 mm
  • Length / width: 2000 x 600 mm
  • 4, 79 EUR per m²
• Plasterboard-man panel
  • Thickness: 12.5 mm
  • Length / width: 2600 x 600 mm
  • 2, 46 EUR per m²
• Plasterboard fire protection
  • Thickness: 12.5 mm
  • Length / width: 2000 x 1250 mm
  • 2, 84 EUR per m²
• Plasterboard composite panel
  • Thickness: 9.5 mm)
  • Length / width: 2500 x 1250 mm
  • 5, 60 EUR per m²
• Plasterboard composite panel
  • Thickness: 12.5 mm
  • Length / width: 2500 x 1250 mm
  • 6.27 EUR per m²
• Plasterboard one-man plate impregnated
  • Thickness: 12.5 mm
  • Length / width: 2600 x 600 mm
  • 4, 10 EUR per m²
• Plasterboard fire protection
  • Thickness: 15 mm
  • Length / width: 2000 x 1250 mm
  • 3, 50 EUR per m²
• Plasterboard impregnated
  • Thickness: 12.5 mm
  • Length / width: 2500 x 1250 mm
  • 4.02 EUR per m²
• Rigipsplatte
  • Thickness: 12.5 mm
  • Length / width: 2500 x 1250 mm
  • 2, 30 EUR per m²
• Plasterboard mold plate
  • Thickness: 6.5 mm
  • Length / width: 2500 x 900 mm flexible GK-plate
  • 6, 45 EUR per m²

As you can see, the price differences can be quite 100-200%. A normal gypsum board is available from 2.30 euros, a composite panel costs with 6.27 euros already three times as much. For this plate has already integrated a thermal protection, which, depending on the application, would otherwise be consuming to produce.

However, a plasterboard is only one element of a lightweight formwork. For a rafter cladding, at least one transverse battening is necessary for processing the plasterboard. A partition can also be built with a wooden beam construction. Usually, however, sheet metal profiles are specially designed for this application

Accessories and tools

A roof batten as a carrier for a rafter trim costs from about 1 Euro per meter. Significantly more expensive, but also much more practical and useful are the support profiles for lightweight walls.

These profiles consist of two components: The horizontal components are screwed to the floor and ceiling. They are very simple U-profiles made of galvanized sheet steel. These profiles do not have particularly strong transverse stability and can be easily deformed. They are available in different widths so that drywall can be filled with thermal insulation mats. The stiffening profiles are plugged in appropriately. These are much more stable and warp resistant.

Overview of the profiles used in drywall construction and their dimensions:

• CW profile (rebate height 50 mm / width: 50/75/100/125/150 mm / length: 2.50 - 6.00 m):
  • is a C-shaped stand profile.
  • is inserted into the UW profile to build a stable wall.
  • has H-shaped cutouts for the installation of electric cables.
  • Costs: from about 1.50 Euro / meter
• UW profile (rebate height 40 mm / width: 50-150 mm / length: 4 m):
  • is a U-shaped frame profile for insertion into CW profiles.
  • Cost: from about 3.50 euros / meter
• CD profile (rebate height 27 mm / width: 60 mm / length: 1, 190 / 2, 60 / 3, 10 / 4, 0 m)
  • is a C-shaped profile used for hanging ceilings.
  • Costs: from about 5, 50 Euro / meter
• UD profile (rebate height 27 mm / width: 60 mm / length: 1, 190 / 2, 60 / 3, 10 / 4, 0 m):
  • is a U-shaped profile
  • is used for the wall connection of suspended ceilings.
  • Cost: from about 0.60 Euro / meter
• UA profile (rebate height 40 mm / width: 48/73/98 mm / length: 2.50 / 2.60 / 2.75 / 3.00 / 3.25 / 3.50 / 3.75 / 4.00 / 4, 50 / 5, 00 / 6, 00 m):
  • Reinforcement profile is used as door jamb for stable constructions (eg doors).
  • Cost: from about 3, 60 Euro / meter

The screws cost about 1 cent each. They are only delivered by carton and can be used generously. They are very sharp and pointed. This makes it easy to process with a cordless screwdriver. A tip about this: The torque of the cordless screwdriver should be set to 1/3 to a maximum of 1/2 full strength. This prevents the screw from being drilled through the entire plate. The screw loses at this point a large part of their strength and can break out in the worst case, a large fragment of the plasterboard.

On tools is needed for the construction of a drywall:

• 1 x spirit level: approx. 30 euros (for scribing and investing)
• 1 x small angle grinder: approx. 100 euros
• 1 x cordless screwdriver: approx. 100 euros
• 1 x spatula: approx. 5 euros
• 1 x measuring tape / folding rule: approx. 5 euros
• 1 x pencil: approx. 1 €
• 1 x small bowl for mixing gypsum: Approx. 1 €
• 1 x carpet knife: approx. 5 euros

For the construction of the drywall, the subsequent filling of the joints and screw holes with plaster belongs. This is available for about 7 euros per bag

Tips for quick readers:

• plan exactly and take into account the different types of plasterboards
• Do not over-tighten the cordless screwdriver
• One-man plates are considerably easier to process than plasterboard in normal dimensions
• Be careful when handling the carpet knife!