What is drywall? Importance of drywall in civil construction

Articles > What is drywall? Importance of drywall in civil construction

Dry Walls; Introduction:

A Drywall which is also known by some other names like wall-board, sheet-rock, gypsum panels, buster boards, custard boards, and gypsum boards, is a sheeting/ sheathing made of gypsum (Calcium Sulphate Dihydrate) consist of two paper boards which sandwich the gypsum panel. A drywall is used to be installed at the interior sides of walls and ceilings. The quick-set gypsum (plaster) is mixed with paper-fiber, fiber-glass, a blend of these both material, foaming agent, plasticizer, or some other material to provide stress to the plaster and to reduce the mildew, water absorption, and flammability.

The tradition of a dry-wall started in the mid-20^th century in North America, to save time and labor cost of the plaster and lath.

Advantages of a Drywall:

A work of installing a drywall is faster and rapid as compared to the plaster, thus it has lesser energy cost as compared to any other method.
Installing drywalls is comparatively heavy, but the used of lifting machines save a large time. Similarly the ceiling panels can also be installed in no time with the help of lifters/ machines.
The durability of the drywall is not satisfactory; however the strength of the drywalls is amazing. The drywalls also support and sustain the walls.
Due to the presence of Calcium Sulfate plus water (CaSo4+H2O), a dry wall become resistant to the fire.
It is cost effective. It consumes lesser cost as compared to plaster or other method of paving and smoothing the walls and ceiling.
The purpose of a drywall may be permanent as well temporary. If a drywall is installed on walls and ceiling, it will remain over there permanently. In case if the drywall is installed instead of a partition wall, it will serve as a temporary purpose. It can be dismantled, cut, changed and modified as per desire.
In drywall walls and ceiling, recessed lighting can be installed. Apart from lighting, any other equipment like clothe hangers, mirrors, paintings and other similar things can easily be hung with a drywall with ease.

Disadvantages of the Drywall:

A drywall is not resistant to water, it can absorb water, and the absorbed water can pass and sink through it. Therefore, the ceilings with drywall can not resist water to seep through it. Moreover, a damp drywall can allow mold infestation. We can even make a drywall water resistant, if fiberglass is used instead the paper.
The surface of the drywall will be prone to damage, if it is not plastered.
The experts of drywall must be committed, because if the finished is not done well, and the joints are not attached properly, the drywall will be vulnerable.
Installation of drywall spreads a lot of dust, therefore, the room should be prepared before the work starts. Or else the dust will spread all through the house.
The disadvantage of a drywall are still fixable. Keeping in view the above advantage, the minor disadvantage can be avoided, as they are less serious, before the significance of pros of a drywall.

History of Dry Walls:

The United Kingdom introduced the first plasterboards, by establishing a plant in 1888, at Rochester Kent town.

Augustine Sackett and Fred Kaine introduced Sackett Board at the start of 1894. Both the experts had graduated from the Polytechnic Institute of Rensselaer. Sackett was designed by pouring liquid plaster among the four plies of wool felt-paper. The size of the sheet was 914mm×914mm with a width of 6mm. The evolution of the gypsum board continued from 1910 to 1930. The first item of gypsum board was a wrapped board with edges and elimination of two inner layers of felt paper in favor of paper-based facings.

The US Gypsum Corporation founded Plaster-Sackett Board Company in 1910, and by the end of 1917, the company started making Sheetrock. Providing efficiency of the installation, it was developed additionally as a tool of fire resistance. Later on, the air entrainment-technology manufactured panels and boards lighter and less brittle (elastic), and advanced joint filling materials and tools were also developed. Gypsum sheathing/lath was an early substrate for plaster. As a substitute to traditional plywood, wood, or metal lath, the gypsum lath was a panel/board made up of the quick-set-gypsum plaster that was sometimes grooved or punched with minor holes to let the wet plaster to penetrate into its surface. With further evolution, it was faced with paper soaked with gypsum that sticks with the applied facing layer of the plaster. In the year 1936 US Gypsum Corporation trademarked ROCK-LATH (Rock Sheet) for their gypsum lath product.

Manufacturing of a Drywall:

A gypsum board or wallboard panel composed of a layer of gypsum plaster wrapped between two thin layers of paper. The raw gypsum (Calcium Sulphate Dihydrate/ CaSO₄·2 H₂O) is heated to exclude the water by evaporation then it is again slightly rehydrated to produce a hemihydrated calcium sulfate (Two molecules of Calcium Sulfate containing one molecule of water). The quick-set gypsum (plaster) is mixed with paper-fiber, fiber-glass, a blend of these both material, foaming agent, plasticizer, or some other material to provide stress to the plaster and to reduce the mildew, water absorption, and flammability.

How to Construct a Drywall:

Two experienced dry-wallers can install drywall panels of an entire house within two or three days. The time consumed in plastering of the wall is thus saved. It is an efficient alternative and economical method to cover the wall of houses. Many amateur home carpenters can also install the drywall panels. The whole work of installing the drywall is divided between two types of experts; the Hangers and the Mud-man. A hanger of the drywall panels hung and suspends the panels and boards with screws and hanging nails, while the mud-man fills the joints of the panels, by applying the drywall compound on the joints. The mud-man is also known as float crew and taper.

Advantages of a Drywall:

The work of installing drywall is faster and rapid compared to plaster, thus it has lesser energy cost as compared to any other method.
Installing drywall is comparatively heavy, but the used of lifting machines saves a large time. Similarly, the ceiling panels can also be installed in no time with the help of lifters/ machines.
The durability of the drywall is not satisfactory; however, the strength of the drywalls is amazing. The drywalls also support and sustain the walls.
Due to the presence of Calcium Sulfate plus water (CaSo4+H2O), drywall becomes resistant to the fire.
It is cost-effective. It consumes lesser cost as compared to plaster or another method of paving and smoothing the walls and ceiling.
The purpose of drywall may be permanent as well temporary. If drywall is installed on walls and ceiling, it will remain over there permanently. In case if the drywall is installed instead of a partition wall, it will serve as a temporary purpose. It can be dismantled, cut, changed, and modified as per desire.
In drywall walls and ceiling, recessed lighting can be installed. Apart from lighting, any other equipment like clothes hangers, mirrors, paintings, and other similar things can easily be hung with drywall with ease.

Disadvantages of the Drywall:

A drywall is not resistant to water, it can absorb water, and the absorbed water can pass and sink through it. Therefore, the ceilings with drywall can not resist water to seep through it. Moreover, damp drywall can allow mold infestation. We can even make a drywall water-resistant if fiberglass is used instead of paper.
The surface of the drywall will be prone to damage if it is not plastered.
The experts of drywall must be committed because if the finish is not done well, and the joints are not attached properly, the drywall will be vulnerable.
Installation of drywall spreads a lot of dust, therefore, the room should be prepared before the work starts. Or else the dust will spread all through the house.
The disadvantage of a drywall a still fixable. Keeping in view the above advantage, the minor disadvantage can be avoided, as they are less serious, before the significance of the pros of drywall.

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What is drywall? Importance of drywall in civil construction

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