Plasterboard is one of those clever materials that seems to get overlooked a lot of the time. It has revolutionised the way in which buildings are built. We thought we would send out a reminder in the form of a blog as to why it is such a useful material.
Plasterboard is made up of an inner layer of Gypsum (which is made up of crystals containing a small amount of water) between two outer layers of lining paper. Different additives can be added to the inner gypsum layer and you can vary the weight and strength of the lining paper, which in turn will give the finished board different properties. For example, standard plasterboard should not be used for damp areas, like bathrooms or kitchens, but you can have silicon additives added to the core to make it suitable for those areas.
One of the properties of plasterboard which makes it so useful is the fact that it is fire resistant. If a fire were to occur, fire resistant plasterboard would give you extra time to get out of the building (up to around 30 minutes) by slowing down the rate at which the fire spreads at.That would definitely help give you those few extra moments needed to get out of there! As well as being fire resistant, plasterboard is also sound resistant. So it can cut down on airborne noises such as speaking or music. Add to these points that it is lightweight, so if you had a plasterboard ceiling for instance, and there was an earthquake, if the ceiling came down, the plasterboard would not cause so much damage.
Most plasterboard has one ivory side and one brown side, and the liner on the ivory side is specially designed for plastering. Plaster should not be applied to the brown side. This is due to the differing absorption rates. The paper liners on plasterboard is made from recycled paper, which is a big positive for the environment.
Perhaps now, we are enlightening you all as to just how useful and versatile this material really is! We hope that you’ll not overlook this material quite as much in the future.
Written by Jade Turney – Building Tectonics.
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