Until recently, drywall was used for leveling walls, erecting partitions and arches, but it was not used in the bathroom or in the kitchen, because upon contact with water and even steam, the material quickly deteriorated.
When a moisture-resistant type of material appeared, then drywall sheets, convenient, lightweight and easy to install, began to be used in rooms with high humidity.
Definition and varieties
Deciphering the abbreviation GKLV is a moisture resistant gypsum plasterboard sheet. Like standard gypsum plasterboard, this material consists of two layers of durable cardboard and a gypsum layer between them, but all layers are treated with special impregnations that make it waterproof.
It is very simple to distinguish a moisture-resistant material from a non-moisture-resistant material visually - the sheets of gypsum plasterboard are green, and ordinary drywall is gray. Information on the packaging (marking) will also tell you about the features. The difference is also noticeable in the price - moisture-resistant materials will cost more than usual.
Also in hardware stores, we can find drywall marked "GKLVO" - this is a unique canvas with additional refractory properties.
Of course, even gypsum plasterboard materials will last you much longer if you protect them from moisture as best as possible. A room with high humidity and plasterboard finishing must be ventilated and installed there a ventilation and exhaust system … Also, wall panels can be covered with moisture-resistant paint, covered with plastic trim or glue on special moisture-resistant wallpaper.
In addition to the criteria for fire resistance and water resistance, the building materials market offers customers gypsum plasterboards for floor insulation, ceiling decoration, wall alignment and decoration, as well as for the construction of arches, columns and vaults.
The choice of gypsum plasterboard or gypsum plasterboard for walls depends on the needs and characteristics of the repair work. If the walls are just flattened out, both are great options. The higher the humidity, the more relevant the use of gypsum plasterboard … If compliance is the main quality, then thin drywall should be chosen for the construction of decorative elements - arches and columns. Such material can be very decorative due to its various textures, while its service life is at least 10 years.
GKL sheets allow you to create unique suspended ceilings, as well as zone the space with various walls and arches. The issue of using a moisture-resistant or ordinary material is determined by the characteristics of the room itself - the degree of humidity, scalable or not, etc.
For the floor, it is best to use gypsum fiber rather than drywall - this material is much more durable.
Specifications
Moisture resistant gypsum plasterboard have many advantages:
- not afraid of strong humidity and resistant to water vapor;
- differs from the usual in greater density;
- stronger than standard drywall;
- you can choose exactly the dimensions that are necessary for the decoration of your premises;
- even a novice master will cope with installation work;
- perfectly tolerates wet cleaning.
Almost all manufacturers of moisture-resistant drywall provide it with fire-fighting qualities at the same time. GKLV is not only moisture-resistant, but also fire-resistant material.
In the manufacture of gypsum plasterboard, all the requirements of GOST are carefully observed, all materials are necessarily certified. That is why GKLV can be used in schools, kindergartens, hospitals and clinics … GKLV is impregnated with special impregnations against the formation of mold and mildew, and in itself it is a hypoallergenic material.
GKLV is referred to as "breathing" materials. In the rooms decorated with it, an optimal microclimate is always maintained. Due to its light weight and elasticity, unlike gypsum fiber boards, GKL is ideal for the construction of modern and beautiful suspended ceilings, arches, etc..
Let's talk about the technical characteristics of the material.
The main advantage and difference from standard drywall is moisture resistance. This figure is 90% higher than the standard. The fire resistance of the material is also kept at a good level - it ignites slowly (level G1), does not create a large amount of smoke during combustion and practically does not emit harmful substances.
Composition of the material (modifiers that reduce absorbency are added to the gypsum) allows you to use the material very widely - in kitchens, loggias and balconies, bathrooms, for wall cladding in country houses … With good waterproofing and ventilation, they are also suitable for the bathroom.
According to the requirements of GOST 32614-2012 (adopted in our country in 2015), gypsum plasterboard building boards are marked as follows:
- standard sheet "A";
- with a density depending on the conditions of use "D";
- fire resistant "F";
- moisture resistant "H";
- with increased hardness "I";
- front - vapor permeability and water absorption "E";
- for plastering work or subsequent laying of tiles "P";
- extra strong "R" bending.
The longitudinal edge of the gypsum plasterboard sheet can be different, for example, less thick than the main sheet, which will allow you to putty the joints with high quality. A beveled or tapered edge is suitable for finishing, and when installing several layers of gypsum board, it is better to choose a standard straight edge … The type of edge is indicated on the package.
Gypsum, which is part of the GKLV, is a non-combustible material in itself. Thanks to this, drywall can withstand fire for some time.
Compliance indicators according to GOST are as follows:
- flammability group G1 (slightly flammable);
- flammability - B2 (hardly flammable materials);
- the ability to generate smoke - D1 (small smoke-generating ability);
- toxicity - T1 (low-hazard materials).
In order to choose exactly the material that you need, carefully study the labeling of the sheet and quality certificates, where all its technical data should be: type, group, type of edge, parameters, GOST standards.
Dimensions (edit)
A standard drywall sheet is a rectangle consisting of two sheets of thick cardboard and a layer of gypsum. Adhesives, foaming agents, impregnations can be added to this "sandwich".
Plasterboard dimensions can vary greatly. Length can vary from 2.5 to 4.7 meters, and width - from 1.2 to 2 meters … 1.2 m is the standard width of a drywall sheet, but if necessary, most hardware stores will accept your order for a material of a smaller width. The thickness is also very different - from 5 mm to 24, it depends on where and how the material will be used. Most often in hardware stores there are sheets with a thickness of 5,6,8,9,10,14 and 16 mm.
The most common (and most popular to use) sheet is 3 square meters in area. m with a thickness of 12 mm, that is, 2500x1200x12 mm. This gypsum board is best suited for wall decoration. For the ceiling, materials are taken thinner - 9-9.5 mm thick, and the thickness of the arched drywall is quite small - 5-5.6 mm. Due to its small thickness, it can be used to create various curved openings and arches of unusual shapes.
All calculations of the required material must be made in advance, because for finishing it is much more convenient to use a whole GVL sheet, and not a composite one.
The weight of gypsum plasterboard depends on its thickness and depends on the type and characteristics of drywall. Sheets of standard and moisture resistant drywall should not weigh more than 1 kilogram for each mm of sheet thickness. The fireproof sheet can weigh between 0.8 and 1.6 kg per mm of thickness. If the materials weigh more, then most likely they were stored in a high humidity environment.
1 square meter of drywall with a thickness of 6.5 mm is equal to 5 kg, 9.5 mm will have a weight of about 7.5 kilograms, GLK with a thickness of 12.5 mm will weigh about ten kilograms.
The following data will help you to roughly estimate what weight you will have to deal with: sheet 1200x2000x / 2.4 sq. m 6 mm thick will weigh 12 kilograms, 9.5 cm - already 18 kilograms, and 12.5 mm already 23 kilograms. Drywall 1200x2500x / 3sq. m 6 mm thick weighs 15 kilograms, 9.5 mm - 22 kg., and 12.5 kg - 29 kg. Sheet 1200x3000x / 3.6 sq. m 6mm thick will weigh 18 kg, 9.5 mm - 27 kg, 12.5 - 35 kilograms.
The weight of the gypsum plasterboard will help us calculate the load that the structure can withstand, calculate the weight of the structure itself and choose the most suitable fasteners and other elements. You can do this yourself using counting techniques, including online calculations, or contact a specialist.
Manufacturers overview
GKLV-materials of both Russian and foreign manufacturers are presented in construction stores.
One of the most famous manufacturers of drywall of all types - Knaufwith production facilities in 30 countries, including Russia (10 plants). Customer reviews of Knauf drywall sheets are almost always positive. Buyers appreciate it as a high quality material, easy to work with, excellent cutting and sawing, allowing to realize the wildest dreams of interior designers.
The high quality of the material produced is also ensured by the French Compagnie de Saint-Gobain SA … Approximately 10% of all types of drywall sold in our stores are produced by this particular company.
It has its own factories on the territory of our country Polish company Lafarge Group and Scandinavian Gyproc … Scandinavians offer excellent thin drywall for the construction of non-standard zoning partitions. Reviews of Polish drywall are mostly positive, but some craftsmen noted a large amount of dust formation when cutting.
Russian-made drywall occupies only 20% of the Russian market. it GKL produced by JSC "Gips", JSC "Sverdlovsk plant of gypsum products", LLC "Arakchinsky gypsum".
The brand of building and finishing materials "Volma" is known, perhaps, to all craftsmen working with drywall. Volma is produced at various enterprises, including OJSC Gips in Volgograd. According to the reviews of buyers and craftsmen, Volma products are of good quality and are only slightly inferior to German drywall. In addition, GKLV "Volma" has a very attractive price.
The Sverdlovsk Plasterboard Plant producesas gypsum board using modern high-tech equipment. The quality of "Gifas" is quite high and can well compete with German and Scandinavian manufacturers.
The Arakchinsky gypsum production facility is located in Kazan and produces various types of drywall under the Abdullingips brand. According to customer reviews, the price of this material is the lowest among all Russian manufacturers.
The Gypsum gypsum plasterboard plant produces the material of the same name. The enterprise is located in the city of Togliatti. Differs in decent quality and low cost, and it specializes in the production of gypsum plasterboard.
There are many small gypsum plasterboard plants in Russia, for example, the production of Gipsopolimer in Perm or Utah Gips in Bashkiria. Most often, materials are produced using imported equipment and are of decent quality.
Nevertheless, I would like to remind you that all gypsum plasterboard materials must be produced taking into account the requirements of GOST, and when purchasing sheets of gypsum plasterboard, quality certificates must be required. This is especially true for products sold at low prices.
How to choose?
The choice of drywall is necessary depending on where you will use it. So, multi-level ceilings with bends and rounds are best made of gypsum plasterboard with a thickness of 6.5 mm - it is plastic and lightweight. For flat ceilings and arches with a small curvature angle, a 9.5 mm gypsum board is suitable. This drywall is called “ceiling”. It can also be used to create zoning partitions, but not to create load-bearing walls.
GKL 12.5 mm is used to decorate the walls of a living room, bathroom or toilet. This material is quite suitable for filing a single-level ceiling, but it is better not to use it for a multi-level one - the structure will be too heavy.
GKL material for interior partitions must be strong, withstand serious loads, provide noise absorption, and therefore, be 14 to 24 mm thick.
The correct choice of drywall involves mandatory preliminary calculations - measurements of the room and the calculation of the required amount of material. It should be borne in mind that there should be as few seams as possible on the surface to be trimmed., which means that you need to choose the optimal sheet size. For both Russian and foreign manufacturers, the sheet width is approximately the same - up to 1.2 m, but the length can be very different and reach 4.8 m.
When buying drywall, you should decide on the type of edging that works best for your finish. If it is difficult to choose, be sure to consult with a consultant in the store or a master who is carrying out repairs at your place.
Moisture-resistant drywall works best under bathroom tiles … Despite the fact that moisture is not terrible for such material, all seams must be very well sealed. In order for a plasterboard wall with laid tiles to serve you for a long time, you need to follow simple rules: do not use tiles with chips and cracks - water will penetrate into them and sooner or later the wall will begin to collapse; choose high-quality tiles that have markings, a uniform color and a clear pattern (when buying a tile, you can knock lightly with something hard - the sound should be clear, sonorous).
Lay tiles only with high-quality glue suitable for this type of work … Do not rush and lay all the tiles in one day (no more than 5 rows per day), so the lower rows will not "crawl" under the load of the upper ones.
Instructions for use
So that working with moisture-resistant drywall does not cause problems, we recommend that you use some instructions:
- If the room is small, then the walls with plasterboard should be sheathed only if necessary, because the gypsum plasterboard sheets will inevitably "eat up" part of the space.
- Drywall can be attached with glue. If some sheets protrude, then after the glue dries, they need to be "tapped" with a rubber mallet.
- Drywall during installation should not rest against the floor. There must be a gap of at least 1 mm between the floor and the plasterboard sheets.
- Ceiling thin sheets cannot be used to install partitions - they will bend and crack.
- Do not skimp on mineral wool when preparing the frame. Drywall, although it has sound-absorbing properties, but not enough to refuse the laying of additional materials.
- When attaching drywall to the frame, use a screwdriver with the ability to set the drilling depth.
- Do not cover the walls with plasterboard "back to back". Leave small gaps to allow the surface to breathe.
- To transfer large sheets, use a construction grab - this way the sheet will not break and crack.
- If you scratch a drywall sheet, putty the scratch and cover it with reinforcing tape - this will help maintain the integrity of the sheet.
- To bend the canvas, apply the markings with a special needle roller and wet this place - after a while the sheet can be bent.
Which side to attach?
It is very important to observe the correct placement of sheets of gypsum plasterboard - the front side of the drywall should "look" into the room. To distinguish it is as easy as shelling pears - it is lighter than the seamy side, in addition, folding will tell the correct side - the tapered edge of the GKLV-canvas (the front side is beveled, slightly depressed).
If you fix the drywall with the wrong side inward, then the GOST marking and other inscriptions may appear on the finishing of the walls.
Can I use it in the bathroom?
Moisture-resistant drywall can be used in any room with a humid microclimate - in the bathroom, kitchen or toilet. GKLV-sheet is processed with special impregnations - hydrophobic and antifungal. but this material should not come into contact with water! Impregnations can protect against moisture, but not constant contact with water. Remember that in the middle of the drywall "sandwich" there is gypsum, albeit treated with special compounds, which will gradually lose its shape from interaction with water.
The covering that will be mounted on drywall - plastic panels, tiles, etc. must be waterproof … This means that you need to take care of the GKLV primer with a special "penetrating" primer, choose high-quality tile adhesive, use silicone sealants and liquid nails.
Silicone grouts have proven to be excellent, preventing water from penetrating into seams and crevices.
The role of finishing can also be performed by waterproofing paint. It is a special acrylic latex based paint that is impervious to water, suitable for both walls and ceilings. With the further operation of the room, the walls can be washed with various detergents, since the waterproofing paints are resistant to the effects of household chemicals. True, experienced craftsmen still recommend giving preference to tiles.
There is another option for finishing plasterboard walls in the bathroom or kitchen - vinyl or fiberglass wallpaper. This dense material is not afraid of water vapor.
Remember that all wet rooms finished with gypsum plasterboard must be equipped with high-quality ventilation - it will ensure the safety and long service life of plasterboard finishing materials.
Can wallpaper be glued?
Of course, you can glue wallpaper on gypsum plasterboard. The perfectly flat and smooth surface of the gypsum plasterboard seems to be specially designed for gluing wallpaper. However, the GKLV needs some preparatory work. It is not necessary to glue wallpaper directly onto the gypsum plasterboard sheets, because the inscriptions, designations of GOST and the seams can show through the wallpaper. In addition, moisture-resistant and fire-resistant drywall has a green or red color, and if you glue the wallpaper directly onto a sheet of gypsum plasterboard, the tint can appear even on very dense wallpaper.
If the drywall sheets are not processed, then it will be almost impossible to remove them from the gypsum plasterboard later, because the layer of cardboard covering the gypsum will also be removed with them. In such cases, you have to change drywall or glue new ones on top of the old ones.
To achieve optimal results, follow these steps:
- We make preliminary priming of the walls. This is done for the prevention of fungus, and for better adhesion of the surface of the gypsum plasterboard with putty. The primer can be applied with a roller or brush.
- We process the seams. We put putty on the joint and level it with a spatula, put a reinforcing mesh on top. After drying, it is necessary to apply another layer of putty, level it and wipe it.
- We cover the wall with putty in two layers. The first is leveling, and the second is finishing (no more than 5 mm).
- Carefully, without undue pressure, level the wall with sandpaper.
- If the wallpaper is very dense, then another layer of primer can be applied for good adhesion of the materials.
- We glue the wallpaper. Puttying drywall allows you to stick any kind of wallpaper on it.
How to cut?
At home, you can cut drywall with an ordinary sharp knife, a hacksaw for metal or a jigsaw is also suitable. The main condition for neat and even cutting is the correct placement of the material and the marking. You can markup using a regular long ruler and a simple pencil, for large sheets you need a tape measure.
Moisture-resistant drywall is cut in the same way as usual, it is perfectly sawn and bend. All necessary holes, for example holes for sockets, are much easier to cut before installation.
To cut a sheet of gypsum plasterboard neatly, you need to follow these recommendations:
- Lay the sheet on a flat surface and mark it out with a pencil.
- Attach a metal ruler to the marking line and draw a knife along it several times, deepening the cut. If the drywall is thin, then even a clerical knife will do.
- Break off the sheet with a quick movement, while breaking it in the direction of the cut, and not vice versa.
Remember that when cutting gypsum plasterboard, dust and crumbs are formed, so the respiratory and vision organs must be protected.
Is the material harmful to health?
Drywall is a building material that is harmless to humans. Gypsum and cellulose are environmentally friendly materials, and the technology for manufacturing gypsum boards and gypsum plasterboards from them meets the requirements of GOST and various international characteristics.
Unfortunately, in the markets for building materials, counterfeits can occur, the quality of which does not meet the norms and standards. Buy drywall only from trusted and well-known manufacturers, be sure to require certificates of conformity when purchasing.
There is one more nuance - if in a room with gypsum plasterboard finishing the humidity of more than 80% is constantly kept or the material is in direct contact with water, then after a while, even on the material treated with special impregnations, mold will begin to form, which can harm human health.
For the options for using moisture-resistant drywall, see the following video.