DIY plasterboard partition: step-by-step instructions

Recommendation points

• Plasterboard partition. Installation instructions
• Preparatory work
• Preparation of materials and tools
• Forming the frame of the doorway
• Sheathing of the partition frame

The installation of interior drywall partitions seems to many to be a difficult process, accessible only to experienced craftsmen. Following our step-by-step instructions, you can easily assemble an interior partition with your own hands, without having any special skills..

Drywall is one of the most convenient materials for installing interior partitions.

The benefits include:

• ease of installation;
• availability of materials;
• the vastness of design possibilities for creating various forms and components of the partition – arches, niches, shelves;
• easy dismantling;
• low weight that does not create a load on the floors;
• the possibility of finishing with any materials – paint, tiles, wallpaper, pvc panels;
• frame structure, allowing intracavitary insulation, sound insulation.

Plasterboard partition. Installation instructions

A few basic steps of detailed instructions and a minimal set of tools will allow you to create a simple plasterboard partition with your own hands.

Preparatory work

Before starting the installation of the partition, it is necessary to carefully consider its structure, working functions, and design. To do this, make a detailed drawing of the room with the future wall..

If necessary, visit the local BTI authorities to approve the project.

Free the room from furniture as much as possible, or cover with a film.

Decide what material you will be making the frame from. The base can be metal or wood. A metal profile is a convenient and reliable option, unlike a wooden bar, it does not require drying to exclude deformation twisting, treatment with antiseptics. The profile is resistant to moisture, fungus, mold.

Think in advance of all communications passing through the partition, wiring, the position of the sockets.

Preparation of materials and tools

You will need 12.5mm or 9.5mm drywall. 12.5 mm sheets are more often used. You can also use the “nine”, subject to more frequent placement of profiles. However, please note that in this case, the sound-absorbing and vibration-resistant properties of the structure are reduced. Also, to install a partition in a room with high humidity, it is recommended to use gypsum plasterboard (gypsum plasterboard sheets moisture resistant).

A sealing tape is laid in the joint between the profile along the contour of the partition and the enclosing structures.

Starting (guide) profiles and rack-mountable ones are used:

• UW 50×40 for CW 50×50 – if the cladding is planned in one layer up to 7.5 cm thick or in two layers up to 10 cm;
• UW 75×40 under CW 75×50 – for single layer up to 10 cm, double layer up to 17.5 cm;
• UW 100×40 under CW 100×50 – in one layer up to 15 cm, in two up to 20 cm.

When the partition requires special strength, in the case of hanging shelves or cabinets on it, you should purchase reinforced instead of rack-mount profiles or reinforce ordinary profiles with embedded wooden bars.

When creating an opening in the frame, we recommend using embedded timber, which must be inserted into the cavities of the frame profiles. The beams must be dried, slightly thinner than the profiles. So, for example, in metal racks 10 cm, a 9.5 cm bar is inserted.

Surface fasteners:

• dowels for installation on concrete and masonry – from 3.7 cm;
• wood screws – 3-5 cm;
• frame fasteners – self-tapping screws for metal with a 13 mm press washer;
• fasteners for gypsum board – countersunk head screws – 2.5–2.7 cm;

Sound and heat insulation materials (if desired) are laid inside the partition. Good sound insulation is provided by dense mineral wool mats, while expanded polystyrene is clearly not suitable for this..

And also prepare the tools:

• a screwdriver or drill with a carrier;
• spirit level, level;
• marking pencil;
• scissors for metal / hacksaw for wood;
• plumb line;
• roulette;
• construction knife.

After everything is ready, you can start building the structure. This work consists of two main stages:

1. Installing the frame.
2. Plasterboard installation.
3. Installing the guides.

Before installing the metal frame of the structure, use a level pencil to make the appropriate line marks on the floor, ceiling and walls. In this case, it is most convenient to use a level. Also mark the arrangement of vertical profiles with a 600 mm step.

Fasten sealing strips on the outside of the guide profiles.

Then screw them with the grooves upwards along the perimeter using self-tapping screws and / or dowels (depending on the surface material). Fastening step – 40-50 cm. If walls or ceiling with significant differences, curvature of the surface, set them in level using spacers or wedges.

Forming the frame of the doorway

During the installation of the frame, it is necessary first of all to provide an opening for the interior door.

Form the frame for the door in the following sequence:

1. Cut the rack profiles of the required length, lay a bar in the profile cavity for reinforcement.
2. Insert the resulting elements into the grooves of the guide profiles on the ceiling and floor at the required distance to install the door frame.
3. Install horizontally, at the desired height, the profile lintel above the future door frame.
4. After checking the level, fix all elements with 13-16 mm self-tapping screws with a press washer.
5. Installation of rack profiles.

Insert the posts into the grooves of the ceiling and floor starter strips every 60 or 40 cm (the smaller the gaps, the stronger the structure). It can be exposed even after 120 cm, but such a partition will be extremely fragile, decorative, and is unlikely to be suitable as an interior with a doorway.

Before screwing the rack profiles to the rails, fix the plumb line to the opposite walls to adjust the level and, making sure that the structure has no bends / distortions, fasten the racks.

To create stiffening ribs, in places where the horizontal joining of gypsum plasterboards will take place, install jumpers from the profile. To do this, cut off the pieces of the profile with metal scissors and fasten them to the posts. This is usually done before installing the gypsum board, but the easiest way to install them after sheathing one side of the partition.

Sheathing of the partition frame

Before installing the first sheet, it is necessary to note the accuracy of its fit to the wall and cut it, if necessary, to the shape of the wall (if it has a level difference). Difficulties should not arise with the cladding of partitions of complex shapes, especially with inclined planes or shaped elements..

With a ceiling height greater than the length of the gypsum board, the sheets are stacked in a checkerboard pattern. The easiest way is to fix all the solid sheets first, in the first row from the floor, in the second – from the ceiling and so on, alternating. After that, pieces are cut to completely fill the surface of the partition.

The step of fixing the gypsum board along the edges is 20–25 cm, in the middle you can make gaps of 30, but it is more convenient to use the same 20–25 cm, since most manufacturers put a marking line on the sheets taking into account this distance, which is very convenient for beginners. Screw heads should not be deeply embedded in the sheet or left sticking out on the surface. Better to make it flush with the heads slightly dipping. It is not recommended to twist screws in the edges / edges, make an indent of 2 cm.

Installation field of one side in the cavity of the frame, you can fix heat / sound insulation materials.

ATTENTION! You should not trim the gypsum board with an angle grinder, as beginners often do, the room will be covered with white dust, and the edges will look torn, sloppy. It is enough to cut the cardboard on both sides along the dividing line, slightly pressing the construction knife into the plaster, and then break the sheet, resting it on the flat edge of the table along the cut line or placing a thick board under it. professional advice on working with drywall will also help

Basic rules for installing gypsum board:

• Leave expansion gaps with adjacent surfaces – 1 cm with floor, 0.5 cm with ceiling
• Chamfer all drywall seams before installation, if not, for subsequent reinforcement and puttying.
• If the sheathing on one side runs from right to left, cover the other side from left to right in order to displace the seams along the rows.
• Do not forget to mark the location of the wiring if you have it hidden. Cut the holes for the sockets using crowns. The wires must be laid in a corrugated PVC tube.

That’s all. The partition remains to be putty and revetted with any suitable finishing material.