Plasterboard / Drywall

A sheet building material made from a gypsum core sandwiched between paper liners, used to create smooth walls and ceilings.

Plasterboard (called drywall or sheetrock in the US) is the standard material used to line interior walls and ceilings in modern homes. It consists of a gypsum plaster core pressed between two sheets of heavy paper or fibreglass matting. Once installed, it is either skimmed with a thin layer of plaster (skim coat) or the joints are taped, filled, and sanded to create a smooth surface ready for painting or wallpapering.

Types of plasterboard

Not all plasterboard is the same. Your contractor will choose the right type based on where it is being used:

  • Standard plasterboard — general-purpose, used on most walls and ceilings
  • Moisture-resistant (green board) — treated to resist damp, used in bathrooms, kitchens, and utility rooms
  • Fire-resistant (pink board) — provides additional fire protection, often required in garages, kitchens, and around boiler cupboards
  • Acoustic plasterboard — denser board designed to reduce sound transfer between rooms
  • Thermal-backed — plasterboard bonded to a layer of insulation, used on external walls to improve energy efficiency

Why plasterboard matters in a renovation

Plasterboard is involved in almost every renovation project:

  • New walls — stud walls are clad with plasterboard on both sides
  • Re-lining old walls — in older homes, damaged or uneven plaster can be replaced by fixing plasterboard over the existing surface (dot and dab method) or onto new battens
  • Ceiling work — new ceilings, lowered ceilings, and ceiling repairs all use plasterboard
  • After first fix — once plumbers and electricians have run their pipes and cables inside the walls, plasterboard goes up to close everything in before the finishing trades begin

Standard sizes

Plasterboard typically comes in sheets of 2400 mm x 1200 mm (8 ft x 4 ft), with thicknesses of 9.5 mm (ceilings) or 12.5 mm (walls). Larger sheets are available for reducing the number of joints.

Practical tip

When reviewing a quotation, check which type of plasterboard is specified for wet areas like bathrooms and kitchens. Using standard board instead of moisture-resistant board in these spaces can lead to swelling and mould over time.