Plasterboard provides a relatively quick and simple method of cladding walls or ceilings and providing a smooth surface for decorating. It also offers good sound insulation as well as fire protection. It is quite easy to cut and to fix, either by bonding or by nailing it into place.

A range of dry-lining plasterboards is available from builders’ merchants. The boards are all made with a core of aerated gypsum plaster and covered on both sides with a strong paper liner. A grey paper facing is for finishing with plaster while the ivory-coloured paper is for direct decorating with wallpaper or paint.

Plasterboard is made in a range of thicknesses and sheet sizes, usually with square or tapered edges. Tapered edges are invariably on the ivory-coloured side of a sheet, whereas the edges on the grey side are always square.

Plasterboard is fragile, having very little structural strength. Nevertheless, the sheets are quite heavy, so always get someone to help you carry one. Always carry it vertically on edge — there is a serious risk of breaking it if you carry a board face up.

Manufacturers and suppliers of plasterboard store it flat in stacks, but this is usually inconvenient at home and is anyway not necessary for a small number of sheets. Store them on edge instead, leaning them at a slight angle against a wall, their ivory-coloured faces together to protect them.

Stack the sheets carefully to avoid damaging their edges.

Cutting plasterboard

You can cut plasterboard with a saw or with a stiff-blade craft knife.

Support a sheet face-side up on lengths of wood laid across trestles. First mark the cutting line on it with the aid of a straightedge. When sawing, hold the saw at a shallow angle to the surface of the plasterboard. If the offcut is a large one, ask a helper to support it as you approach the end of the cut in order to prevent the board breaking.

When slicing plasterboard with a knife, cut fairly deeply into the material following a straightedge, then snap the board along the cutting line over a length of wood. Cut through the paper facing on the other side to separate the two pieces.

Employ a keyhole saw, a power jigsaw or a craft knife to make openings in plasterboard for switches and other electrical fittings.

Remove any ragged paper after cutting by rubbing down the edges with an abrasive paper.