Drywall & Plaster

Durock Cement Boards are a type of drywall reinforced with cement for a harder surface. This type of wall material can be finished just like ordinary drywall, using joint tape and joint compound.…

Vents in concrete slabs are used to allow air or moisture to pass through the slab. The air transfer from the vent is important for climate control inside basements. A hole is made in the concrete to…

Successfully deadening sound transmission through walls is primarily a matter of reducing the vibration of the wall caused by sound waves. Two common methods of doing so are by adding mass to the…

Threaded drywall toggles are hollow wall anchors for drywall. They combine the installation ease of a threaded drywall anchor with the holding strength of a toggle bolt. They can support more than 40…

A drywall bead provides a hard, straight edge at each corner and protects the edges of drywall panels from damage. Available in square and round designs, the beads overlap the adjacent edges of…

When you find puddles of water around your water tank, chances are your water tank rusted and ate through the tank material. A temporary fix may hold for weeks or months, giving you enough time to…

During construction, it is common to hang drywall on the ceiling first, followed by the walls. For vaulted ceilings, the installation process is the same as for flat ceilings. Vaulted ceilings require…

Painted wallpaper is an investment of time and money. The art may be a vintage piece in an older home or an original piece which is irreplaceable. If you have a work of art such as this in your home…

Many old homes contain thick layers of plaster on the walls. Nailing or drilling into plaster presents a variety of problems. Such problems include chipping walls and inadequate holes to support the…

Mixing sheetrock mud for texturing is similar to mixing the mud as normal for taping and covering joints. When texturing with sheetrock mud, the mud requires thinning to the consistency of paint so…

Hollow metal doors have a frame that fits around masonry block or studs and usually comes in one piece. Hollow metal frames are available for finished drywall door openings, however, they come in…

Sheetrock joint compound is most often used to cover the joints between sheetrock panels during wall construction, but it also works well for patching nail holes, cracks and larger holes in existing…

Plaster provides a seamless surface suitable for both traditional and modern homes. It is durable, almost as hard as concrete, and flexible enough to go around curves and arches. However, it may not…

A cathedral ceiling is a high ceiling that reaches a peak in the center of the roof line. The space provided by the ceiling can make a room feel more open and expansive. You can finish the ceiling by…

The American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) produces manuals with standards for all types of building materials and construction techniques. It has many manuals dealing with drywall -- also…

Space-saving and stylish, the wall oven is becoming more popular both in restaurants and the home. Still, like all ovens, a wall oven heats foods up to temperatures that would burn and destroy…

From the look of its scant metal appearance, you might not be able to tell that aluminum C has a comparable structural strength to the traditional wood studs when assembled into a wall frame and…

Residential sheetrock is only about 1/2 inch thick. A strong punch can break the light wallboard, which is made of hydrated lime sulfate (gypsum) and paper. To cut sheetrock neatly as you fit it for a…

Setting-type joint compound is ideal for exterior construction. Exterior jobs need a durable joint compound. Setting-type joint compound dries hard, resists moisture and requires just a few coats to…

Drywall is the typical covering over interior studs to finish a wall. When the studs are wooden, attaching the drywall is a simple process of a few nails through the drywall material into the studs.…

Sump pumps are pumps that are typically installed in basements to dispose of rising water levels in areas that face heavy rains. These pumps can be drained in to gutter or, in some cases, their output…

Joint compound is commonly called mud by drywall finishers. It looks slightly grayish when wet, but turns white when it dries. Joint compound is used in conjunction with paper tape to finish and seal…

Plaster designs are a simple way to add your own style and personality to a room. Create designs on all walls or make a few designs in certain areas of the room. From a living room to a bedroom to a…

Sheets of drywall used on walls are not flush where they meet at a corner. Two sheets of drywall need to be combined at a corner joint with a drywall corner. Drywall corners are available at most…

There are few wall surfaces that won't look better with the addition of drywall. Sometimes called sheetrock or even gypsum board, drywall helps deaden sound transmission between rooms, provides an…

Covering a concrete masonry unit, or CMU, wall with plaster creates an attractive surface over the blocks more suitable for interior walls than the blocks themselves. Unlike plaster on stud walls, the…

Before laying tile over a plaster wall, the surface must be perfectly level. Unfortunately, plastering is not an exact science and if a professional did not plaster the wall, chances are there are…

Laminate is an inexpensive material often used in place of tile. Available in an endless variety of colors and styles, laminate mimics the appearance of stone, ceramic and granite. It is sold in…

It's something most kids dream of, and even adults can't resist the allure. A hidden storage area may contain almost anything. Guns, safe from others' hands, fit perfectly inside of a hidden storage…

Most homeowners find plaster bagworms hanging from the stucco inside their homes. The sight of insects on your wall can be a little unnerving, but plaster bagworms are relatively harmless. They don't…

Ceilings in homes are generally sheets of drywall nailed or screwed to the ceiling rafters. A situation may arise when you are installing drywall on a ceiling in your home and a piece of drywall…

Most of the time, you’ll never know where the drywall contractor nailed the wallboard panels because she applied joint compound over the recessed nail heads and smoothed the compound out to form…

Drywall panels are flat, and while they provide a smooth surface for walls and ceilings, they don’t offer a finished look in the corners. The application of wet joint compound on corners lends…

Removing a tub surround in a bathroom with plaster walls requires special care. Unlike drywall, plaster repair requires more effort and special expertise. The care you take during the removal process…

Drywall, often called gypsum board, is one of the most common construction materials for covering interior walls and ceilings. The standard method for installing sheets of drywall is to run them…

The height of vaulted ceilings often makes them difficult to access and cut. If a vaulted ceiling is covered with Sheetrock, which is a brand name of USG Corp.'s gypsum wallboard, then it is secured…

A plaster cartouche is a large, carved tablet that's typically quite heavy. This type of heavy artwork must be mounted properly to avoid damaging the art and potentially the wall. The cartouche must…

A bathtub’s flange, or rim, adjoins the surrounding bathroom surfaces. Generally, the surfaces around the bathtub are tiled, which provides superior water resistance, and are easy to clean. But…

Texture on drywall ceilings or walls adds a design element, but you’re not stuck with applying just one style of texture. Drywall contractors create knockdown texture by passing a wide taping…

Plaster was once a common wall covering for homes built before World War II. Plaster walls are extremely durable, as many older and historic homes testify with their century-old walls. Plaster is…

Old double wide modular houses were not always made with Sheetrock on the ceilings. Many may have vinyl walls that do not provide the insulation and sound resistance of Sheetrock. Instead of just…

When it comes to replacing shower tiles and repairing drywall in a bathroom setting, there is more to it than simply removing the tile. Patching the drywall so that it holds up structurally is…

Drywall comes in large, flat, gypsum-core panels wrapped with a strong, paper skin. The panels, which are 4-feet wide, are available in lengths ranging from 8 to 16 feet. The panels are purchased in…

Sheetrock, also known as drywall or wallboard, makes finishing walls a quick, relatively simple project. In ceilings, individual sheets of this material may separate from the wall or from one another…

Permanently dividing a large room into two smaller rooms isn't always an option. A rental space or one you're using temporarily calls for a divider that can be dismantled with a process as simple as…

Rough veneer creates a rustic, textured appearance that complements many decorative styles. However, roughly textured veneer walls look out of place when your decorating style is more elegant or…

Plaster is a wall finishing material, used for centuries. It can be applied over concrete or cinder block, brick, stone or wood. It creates a durable, hard surface that conforms to flat or curved…

Although a wooden banister adds a nice touch to your house, scratches and cracks often compromise the wood. However, a simple crack isn’t cause for concern because a bit of wood filler will fix…

Whether you're taping drywall joints or texturing finished drywall, you use joint compound to do it, and the procedure is known in the building trades as mudding. There are separate procedures for…

The wall spaces around the bathtub often consist of completely waterproof materials, such as fiberglass or tile. These materials do not provide the only means of covering bathroom walls though.…