How to Stick Plaster Board to Wall Insulation

Installing a covering over insulation is necessary for the insulation to work properly. It is especially important in living spaces to protect people from irritating fibers in fiberglass insulation. Plasterboard comes in sheets measuring 4 feet by 8 feet and typically are 1/2-inch thick made of a gypsum plaster center covered with bonded paper.

Things You'll Need

• Ringed nails or screws
• Hammer
• Screw gun or power drill
• Utility knife
• Joint compound
• Flexible putty knife
• Self-sticking fiberglass mesh tape
• Fine-grit sandpaper

Instructions

1. Place the first sheet of plasterboard up against the wall studs, beginning in a top corner of the room, near the ceiling. Line up the plasterboard with the ceiling to form a tight joint.

2. Hammer ringed nails through the plasterboard and into the wall studs every eight inches or use a screw gun or power drill to sink screws through the drywall into the studs.

3. Place the second sheet of plasterboard up to the ceiling tightly butting it up against the first sheet and nail or screw in every eight inches. Continue to butt sheets of plasterboard up to the ceiling and next to the previous sheet until plasterboard covers the top half of the wall. Repeat the same method to cover the lower half of the wall. Make cuts to the plasterboard with a utility knife as necessary.

4. Apply a thin layer of joint compound to the seams and nail heads or screw heads with a flexible putty knife. Press the joint compound into the spaces to fill them and make them even with the plasterboard.

5. Apply self-sticking fiberglass mesh tape over the joint compound.

6. Apply another thin layer of joint compound over the fiberglass mesh tape, feathering it out at the edges. Feathering means making the layer of joint compound thinner and thinner at the edges.

7. Allow the joint compound to dry; the process usually takes two to three hours.

8. Sand the joint compound smooth with fine-grit sandpaper.

Tips & Warnings

• Using a helper to hang plasterboard makes the project easier.

• Wear a dust mask and safety glasses while hanging plasterboard.

References

• "The Simon and Schuster Complete Guide to Home Repair and Maintenance"; Bernard Gladstone; 1987
• "Walls and Ceilings"; Time Life Editors; 1982