Plasterboarding techniques

[Participant]

Hi all

A while back I posted a comment in another thread asking how to turn this:





...into something more attractive and useful, i.e. a cupboard for bedding and towels, etc.

Well I'm finally tackling this tomorrow and I've decided to overboard using the dot and dab method, then paint directly onto the plasterboard, i.e. the quickest and easiest method. Should be OK for this job though I gather, as the panels won't be massive and it's just an airing cupboard? I'm going to batten the back wall and hide the pipes behind the plasterboard, with a 'service hatch' to gain access to the isolating valves.

However, I have no idea what to buy in terms of what is considered decent quality board, adhesive, any 'non-standard' tools for the job, etc.

What's the best way to tackle the white box on the right? It's the burglar alarm tamper-proof jobbie so can't be moved or anything.

Basically I'm asking how the hell I actually achieve this! If you can help it's much appreciated.

 

[Participant]

Cheers guys.

King85 - I'll probably go to B&Q.

It might be a simple job, but I still want to make it look as good as it can. I've read about ivory board that is designed specifically to be painted over...presume that's a good idea in my case?

Also the floor...can I just carpet over that with a square scrap and some carpet glue? How do I tackle the pipes at the bottom on the left?

 

[Participant]

They go to a towel heater in the bathroom on the other side of some breeze block.

Need to drill a 22mm hole through a tile and about 6 inches of breeze block to get the hot water pipe through the back wall. Should be fun!

 

[Participant]

Skimming wouldn't have solved the problems of the huge holes at the top I guess?

I'm going for 9mm as it doesn't have to be 100% flat.

Thanks for the tip about the rasp. I'm a little confused as to whether I need board with a tapered edge for filling between boards or not?

 

[Participant]

Thanks for the detailed post. Handiboards don't seem to be available in tapered edge versions. Hmmm, could be fun squeezing 2400 boards into my car!

 

[Participant]

I wouldn't be using tapered edge boards anyway. For where two boards join on a flat wall sure, but none of those walls look big enough for that so I'd get square edge.

Two boards will be joining on a flat wall though?

The walls aren't big enough to require a join as such, but several other factors unfortunately dictate that I'll need to join two boards (pipes, electrical boxes, and the fact that I can't for a 2400mm sheet into the airing cupboard anyway cause of the divider you can see half way up the cupboard in the pictures above).

You'll have a job fitting full size boards in any car.

That's my problem. I want a tapered board so I can use tape and compound for a neat join where the boards meet, but the only boards that will fit in my car are square-edged. Guess I'll have to snap them after I've paid and before I take them out of the store!

What a faff. I'm determined to do this myself, but it's rapidly turning into a project rather than a Saturday morning job!

I had a look at the pipework again earlier, and to get the neatest finish and hide all the pipes, I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to:

- Strip back plaster to (what I assume is) breeze block. This is because battening the left and right walls will take the plasterboard past flush with the airing cupboard frame.
- Re-plumb cold feed pipe to shower
- Fit an access hatch
- Re-plumb random tiny pipes feeding towel heater on the left
- Batten all four surfaces as well as the floor, which will bring the left and right-hand walls past the cupboard frame (unless I strip blocks of their plaster)

Oh well. I'm going to hit each part at a time and get it done gradually.

 

[Participant]

Finally completed this today!

I used 9.5mm handiboard from B&Q and used the dot and dab method. Thanks for all the help.

Here are the results:



In the end I didn't batten out and hide the pipes as I wanted to retain the depth. By far the hardest part was preparing the thing in the first place.

 

[Participant]

Yeah though about that, but that would have lowered everything else because the 4th shelf would have had to also drop to accommodate the third shelf, which would therefore have stopped my wife putting the hoover at the bottom...which would have been a deal-breaker!