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Plaster or Dry Wall in Gold Coast: Read on to Find Out

There are two main types of wall materials: plaster and dry wall. To figure out which kind of wall you have in your home, you can do these simple methods in the comforts of your own home:

Check the Attic

You can usually tell what kind of wall you have in your attic by the material used. It is drywall if you see the uniform, rectangle sheets with brown paper backing. It is a plaster wall if you see thin wood strips with hardened white material in the gaps between them.

It’s important to check the attic’s floor and walls when determining what materials are used in the home’s construction. The attic is the ceiling of the room below, so checking can give you an idea of the materials used. 

Additionally, exterior walls will not help identify your wall material. Exterior walls are not usually finished with drywall or plaster and are typically insulated so that the building material won’t be visible.

Take Out the Switch Plate

Remove the switch plate or electrical socket cover with a screwdriver to expose the wall material beneath. If it contains a layer of paper on either side of the crumbly white gypsum, you have a dry wall.

On the other hand, if your walls are plaster, there is no paper layer on either side. There is only a hard plaster layer on top of wood laths. You may see plaster “keys” between the laths with a flashlight.

Try the Hardness Test

Try pushing a push pin into the wall to tell if you have plaster or drywall. If it’s a dry wall, it’s relatively soft so that the push pin can go in with thumb pressure. If it’s plaster, it’s much harder, so a thumbtack probably won’t go in without hammering.

Also, if you want to hang an item on your wall, you can try hammering a small nail into it. Drywall is easy to penetrate with a nail and will produce a small amount of white dust. Plaster walls are more difficult to nail into, and the nail may feel like it’s being pushed out. This is because the laths in the wall are flexible. When you get a nail into plaster, the hole is usually bigger than the nail, which can cause the nail to fall out.

Crack Down on Cracks

Plaster is a type of material that is used in construction projects. It is made of water, lime, and sand and creates smooth surfaces on walls and ceilings. It is also used to create decorative elements like mouldings. Plaster walls are usually found in older buildings because it was gradually phased out of use in the years after World War II. Most plaster walls have cracks because of the age of the material.

Plaster forms hairline cracks as it ages, while drywall does not. Cracks in plaster form spider web-like lines that spread across walls and ceilings.

Conversely, the cracks on a dry wall surface are usually small and localised. The paper surface of the dry wall also won’t crack.

Conclusion

Don’t just nail anything to your wall without checking its material. Remember these tips to find out if you’re working with plaster or dry wall!

Need Help? Contact We Plaster & Recruit Today
We Plaster & Recruit do exactly as our name suggests: we provide the best plastering services by employing the right contractors to do the job for you, whether dealing with plaster or dry wall in Gold Coast. Find out more on our website!

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