Is this battening sufficient

[Rachel G]

Hi all,

I'm battening the walls of my brick and block 80s house, insulating in between and then plasterboarding over with acoustic plasterboard (heavier than the regular stuff). Have I used enough battens to support the weight? I see some people put header battens and noggins in too. I'm trying to do a thorough job but don't want to waste materials, plus the neighbours are very bothered by the sds drilling into the walls so don't want to go overboard.

Most walls are 2.4m high but some areas on the stairs are up to 3.3m.

 

[kingandy2nd]

You’d want nogging around all the edges and at joints where the height of the wall is over 2.4m length of one board.

Personally I’d also put noggings at 1.2m, to prevent any flex if someone leans on the walls. You can screw the noggins to the vertical battens if really concerned about the noise…but I’d fix them to the wall too.

 

[kingandy2nd]

Also think now about where you might like coat hooks, shelves, etc and fix suitable battens in

 

[If in doubt...]

In some sense it's always worth doing a thorough job as possible as fixings and batten don't cost much, but if you are wanting to minimise the work then as said above you'll certainly want noggins in places over 2.4m where the plasterboard ends join. As for everywhere else I look at the individual areas and decide then. If there is coving and skirting then I don't usually head and foot, and if there is little chance of heavy pressure then I don't bother with noggins, only in places where I feel they are needed.

If you are using acoustic PB which is stiffer then that helps as well.

One thing I have done if drilling is not possible is mount the PB, then drill a 10mm hole in the middle area of the PB and them pump some gripfill type gunk etc through the hole to make a small support. Worth considering if you don't want to drill too much.

 

[Dereekoo]

In a standard 2.4m timber stud wall spacing would be 400,450 or 600 depending on the thickness of plasterboard used and noggins at 1/3 and 2/3 (or even just at 1/2) height to hold it all together , in your case I cant see the need for noggins as the timber is fixed to the wall and is not going any where. Did something similar but used top and bottom battens

 

[noseall]

Hi all,

I see some people put header battens and noggins in too. I'm trying to do a thorough job but don't want to waste materials

Header and footer secures the 'frame' and provides a more solid backer, especially relevant at skirting level. We opt for a broader batten at the bottom, often using 100mm x 25mm sawn. Also, those diagonal spacings running up the stair stringer are an exaggerated span, because of the diagonal anomaly. You definitely need to fill these.

 

[Rachel G]

Header and footer secures the 'frame' and provides a more solid backer, especially relevant at skirting level. We opt for a broader batten at the bottom, often using 100mm x 25mm sawn. Also, those diagonal spacings running up the stair stringer are an exaggerated span, because of the diagonal anomaly. You definitely need to fill these.

Ah thanks - I've now put battens top and bottom and am working on a third way up and two-thirds of the way up.