Plasterboard Alternatives.

[Mr. Tickle]

Hello Board!

I am in the process of designing a built in wardrobe unit for our master bedroom. My basic idea is to get a chippy to knock up some thin interior doors and a matching PAR frame. I would build the stud work, put a shelf and rail in and do the finishing.

I know plasterboard is the standard thing to use. I'm just looking and thinking that there won't be much actual boarding to do, plus, i'm not a good plasterer (never tried) and we can't afford to have someone in to skim it for us.

Are there any alternatvies? Can I use hardboard with chamfered edges or something? Fill in the gaps with filler, sand it down and paint, paint, paint?

Is there another alternative? Could MDF be used? Is this a viable option or is a final skim the only thing that will give a good, flat finish?

Cheers for your input.

Mr. T.

 

[Allenm]

If you are wallpapering and cut your plasterboard carefully at the corners then there is no need for a plaster finish. Even if you are going to paint it, line it first to get the nice crisp corners. Oh, and use adhesive rather than nails or screws to fix the plasterboard to the CLS.

Merv

 

[big-all]

heeelllooo m t

are you actualy talking about placing a built in wardrobe on a wall !!!!
if so you would use conti board m d f pine .cladding what ever matches the overall design.
or using the space beyond a wall as the back off the wardrobe

when you say" get a chippy to knock up some thin interior doors and a matching PAR frame."
do you mean a framed doors with panells

an idea of the area coverd would help if you want ideas

 

[Mr. Tickle]

Hi, THanks for the replys.

I am talking about building a wall with a door in it (two doors actually) with door frames that has behind it approx. 70/80cm of depth where i can put a rail and a shelf.

The front of the wall will have skirting board running along it. I will take the S.board from the back wall and use it for that.

Doors: Yes, basically. B&Q have regular internal doors for about £15. They have moulded panneling in them and the lock block.

I was thinking about getting some say, 45cm wide. Two sets of these in a frame.

It's not so much a wardrobe being screwed to the wall, as a massive cupboard.

I have some friends who've just moved into a new development. This is basically what they have. It's a stud wall infront of the actual wall with regular internal doors. It would look like it was another room entrance when shut.

 

[Mr. Tickle]

Yea, get the chippy to make the doors and the actual frame with the rebate in.

When i know how thick the doors/frame will be, I can setup the stud wall.

I'd then screw the Chippy-Frame to the stud wall and hang the doors.

 

[big-all]

mmmm if i am understanding this properly

assuming the "walk in wardrobe" is less than 4ft deep and less than 8ft3 inch high [3 inches hidden behind skirting or coving]and is full hight to the ceilling
i would go for a frame from floor to ceilling to hang the doors from
perhaps 3by 2 par timber [smooth planed]that comes out at about 44by 70mm this would allow you to place arcatrave if required which will cover the frame and side edge of the 18mm m d f used for the side panel[8 by 4 sheet] with no more support requierd exept a batton top back and bottom
this will also save you having to line the inside

hope this makes sence

 

[Mr. Tickle]

Yea cool, that makes sense. I would like to build the stud wall though. I think it will make it a lot more sturdy and look as though it really is meant to be there, built in.

Do you think I can use hardboard instead of plasterboard? Chamfer the edges, nail/screw them to the studding and then use filler to fill the gaps - giving a nice flat surface?

Or is this why they plaster stuff, 'cause nothing else will do?

 

[big-all]

still not ultra shure of your idea trying to work out why hardboard it will wabble unless you support it every few inches

you can get mdf in 3 4 5 6 9 12mm and probably a lot more sizes inbetween

are you trying to taper into skirting allready fixed into position!!!!!!!!

what size of area are you trying to cover!!!!!!!!

if its the side of your wardrobe i would definatly not use plasterboard
unless i am misunderstanding what your saying!!!

 

[Mr. Tickle]

OK, sorry for the lack of detail.

I've been looking at built-in wardrobes for ages and most of them appear to be either A) a carcass, kitchen-cupboard-type thing, which is fitted with other carcasses together on a wall and doors fitted. OR B) bespoke joinery fitted by chippy.

Okay, so what i wanted to do was the bespoke chippy route.

I have a wall, opposite the bed-wall, in our bedroom that i would like to have as one complete wardrobe. The height is approx. 2.5m to the ceiling and we have about 4m of width. I would want the wardrobe to have about 60cm(ish) of depth, as thin as i can get away with really.

My idea was to build a wall, full height and width of the room, 60cm from the actual wall, and punch a hole in it for access (a door).

Inside, all i need is a rail that is head-height and a shelf that runs above this. I have sorted these fittings out and have a pole 4m long and the brackets to properly secure it and make it monkey-proof.

I don't need/want lots of divided spaces etc. etc. etc.

I was going to rip up the carpet inside this wardrobe, put a threshold below the doors and lay laminate flooring down inside. May not do this.

I didn't want a flooring to the wardrobe like most fitteds' do. So basically, i thought about stud walling, with a door frame in it.

I'm thinking hardboard because if I did all the struts and noggins, i would have thought that it would be fairly sturdy. I made a loft hatch door in a similar way and it feels like it's made of steel. Also, it's very smooth and easily obtainable. I just don't want to start to learn to plaster on this paticular project. If i'm right, it could be done in a weekend with the planning out the way.

In your mind, just build a wall from floor to ceiling, wall to wall, about 60cm from the back wall. Then, put two double-doors in that wall.

If you imagine that the doors won't be the full height of the room, there will be space left over above, to the ceiling. Also, since there are two openings, there will be three parts of 'boarding' - on the left wall to the left of the first door, in between both sets of doors and also on the right wall from the right of the second door.

I wanted these three sections to be the same width to help give it some symmetry. Access etc. may change this idea.

So i was going to clad those areas in hardboard. I don't think they will be big spaces, so maybe I could put MDF up instead. I have to line the front and also the back to make the wall, no problem really, just hardboard may be cheaper.

There would be no skirting board in place on the new wall. I would take the boarding from the 'old' back wall, inside the wardrobe, and fix it to the front. There would only be a bit, on the left, right and in the middle, where it would be needed as the doors would go right to the floor/carpet.

Does that help explain it at all?

 

[Allenm]

Mr T. What is the problem with Plasterboard? It is cheap and will definitely achieve your desire to have it look like it was meant to be there!

Am I missing something, are you trying to create a very small room in an existing room using a partition wall with doors in it? If so, then just build the frame with CLS, put up the plasterboard, fit the door frame and hang the doors. Then decorate the same as the rest of room. The only issue with the plasterboard not being skimmed will be the corners (unless you are making it so big you need to join sheets). The corner issue is easily solved by making them proud of the corner and using a sanding block to make the flush, apply a coat of primer, paper the lot. Job done!

Merv

 

[stevenrafferty]

I have done something similar and used plaster board, definitely the cheapest way to get a good finish and this wasn't skimmed.

If you have joins where two boards meet, try and use the boards that have tapered edges and use a decent filler to fill the gap, leave slightly proud to dry and then sand.

You can also achieve a fairly decent resulty with the edges where they meet the existing walls, by filling and sanding.

I would stick/glue the boards to the framing rather screwing them as you will have to go through the whole exercise for every screw head.

You might a slighly bigger issue where the plaster booards meet the ceiling, as this never seems to be square (in my experience) but you can fit some coving (relatively cheap and easy to install) and this does give the impression that the stud wall has always been there.

The end finish of the plaster will depend on if you are planning to paper or just paint? Paper will hide some minor faults, but if you are planning to paint, you will need to get you sanding done well

 

[big-all]

ok further thoughts

your span between doors is greater than 4 ft thus the need for joints

your doors need to go nearly full hight of your cupboard if you have a shelve at 6ft up and you dont have a door high enough access to the shelve becomes very awkward
the shelve has to be less than half the depth to allow you to awkwardly manover objects above your head and in then seeing into the awkward dark corners mean you loose things

in your answer you say a shelve at 6ft up then you say open space above
so that leaves 27 inches for the shelve the top and the open space above

you need to plan shoes and boxes on the floor to use that space
you need to position the hanging rail at the level of the longest garment plus hanger plus space underneath
on a long wardrobe two different rail hights gives you greater flexibility
if your wardrobe is only 24 " deep you will need virtualy continuous doors otherwise you wont get accses to the deep corners
i personaly think you need to go nearly right up to the ceilling to make it look profesional with virtualy full high and full lenth doors

also 18 mm mdf will be fully load supporting without the need for aditional support

 

[Mr. Tickle]

Yea, i've already thought about the access to the shelf. It will most likely be lower than 6ft.

So, can i use MDF or Hardboard to clad the stud-wall, shave the edges, nail/screw them down then plaster/fill over them and come out with a high quality finish?

 

[big-all]

you will definatly get a better finnish with mdf than hardboard because hardboard is only about 4mm thick and filler is likely to fall out if it flexes
if you use a minimum 12mm mdf you can hang your shelves from it
i would suggest you use 4x1par[planed all round]or pse[planed square edge]20mmx95mm as your shelve supports going from the front edge to the back edge this will allow you to attach your hanging rail underneath with room to to unhook the coat hangers [the actual distance is governed by you intermediate supporting brackets]
i would also front your shelve with 2x1" smooth timber underneath[thick edge showing] if possible with a 12mm x12mm rebate for you shelve to sit in[optimum span 4 to 5 foot]
this is to support the shelve and also make it strong enough to support the hanging rail which will need suporting about every 2 to 3 feet

you should be ok just butting and gluing the boards together[12mm thick] sanding and filling as required

 

[Mr. Tickle]

Brilliant, i'll go with MDF then.

The shelf, i plant to put a facia on it, yes. I was going to make some triangular supports and use those to put the shelf up.

The hanging rail is a 45mm, 3mm walled steel gas piping. I have some Cast metal fittings that i am having powder coated in white - they will fix to the floor, so the rail is not hanging from a shelf which is hanging on the wall. There will be two supporting posts for this rail on either side then another in the centre.

A little over-engineered, perhaps, but very sturdy.


Thanks again for your help.