plasterboarding - a DIY job?

[JohnnyF]

Hi,

We're renovating a terraced house that we hope to move into before Christmas.

A builder recently gave us a quote of £13K for putting up studs, plasterboarding, insulation, soundproofing, kitchen fiiting, some other odds and ends and all the joinery work. I've already ripped everything out so was a bit shocked by his price. he's done work for us before at reasonable prices and we've been pleased with him but 13K is a big chunk of our budget and we still have wiring, heating, plastering to shell out for!

The builder reckons we need 200 boards. I was wondering is it a job that a DIYer could do themselves (screwing in rather than nailing) or will I be compromsising the final finish with my lack of experience?

 

[brist]

Board up yourself it will not affect the plastered finish,dont forget to stagger the joints.

 

[sanj.varah]

its not hard, just hard work! i'd go for it. are you dot and dabbing the walls? as 200 sheets seems a lot.

 

[JohnnyF]

nah, not dot and dabbing - there is a fair bit of that needed as well but I'll leave that to the plasterers.

The plasterboard is for all the attic rooms (3 rooms + shower room) and the second floor (4 walls need boarding). Plus ceilings to 6 rooms and the entire 2nd floor.

I think the number of plasterboards is high as the stairs to the 2nd floor mean it is difficult to get the big boards up there so the builder went for smaller ones.

I'm tempted to have a crack. I have a builder round tonight and a plasterer round tommorow so I'll ask their opinion.

Cheers

John

 

[Blackrat]

if you think you can do it you probably can, your best friend will be your spirit level , check you ceiling heights cause you can get plasterboard in different lengths. if you got a 2.7 meter high ceiling and you using 2.4 boards it wastes time, rather get 2.7 boards. See if there is a company called CCF ltd close to you, they helped me out loads with products i never knew about