Do-it-yourself plasterboard partition installation

A drywall partition with a door is the optimal solution to the problem of zoning the space in the room, especially relevant for studio apartments. Massive brick walls are a thing of the past: cheap and lightweight drywall, the spectrum of which begins with leveling the walls and ends the construction of complex ceiling structures of the most incredible forms, will allow you to create a partition with your own hands with minimal time and forces.

A few words in favor of drywall

Plasterboard designs have a list of undeniable advantages. Here are some of them:

• Ease - drywall does not create a large load on the floor in a multi-storey building.
• Environmental friendliness - the material does not contain harmful chemicals.
• Refractoriness - asbestos fiber is included in the composition of drywall, which prevents its ignition.
• Hiding communications - wiring fits nicely inside the chassis.
• Free choice of thickness and configuration of the partition.
• Good soundproofing.
• Ease of dismantling.
• Nice price.

Necessary tools and materials

In order to make a plasterboard partition with your own hands, you will need:

• laser level or spirit level, plumb line;
• screwdriver and screws;
• scissors for cutting metal; knife for drywall;
• roulette and corner;
• slanted planer.

Material List:

1. High-quality metal profiles made of fairly thick steel - guides (uw) and bearing (cw). The ideal thickness of the profile is 75 mm. A profile with a thickness of 50 mm will not provide sufficient structural reliability; a 100 mm profile will increase the thickness of the partition, which may be undesirable for reasons of space saving.
2. Drywall. GKL type can be any: ordinary, moisture resistant, fire resistant. The choice will depend on the operating conditions.
3. Wooden bars according to the size of the bearing profiles to strengthen the doorway.
4. Fasteners: dowels, metal screws with a diameter of 3.5 mm and a length of 8.5 mm for joining profiles, screws for drywall with a diameter of 3.5 mm and a length of 25 mm.

Before starting work, you should make a calculation of the amount of drywall needed. To do this, you need to calculate the area of ​​the partition (2 sides) taking into account the doorway (margin in case of damage to the sheet).

We assemble the frame for the partition

When creating a partition with your own hands, follow the following sequence of actions:

• Mark the location line of the future partition on the floor with a tape measure. Using the level, continue it on the walls and ceiling.
• Focusing on the markings, fix the uw guide profiles on the floor, and then on the ceiling with walls, which will serve as a support for the uprights. Depending on the coating material for fixing, you will need a dowel-nails or self-tapping screws, the pitch between which will be 30-50 cm.
• Cut the bearing profiles to size, insert into the lower and upper guides around the perimeter of the entire partition and firmly fix with self-tapping screws. On one sheet of drywall there should be 3 racks: if the width of the drywall is 120 centimeters, the step between the profiles will be 60 cm.

• To increase the structural strength of the drywall doorway, it requires a GKL joint in the center, and not along the edge, so we begin the installation of load-bearing profiles with two racks that limit it. To further strengthen the opening, you need to insert wooden bars into these extreme racks.

Important! The drywall doorway should be 2 cm wider than the door frame.

• In a strictly horizontal position, install the upper jumper from the guide profile above the opening, which should be 1–1.5 cm above the edge of the future door block. The approximate height of its location will be 2.1 m.

• For the GKL junction in the right place above the opening, install the trim of the vertical supporting profile.

Tip: in order for the door to be installed in the plasterboard partition with your own hands successfully, you must prevent the design from skewing. When mounting each frame element, do not forget to control its position with a level and a plumb line, check the correct angles with a square.

Frame cladding

• Sheathe one side of the partition first. The height of each sheet must be taken 1 cm less than the height of the frame rack. Sheets should be fastened with self-tapping screws every 15–20 centimeters. A sheet of drywall must be 1 centimeter from the floor, supports can be used to maintain this clearance.

Tip: cutting the doorway is particularly difficult, so it’s best to screw the whole sheet and only then cut it, focusing on the frame.

• Take care of laying communications. Attach the electrical wiring in the corrugation for fire safety to the frame.
• Time to make noise and heat insulation: strengthen the material, combining the functions of a heater and sound insulation, for example, mineral wool, between the walls of the racks.
• Treat all wooden parts with an antiseptic.
• Sheathe the frame with drywall on the other side.
• At the final stage, with the help of a drill and a crown, you need to make holes for the switches and sockets and bring the wires out.

Important! Drywall sheets should be joined in the middle of the profile, and above the door the drywall at the junction should not coincide with the edge of the vertical rack.

Some subtleties of working with drywall

When creating a plasterboard partition with your own hands, use the following tips:

• The correctness of the fasteners of each sheet can be checked with a spirit level.
• Sheets should be cut during operation with a drywall knife, then along the cut edge a chamfer should be made with a special planer with an inclined blade. If there is no such planer, this can be done with an ordinary sharp knife.
• When drywall is placed in two layers with your own hands, the sheets are overlapped.
• Whole sheets need to be fastened from the middle to the edges. This will make the cropped pieces invisible.
• Fastening sheets must begin from the ceiling.
• Self-tapping screws should be “recessed” into the sheet by 1-2 mm.

• All joints of drywall and the head of the screws are putty.
• To prevent plaster dust from irritating the mucous membranes of the eyes and nasopharynx, a respirator should be used. Also take care of good ventilation in the room.

Installation of a door in an aperture

Installation of the door in the drywall partition is usually done after all finishing work.

• Insert the assembled door frame into the opening, set it strictly according to the level and fix it with the help of wedges.
• Fasten the box by screwing the screws into the profile through pre-drilled holes.
• After making sure again that the box is in the correct position, fill the gaps between it and the opening with polyurethane-based foam.

Tip: so that the expansion foam does not deform the box during expansion, wedge it with jumpers.

• After the foam has dried, cut off the excess.
• After a day, when the foam finally hardens, you can mount the door leaf.

For installation in a partition from GKL, it is best to choose an interior door with a small weight. Perfectly suited for these purposes are accordion doors and sliding structures, the additional advantage of which is space saving.