How to fix a profile for drywall to the wall with your own hands

Drywall structures are very often used in the repair of apartments. Many owners seek to save on the services of professionals and try to complete the installation themselves. In order not to be disappointed in the final result, you need to know how to fix the drywall profile to the wall. After all, not only the appearance, but also the durability of the structure will depend on the quality of the frame.

Commonly used types of metal profiles

When attaching drywall to the walls and ceiling, use the appropriate metal profiles:

• PS - rack-mount;
• PN - guide profile;
• PP - ceiling;
• PPN - ceiling guide.

Guide Profiles fastened directly to one of the surfaces of the room (floor, wall or ceiling) and do not have additional stiffeners. The rack and ceiling metal profiles have special sides, so they are more resistant to bending. These elements are inserted into the guides and fixed there most often with special screws.

Mounting a drywall profile may also require the use of corner or beacon profiles. But in the vast majority of GKL designs, they will not be needed.

For reliability, it is recommended to use a profile made of metal with a thickness of at least 0.55 mm.

The length of the products can be 3 or 4 meters. To get fewer scraps when installing profiles for drywall, you should carefully calculate the number and sizes of individual frame elements, and only then go to the store.

Surface marking

An important and painstaking stage. The appearance of the entire structure will depend on the thoroughness of the marking. An incorrectly exposed metal profile may immediately be invisible, but it will certainly appear after the completion of work.

• On the surface of the wall, the most prominent point is sought. The distance from it to the inside of the drywall should be no less than the width of the metal profile used.
• A line is drawn on the floor indicating the outer boundary of the guide profile.
• Using a plumb line, this line is transferred to the ceiling. Such marking is required when attaching drywall to the wall on the profile, since it is necessary to obtain a single plane.
• Marking is made on the wall for installing rack profiles. Drywall sheet has a width of 1200 mm. They must be joined on the surface of the metal profile, so each sheet should be screwed to 3 or 4 racks. Accordingly, the step between the rack elements of the frame should be 40 or 60 cm. The extreme racks are located at the edges of the wall, and counting goes from them. In most cases, they prefer the option with three profiles per sheet: two at the edges and one in the middle.
• On the lines indicating the center of the vertical profiles, racks, every 60 cm mark the installation location of direct suspensions.
• Marked places for horizontal jumpers and suspensions for mounting them.

Mounting the profile to the wall

The rooms in the apartment, and, accordingly, the walls can be different: vary in size, surface curvature or the presence of windows. In each case, there will be a different algorithm for fixing drywall, but the general rules will remain unchanged. Consider the simplest option - aligning a wall without windows.

Do-it-yourself installation of the profile under drywall with the installation of guides on the floor and ceiling. Before that, the surface of the metal profile adjacent to the floor or ceiling is glued sealing tape. The algorithm for further actions is as follows:

• You can fix the lower guide on a wooden floor using self-tapping screws. Holes are drilled in the ceiling or surface of the concrete floor with a puncher and the guides are mounted on the dowel nails. Usually in the profiles there are already ready-made holes, but they can be made independently with a step of 25-30 cm.
• With the help of dowel nails, direct suspensions are attached. Their "wings" are bent in the form of the letter "P". With their help, in the future we will exhibit vertical racks.
• Vertical profiles are inserted into the guides.

It’s best to connect all the elements of the crate using cutter: the heads of small metal screws (they are also called “fleas”, “bugs” or “seeds”) can interfere with the tight fit of the GCR to the frame.

• "Bedbugs" racks are attached to the suspensions.

In order to expose all the racks in one plane, they do this: they install two extreme profiles, controlling their deviation by level or plumb. Then, 3-4 nylon threads are pulled between them. They carry out the installation of the remaining racks.

• There are a number of holes for self-tapping screws in the suspensions, with the help of which it is easy to achieve the required position of the metal profile. After that, the “wings” of the suspensions are gently bent to the sides so that they do not interfere with the further installation of the GCR.

• In places of horizontal joints transverse crossbars are made. They are mounted on suspensions, and for connection with vertical racks at the profile, the side walls are cut to a distance of 5 cm. It is better to attach the obtained “tongue” with the help of a notch, if “bugs” are used, their protruding heads will interfere. Another option is to use a single-level crab type connector.
• After mounting the frame, check once again whether all the elements are in the same plane. It is much easier to fix flaws at this stage than after fixing plasterboard.

Useful Tips

And a few more recommendations:

• After the end of the markup, you should take up communications, which will later be hidden under drywall. First of all, this is electrical wiring. The applied marking will help to lay it in such a way as not to damage during the installation of the frame. But laying it after installing the profiles can be inconvenient.

• It will be useful to draw up and maintain a plan for the location of profiles with dimensions. After fixing the drywall and its high-quality putty, the joints of the sheets will no longer be visible. Especially if on top of the GCR there will be some kind of finishing coating, for example, wallpaper. You should not rely on your memory or on the marks on the wall: who knows when the desire arises to fix a lamp, mirror or shelf on the wall? By this time, the marks will be definitely eliminated, and getting into the profile, wanting to fix it, for example, to the “butterfly” dowel, will be very unpleasant.
• With insufficient length of the profile, it can be increased. It is possible to connect products "overlap" or "butt". In the second case, an additional piece of the profile is used or the end of the guide plays its role. The junction is fixed on the sides with self-tapping screws, which will not interfere with the snug fit of the drywall sheet to the frame.