Gap between boards ??

[Heatslave]

Hi ,

Confident and competent DIY’er here, after some advice on gaps between boards please ??

I’m going to plasterboard the stud walls and overboard the ceilings to make life easier for a plasterer to skim them. I get frustrated that in 2025 there are still crack lines in plasterboard even when they’ve been taped. You’d think there would be a modern solution to this issue by now .

Do I butt the boards up together with no gap at all, or do you leave a 1mm or 2mm gap for expansion between sheets ?? And what distance should the screws be apart please ?? And I take it you use square edge, rather than tapered boards ??

Many thanks,
Graeme.

 

[jamiesun]

Hey Graeme,

Sounds like a solid plan! Yeah, you’d think by now someone would’ve invented crack-proof plasterboard .

For gaps—butt them up tight, no need to leave a gap. The boards don’t really expand/shrink in the same way as timber. Just make sure they’re snug but not forced together.

Screw spacing—150mm apart on edges, 200-300mm in the middle of the board. Go for 25mm screws for 12.5mm boards into timber studs (or 32mm if overboarding a ceiling).

For walls, square edge is fine since you’re skimming, but if you were taping & jointing instead of skimming, tapered edge would be better.

Hope that helps!

 

[Heatslave]

Hey Graeme,

Sounds like a solid plan! Yeah, you’d think by now someone would’ve invented crack-proof plasterboard .

For gaps—butt them up tight, no need to leave a gap. The boards don’t really expand/shrink in the same way as timber. Just make sure they’re snug but not forced together.

Screw spacing—150mm apart on edges, 200-300mm in the middle of the board. Go for 25mm screws for 12.5mm boards into timber studs (or 32mm if overboarding a ceiling).

For walls, square edge is fine since you’re skimming, but if you were taping & jointing instead of skimming, tapered edge would be better.

Hope that helps!

Perfect answer, thanks very much