wall battens

[andywatson]

Hi,

First of probably quite a lot of questions since I am about to start on a garage conversion!!

The garage is blockwork on the inside, and obviously needs plasterboarding. My current plan is not to dot & dab these because I think I will get a better (ie straighter) wall if I fix wooden battens to the wall and then attach the plasterboard to these. I also think this will help me when I am repositioning some of the electrics & plumbing....not exactly sre why, but just think it will help me position everything sensibly!

So my question is how do I fix these battens to the wall? There seem plenty of rawlbolt type products that would do the job really well, but cost a fortune, can I use simple rawl plugs and screws or could I (easiest of all) use glue?

Thanks in advance

Andy

Oh, and since your reading this anyway, should I add the battens just at the spots where the edge of the plasterboard will be, or is a central one advisable too?

Cheers!

 

[noseall]

i would advise fitting battens at 400 centres. they can be plugged and screwed. you may need a solid batten at skirting height, but only if you are NOT fitting any skirting.

definitely not glue.

the battens will follow the profile of the wall no matter what.
what makes you think you will end up with a flatter wall this way? battening is very time consuming.

 

[andywatson]

what makes you think you will end up with a flatter wall this way? battening is very time consuming.

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

I kind of figured it would be a slow painstaking job, but I can get it done through the evenings and the bigger jobs at the weekend. I also expect it to be the more expensive option, compared to a bit of dry wall adhesive, but there is 1 wall that I think will give me problems.

The gas & electricity meters are on one wall, and although they are recessed, the main gas pipe sits against the wall. They are sat in some kind of box, and between the pipe and the box they actually sit about 50mm out from the wall. I thought this was too much to dot and dab, so it would be easier to batten that wall with 2*2 battens.

I could dot and dab the other walls, but I thought since the blockwork is flat it would be easy to use battens to follow the wall exactly, whereas with the dot and dab I would inevitably get some "blobs" thicker than others and the wall wouldn't be perfectly flat which would have gone on to be harder for the plasterer further down the line.

Feel free to tell me I am being an idiot by making my life pointlessly difficult!

 

[andywatson]

I remember why I thought about battening the other walls!

They are external walls, so although the wall is double skinned and cavity insulated I thought I might add some more insulation by battening and then fitting insulation into the gaps between the battens.

I didnt see that this would be possible dotting and dabbing, although in truth I am not sure how much difference this extra insulation will make, or if it is even necessary.

Andy

 

[noseall]

you can buy insulated plasterboards. these boards have a layer of inso' bonded to the board.

they are sold in differing thicknesses and varying levels of insulation value.

these boards can be dabbed to the wall.

it is important to stack them flat. if they are allowed to bow, for a prolonged period of time, then you will find getting them to sit flat to the wall a problem.

 

[andywatson]

Cheers for that- I will look into them.