Drywall is the most popular wall type found in homes across the US. When designing your bathroom, you will ask what type of bathroom drywall should I use?
Cheap and easy, you can use drywall, known as sheetrock, for any room. Bathrooms are tricky due to their moisture. You’ll need to make sure your bathroom walls are durable and reliable.
Not all drywall is good for bathrooms. Moisture and mold-resistance and two key features.
Types Of Bathroom Drywall
Not all drywall is the same. To know which type of drywall to use for your project, you’ll need to understand the available drywall.
Here are the common niche drywalls:
White Board
This drywall comes in four-by-eight-foot pieces and is the most common. It is a popular choice for interiors in living rooms, bedrooms, and kitchens. Whiteboard is white on one side with a cardboard hue on the other.
Green Board
Green board is moisture resistant. However, it’s not waterproof. It is not the same as cement board which is more durable and better for areas with high moisture like bathrooms. But green board works fine for bathroom walls.
Blue Board
Blue board is a plasterboard made for backing for plastering. It is also water resistant, so it works for bathrooms and as a tile base. You can lay the mortar on the board without taping it.
Purple Board
Purple board drywall is ideal for high moisture rooms. It’s more expensive but is an enhanced version of regular drywall. It’s waterproof rather than water-resistant.
Paperless Drywall
Paperless drywall is becoming the new standard. Paper drywall will be a thing found in old homes. It is replacing paper-covered drywall, which isn’t water or fire-resistant, or mold-resistant. It is more expensive than other drywall styles.
Type X Drywall
Type X drywall is thicker drywall that is fire-resistant. The paper is off-white, or ivory, a color that distinguishes it from other drywalls. It isn’t easy to cut with a drywall knife and requires a saw.
Insulating Bathroom Drywall
Before putting up drywall, it’s important to insulate the area when working on an outside wall. Use thicker insulation for colder climates and standard insulation for warmer climates.
Insulation is harmful to breathe, so cut it outside and wear a mask when inside, installing it. If you have asthma, don’t handle the insulation, and try to avoid touching the fluffy part, holding onto the paper when stapling.
When you do put the drywall up, make sure the edges touch and lay flat. A crooked edge can mean difficult mudding and prevent the insulation from doing its job. You want to keep the inside temperature controlled by the inside regulator, not the outside.
Installing Bathroom Drywall
After you put insulation up, you can begin installing drywall. Measure and cut your bathroom sheetrock, making sure that you leave room on each stud for the sheetrock to be screwed in on both ends. Then, mark each stud on your board.
Measure it twice before cutting and check your marks at least three times. You have to make one cut.
Mudding Drywall
Doing a good job mudding drywall is as important as painting it. Mudding needs to be done even if you cover the board in tile, as taping can help keep air from getting in. When you mud, make sure to let it dry before doing anything else.
Related: Don’t Settle for Drywall –Go for These Awesome Finishes Instead
After it dries, sand it. Sanding the mudded area creates a smooth surface. If you’re going to paint the bathroom drywall, then a smooth surface is necessary.
If you’re having trouble getting a smooth enough surface, consider stomping. After the mud dries, you can use a brush and stomp the mud on the wall then gently go over it with a smoothing trowel.
Best Bathroom Drywall
All types of drywall are useful, but you need to find the best drywall for your project. The best type of bathroom drywall depends on where the drywall will go.
If the drywall will be around doors or toilets where they won’t get wet, green board is the best choice. It can work for ceilings as well. But for showers and tile backers, you may take a step up and get cement board for the extra mold resistance.
Applying Tile To Drywall
If you use cement board and want to lay tile, know everything about your project. An even groove and layer of mortar is key If the tiles are uneven, they will pull up or crack.
The best way to lay tile is in a staircase pattern. This ensures the mud won’t have time to dry and you can keep track of the pattern. Moving from one corner on the bottom to the top is ideal.
Related: Do You Need a Drywall Saw? – How To Choose The Best One
For a full tutorial on how to install shower tiles, follow this guide. You’ll be taken through the ins and outs, what to avoid, and how to make your project easier.
Pros And Cons Of Drywall
Since there are plenty of other interior wall options, it’s important to make sure that drywall is right for you before you choose it.
Pros
- Easy To Install – drywall is one of the easiest walls to install. If you can handle a knife and a drill, you can have an entire room done in a couple of hours. It won’t be finished, but it will be up and ready to go.
- Cheap – this is the main reason that drywall is so popular. It is one of the cheapest wall coverings available. You can buy white board drywall for about $.50 an sq ft. To calculate your wall space, try this calculator out.
- Stable – drywall is quite stable as the pieces are large. Most drywall covers four feet at a time. Since most studs are 16in this gives a lot of stability when using screws at least every 16in. Which is what you should do for the best results.
- Lots Of Resistant Options – whether you need fire-resistant drywall behind your oven or water-resistant drywall behind your sink, there is a drywall option for you. With so many options, you can cover every room in your house.
- Easy To Repair – if your drywall gets damaged, it can be repaired. Unless the damage is great, a simple drywall repair kit can help. Find the best drywall repair kit at a cheap price.
- Can Be Painted – drywall can be painted and painted and painted again. It can also handle wallpaper, so if you get tired of painted walls, or want to cover a bad mud job, you can add wallpaper to the drywall.
- Compatible With Drywall Screws – you can get drywall screws and anchors to hang just about anything you want without the extra support of a stud. Using a stud is recommended, but an anchor can help you reach that stud.
Cons
- Difficult To Finish – although drywall is easy to install, it is difficult to finish out. Flush everything on the mudding.
- Heavy – drywall requires a team lift unless you want dented corners from dropping it. Each piece weighs about 50 pounds. To top that off, most drywall comes in two pieces that need cut apart, so that’s over 100 pounds.
- Not Very Durable – although drywall is stable, it does break easily. Even a slammed door can break the drywall, leaving a doorknob sized hole. Most drywall will require repairs at least once every year or two.
- Not Authentic – drywall is a great option for most walls but if you want something that feels handcrafted and authentic, then it isn’t for you. Drywall can be modern and painted any color, but it feels artificial.
- Needs Outside Area To Work With – if you’re installing drywall, you will need a good-sized outdoor area. Cutting drywall inside isn’t only messy, but it’s unsafe. The dust particles need air to escape or else they’ll be trapped indoors.
- Hard To Choose Type – since there are many different types of drywall of varying prices, you want to make sure you get the most bang for your buck.
Is Bathroom Drywall Right For Me?
If you can’t decide if you should use drywall, call a professional. They can tell you what type of wall coverings will work for your space. If you don’t know if you should use drywall, you will need help. They can tell you what type of wall coverings will work for your space.
Bathroom Drywall Frequently Asked Questions
What Is Drywall Estimating Rule Of Thumb?
Before you start your drywall project, you will need to estimate how much everything will cost. The most common way is to measure the surface walls, and multiplying height and length and the sum of their areas. After you get that number, divide the area of one sheet of drywall.
The goal when practicing rule of thumb is to lower expenses and waste. You don’t want to buy too much sheetrock.
What Is Gypsum Wallboard?
Gypsum wallboard, otherwise known as gypsumboard, is great for DIY projects. In the world of drywall, 1/2 gypsum wallboard is lighter than standard 1/2 drywall sheetrock.
Gypsum is over 20 percent water and contains glass fibers which help make it fire-resistant. It is the top building material for wall, ceiling, and partition designs in homes and offices.
How Do You Use A Drywall Knife?
Otherwise known as a wide-blade drywall taping knife, this tool is essential for drywall. First, load two inches of compound on the edge of your blade. Start in the corner of a room, forcing the joint compound into the seams between boards and divots.
When filling seams, hold the knife at a 25-degree angle to work the surface and smooth the compound. You’ll want to do this in a single pass.
How Do You Use A Drywall Banjo?
A drywall banjo is good for big projects. A banjo reduces problems with loose bubbling tape. The tool allows you to lay tape and mud at the same time. It works like a scotch tape dispenser. As it travels from the roll to the cutting edge, the tape passes through mud.
What Is The Purpose Of A Drywall Rasp?
A drywall rasp is a handy tool for perfecting drywall cuts. The tool is useful when handling a drywall cut for windows, patches, or other large holes.
What Is Wet Sanding Drywall?
Wet-sanding drywall involves a damp sponge to smooth and trim excess taping compound after it dries. With a sponge, drywall compound will dissolve and become loose. Afterward, it is ready for smoothing. With wet-sanding a thick, stiff sponge is necessary.
What Is A Drywall Router?
A drywall router is a spiral saw. It is one of the best tools for cutting openings in drywall for electrical boxes. You can cut fast and accurate holes without spending time on measuring or marking.
Bathroom Drywall Conclusion
Drywall is versatile. For your bathroom, choosing the best drywall is worth your time and money. Installing the wrong drywall would be a mistake, and cost more money to repair and replace. Also, it doesn’t hurt to have a drywall repair kit on hand for emergencies.
Bathroom drywall needs to be mold- and mildew-resistant. For the spaces around your bathtub and shower, other materials like backer board and green board work the best.
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