Using plasterboard

[DeanS]

Greetings all.

 

I've been working a lot with plasterboard on land, and was wondering if anyone uses it inside of a boat. The normal is to fit 9mm ply to walls, and maybe 18mm for bulkheads...but is plasterboard an option, if there's no way of it getting wet. (which there shouldn't be). And would an option for insulation, be to use that pink stuff that normally goes in ceilings. I have access to about 10 rolls of the stuff.

 

Pros...

Quick and easy to cut and build with.
Easy to paint over.

Modern interior finish.

Easy to mount elec boxes and switches.

Cheaper than ply.

 

Ceiling would remain ply 4mm.


Thinking of fitting it over existing old walling if I buy an old second hand boat.

 

tin helmet on.

[RLWP]

Cons

 

Poor structural strength, so is likely to get damaged in the narrow confines of a boat

 

Absorbs water

 

Weight

 

Richard

[DeanS]

Cons

 

Poor structural strength, so is likely to get damaged in the narrow confines of a boat

 

Absorbs water

 

Weight

 

Richard

 

 

Good points.

It would absorb water if there was water to absorb..which there shouldn't be. (just like in a house.)

Weight...interesting comment that....I wouldn't have thought it would be that much more. I mean some people have granite worktops, which weigh a lot more.

On the strength side of things...they use it in a nursery school I work in, and 40 kids haven't damaged any walls yet....and if a wall has a hole, a bit of plaster...and paint, and it's perfect again.......

[Guest]

Good points.

It would absorb water if there was water to absorb..which there shouldn't be. (just like in a house.)

Weight...interesting comment that....I wouldn't have thought it would be that much more. I mean some people have granite worktops, which weigh a lot more.

On the strength side of things...they use it in a nursery school I work in, and 40 kids haven't damaged any walls yet....and if a wall has a hole, a bit of plaster...and paint, and it's perfect again.......

Why ask a question when your mind to do something is already made up?

 

I too would have said the same as Richard.

 

Recirculating showers spring to mind....

 

My thoughts, use plywood.

Edited July 31, 2016 by MJG

[Bobbybass]

Boats get hit..boats vibrate.

 

When I fitted pump out toilets and tanks..if you used solid solvent pipe...you always attached flexible hose between the solid and the tank to absorb shocks...

 

The same as the cables needing to be stranded and not solid.

 

There is an amazing amount of vibration over the period of a year...

[DeanS]

Why ask a question when your mind to do something is already made up?

 

I too would have said the same as Richard.

 

Recirculating showers spring to mind....

 

My thoughts, use plywood.

 

 

Boats get hit..boats vibrate.

 

When I fitted pump out toilets and tanks..if you used solid solvent pipe...you always attached flexible hose between the solid and the tank to absorb shocks...

 

The same as the cables needing to be stranded and not solid.

 

There is an amazing amount of vibration over the period of a year...

I should have mentioned earlier, that the boat in question will never move out of the marina, so wouldn't suffer the same effects as a boat which hits things.

 

The purpose of the thread isn't too be sarky at all ...but after working with plasterboard quite a bit, I'm impressed by it's simplicity...but understand why it wouldn't be best in a moving boat..or a wet boat...

 

 

[Joe the plumber]

If the boat will never move out of the marina, wouldn't it be better and a lot cheaper to simply buy a large static caravan instead?

[Guest User]

It's not just engine vibration that lining materials have to cope to cope with - metal boats in particular flex and expand with changes in temperature too, and not just seasonal changes through the year but through the day the sun (on the rare occasions it appears) might be on one side during the morning and the other side later in the day.

 

LCx

[Murflynn]

why not use cardboard for the ceiling and make the curtains out of tissue paper?

 

plasterboard is a specialised product designed to be fireproof and a good basis for skim coat plaster.

it is rubbish in most other respects.

[Sea Dog]

There's no doubt it's a cracking building product in the right environment Dean. Is a "houseboat" the right environment? It's certainly closer than a functional boat with vibration and flexing through movement no longer a big issue. I'd be concerned about expansion though, since bricks and mortar do that far less than a steel tube. Condensation behind it could also be a problem. How would you finish it - tape the joints and paint or have it skimmed? I think your likely to have cracking issues to deal with far more than in a house, and they're not uncommon in that environment. It's a risk to far in my book, but if you think the environment benign enough, and your not selling to some poor unsuspecting punter, you may be able to save money by using non marine types of boarding. Trouble is, if you do have a spillage or a leak, it's a far bigger deal to rip out and fix in a tightly fitted out boat than it is in a house.

[haggis]

When our little canal society acquired a boat which had been sunk a few times, we had to strip everything out of it. Plaster board had been used and it had acted like a sponge and weighed a ton!. With boats, there is always the risk of water coming in contact with things it shouldn't (leaking widows, roof vents, water system leak) and I don't think it would be wise to use something which is not water resistant. Also, as someone said, when the boat comes to be sold, will the new owners be told what is behind the wall and roof surfaces?

 

haggis

[Rob-M]

Wouldn't the boat have to move at some point for blacking. Craning out may cause damage.

[cuthound]

I think Deal should go ahead with it and update us after a year.

 

Boats are rarely innovative for a good reason. It's costly to rectify mistakes, so proven methods are used.

[bizzard]

Safer to get plastered in Paris.

[RLWP]

It's not just engine vibration that lining materials have to cope to cope with - metal boats in particular flex and expand with changes in temperature too, and not just seasonal changes through the year but through the day the sun (on the rare occasions it appears) might be on one side during the morning and the other side later in the day.

 

LCx

 

If you want a lesson in boat flexing, come and have a look at Tawny's front bathroom. Over it's many years of hiring she has become very badly cross winded meaning the bulkheads had to be reprofiled to suit the hull.

 

A downside is that she is now more prone to crosswinding so every couple of years she will come to a rapid halt entering a lock and the bathroom door needs adjusting

 

This won't bother Deans static boat, it would have destroyed a plasterboard fitout within it's first season. The ply fitout just gets screwed back together again

 

Richard

[DeanS]

To those of you who offered genuinely friendly answers to my genuinely friendly question...THANKS.

 

I'm happily convinced.

[Guest]

To those of you who offered genuinely friendly answers to my genuinely friendly question...THANKS.

 

I'm happily convinced.

I forgot the smiley Dean. Now corrected.

 

At least you are listening though, its a bad idea on a boat.

[bag 'o' bones]

I think you could possibly get away with using plasterboard on a very large boat that perhaps involved the use of 'floating' stud walling insulated from steel structure, but on a narrow there is just too much expansion and contraction. The skim coat joints would break out in no time and 'worry' the screw fixings eventually.

 

I your looking for an alternative to the popular veneered oak there are plenty of printed laminates available that are used in the caravan interior business.

[Guest]

Too much movement in a boat for plasterboard.

[raymondh]

A guy moored at crook marina plasterer by trade used plasterboard throughout his fit out circa 2010

Boat still moored there on the offside moorings 12 x 60 ft perhaps someone knows how Wayne and his plasterboard are doing

Ray

[W+T]

Greetings all.

 

I've been working a lot with plasterboard on land, and was wondering if anyone uses it inside of a boat. The normal is to fit 9mm ply to walls, and maybe 18mm for bulkheads...but is plasterboard an option, if there's no way of it getting wet. (which there shouldn't be). And would an option for insulation, be to use that pink stuff that normally goes in ceilings. I have access to about 10 rolls of the stuff.

 

Pros...

 

Quick and easy to cut and build with.

Easy to paint over.

Modern interior finish.

Easy to mount elec boxes and switches.

Cheaper than ply.

 

Ceiling would remain ply 4mm.

 

 

Thinking of fitting it over existing old walling if I buy an old second hand boat.

 

 

tin helmet on.

 

 

i would not even consider it reasons as folk have said.

 

Now a si have hghlighted, if the boat is an old second hand boat i would put good money there will be leaks/damp areas that the plaster board will love to swell and crumble, distort with. If so then them areas will need ripping out to find the leaks and then relining in the hope the leaks are now fixed.

 

though if you use water resisstent plaster board that could be different.

[bag 'o' bones]

 

 

i would not even consider it reasons as folk have said.

 

Now a si have hghlighted, if the boat is an old second hand boat i would put good money there will be leaks/damp areas that the plaster board will love to swell and crumble, distort with. If so then them areas will need ripping out to find the leaks and then relining in the hope the leaks are now fixed.

 

though if you use water resisstent plaster board that could be different.

Water resistant not water proof!

[Guest]

I have often wondered if that PVC cladding stuff would be good for lining a NB. Looks like wood, but totally water proof, easy to fix and no long term damage if it gets wet. Also easy to clean and sweep dog hairs off etc. No need for refinishing. Expensive though.

Would be OK for the average clone boat like mine?

Edited August 3, 2016 by Guest

[WotEver]

Modern Bailey caravans use a white, lightly textured lightweight fibreglass panel for interior walls. Everything just wipes off, it's durable and long lasting.

 

I don't know if they make it themselves or if they buy it in but it's occurred to me that it would make great narrowboat panelling for those who want white walls.

 

Tony

 

It's heat-resistant too.

[Guest]

Modern Bailey caravans use a white, lightly textured lightweight fibreglass panel for interior walls. Everything just wipes off, it's durable and long lasting.

 

I don't know if they make it themselves or if they buy it in but it's occurred to me that it would make great narrowboat panelling for those who want white walls.

 

Tony

 

It's heat-resistant too.

That sounds interesting. I would be considering something along these lines if I were to fit another boat out (highly unlikely!) Maybe if I refurbished the current one though.