The interior wall of a house is essential as it decides and takes care of so many aspects of the house. They define the shape of the house and also help in many other factors. Centuries ago, lath and plaster was the only way to build interior walls. Every structure used the same. But it had a lot of problems. Then, came the drywall and other alternatives. People get confused a lot in deciding which to prefer during construction. One huge confusion is between drywall and Sheetrock. So, let’s compare Drywall vs Sheetrock to find out how both vary and which is the better one.
Contents
Drywall Vs Sheetrock: Differences
The Sheetrock is the same as drywall but with a different name. The US gypsum company’s drywall is called Sheetrock. The brand got very famous, which led to the confusion between it and drywall. Thus, the differences are very less.
1. History
The Sheetrock came into existence some years after the drywall became famous. The US gypsum company started to name their drywall is Sheetrock. This marketing strategy proved to be a great idea. Today they almost produce millions of Sheetrock every year.
Sheetrock got advertised as fireproof wallboard in the beginning. The increase in population had helped the rise in sales of drywall. Gypsum plaster was becoming the trend after World War 2. Traditional plaster was soon out of the market. People started preferring the gypsum plaster. This made it very much famous in the American continent.
2. Quality
The drywall became very famous as it was the best alternative to lath and plaster. So in many parts of the world, they started making their drywall. Not all companies gave the same quality due to their interests in making profits. This resulted in low-quality drywall.
The Sheetrock had the best quality of drywall always. The company never reduced the quality of the sheets. They are even getting synthetic gypsum from power plants. They believe they will never fall short of gypsum for the next 300 years. This was a big reason for their hit.
3. Sulfur Content
The drywall, which has high sulfur content, may cause a lot of problems. The sulfur gases which get emitted are not right. This may happen more in the summer. It also gives a horrible smell, and metals were too corroded. This also ruined the electrical circuits, which became a huge problem. The only solution is to remove drywall and re-wire the whole house. This process would be quite expensive.
This problem arose more in the non-Sheetrock drywall. This came when the Chinese boards were getting shipped to the US. When this went to the consumers, the problem came into light. During the Katrina hurricane rebuild in 2006, the use of these boards was high. This proved the quality of the Sheetrock. Sheetrock never had any of these and was very proper too. This made people prefer Sheetrock over the drywall.
How Important Are Interior Walls?
The interior walls in your house are there to separate all your rooms from each other. They are quite crucial as they even hide all the wiring and plumbing stuff. They also have to bear loads that prevent the collapse of the structure. Thus, the material used in the interior wall plays a significant role in many factors. Lath and plaster was the only way to do this for quite a lot of years.
The lath and plaster are much resistant to bumps compared to all other techniques. It was good but had some big problems. It was time-consuming to set it up. Moisture could crack up the wall, and it resulted in falling of plaster too. It also often needed repair, which was not good. Lath and plaster needed suitably skilled labor to get completed. This also proved to be a big problem. Later, came many other options like drywall, which was quite better than lath and plaster. So they got replaced by drywall soon.
Drywall Vs Sheetrock: What Is It?
Drywall
The drywall was an inspiration from the Sackett Board. The Sackett Board was the first alternative to lath and plaster. Later during the war period, drywall became famous as it was quicker and better. From that until now, it is one of the most efficient ways and found everywhere around the world. Drywall is a board made of gypsum which placed between the papers.
This altogether looks like a big board and is then ready for use. These are very light in weight and can get cut into any height based on the structure. They weigh around 50 pounds, and there are even more light ones at 37 pounds. During the making of drywall, there are no wet materials used. This is even why the name drywall arose. They also take very little time to get installed. It even requires fewer men to install.
The drywall also provides some fire resistance due to the gypsum present—this one of the biggest advantages of drywall. The advantages are more, but there are a few disadvantages. The disadvantage of drywall is that when exposed to water, it may get damaged. It may need a lot of work and money to treat the damage. Also, a lot of material gets cut out before installation for sizing.
Sheetrock
Many people get various confusions when it comes to Sheetrock and drywall. The truth is Sheetrock is drywall with minimal changes. The US gypsum corporation is one of the finest producers of construction materials. They are a big reason why the US leads in gypsum board production in the world.
They named their drywall is Sheetrock. Soon as it became famous, it got confused with drywall in a lot of ways. In 1917, the US gypsum corporation gave the name Sheetrock as it was a big name. They named it as it was a suggestion given to perform better in the market. There are many variations in Sheetrock that have different specialties. The brand gave Sheetrock a lot of recognition.
Drywall Vs Sheetrock: DIY Guide To Install
Drywall
The drywall doesn’t always need only skilled labor to finish the drywall. Sometimes it takes a few steps, and we can finish the installation by ourselves. So this is how we begin the process.
- We measure the width and height to get the correct size from our drywall. Then, we keep the drywall to the ceiling.
- We drive the screws into the studs. Sometimes longer walls may need more than one drywall. Drywall lifts may make the task easier.
- If there are windows or any other outlets, adjustments could be made easily. There are different tools for different outlets. Proper measurements could then finish the cutting jobs in less time.
- Then, the final sheet of drywall gets placed between the last installed panel and the corner.
- We install drywall to reach the outside corners of the frame and the floor. This almost completes the process. The joint works will finish everything off.
Once done, drywall can be either added with a new texture or painted. Drywall doesn’t need a lot of time to dry like the lath and plaster. So it would be easy to finish off the job in less time.
Drywall Vs Sheetrock: Similarities
There are quite a lot of similarities, more than differences between both. So let’s check what all are the same in both of them.
1. Size And Thickness
There are many different sizes of sheets. The most common is the 4×8 sheet. It’s the same case for thickness too. There are many sheets with different thicknesses also. In this case, both the drywall and Sheetrock are similar. They don’t have any different numbers in size and thickness.
2. Price
The price of the drywall and Sheetrock are almost the same and have little difference. The price of the sheets varies by size. There are a lot of online websites that help you estimate the price of it. If you enter the dimensions needed, they will generate the estimated expense for you. It costs around $2 for each square foot.
There are many different types of drywall and Sheetrock. Some very familiar ones are-
- Moisture-resistant drywall-They are cement boards. They are not 100% water-resistant but are preferable for high moisture areas.
- Mold-resistant drywall-This drywall is in rooms where mold could be a significant threat. Areas in bathrooms are the ones where molds may form. They have either fiberglass backing or gypsum powder without any backing.
- Fire-resistant drywall-There are two types of fire-resistant drywall. The type X drywall is the standard fire-resistant ones. Type C is like an advanced version. They offer much higher resistance.
- Soundproof drywall-There are much different soundproof drywall. The basic concept is to insert a layer of polymer between the boards, which does the job. It obstructs the sound and helps in reducing noise.
- Paperless drywall-It is quite the same as the normal drywall. The difference is that it uses fiberglass instead of paper for the wrapping. This offers resistance to mold and moisture. Bathrooms and kitchens could be the best places to use this.
- Abuse-resistant drywall-This drywall has a design that provides abuse resistance. There is a special core of polymers in the middle—these help in obstructing noises. High traffic areas are the best places to use these. These areas need excellent resistance against sound and abuse.
According to the need of the structure, the type gets chosen. The price also changes for each type.
3. Tools Used
The tools used are the same for both drywall and Sheetrock. These tolls are significant in fixing the walls. Some tools used are
- Drywall hammer
- Bajo or drywall taping machine
- Drywall sander
- Drywall screw gun
- Drywall knives
Conclusion
A simple statement could sum up all these.
“Every Sheetrock is drywall, but every drywall isn’t a Sheetrock.”
Sheetrock is quite the same as drywall. But when you compared Drywall vs Sheetrock, Sheetrock has an obvious edge over the drywall due to its quality. The US gypsum company produces each Sheetrock with no contamination. The quality is also perfect in every piece. The drywall is quite the same, but some of them may have a lot of sulfur content. This is very dangerous and may result in a lot of unnecessary work. If you can buy the Sheetrock from your place, then you may do it without any hesitation. If you can’t find out Sheetrock, make sure your drywall is not contaminated.
Leave a Reply