Is Ultralight Drywall Right for You?
This material revolutionized the home construction industry when it came into widespread use in the years after WWII.
For its benefits,drywallis not without drawbacks.
The Spruce / Kevin Norris
How Much Does a Sheet of Drywall Weigh?
A conventional 1/2-inch sheet of drywall measuring 4 feet by 8 feet weighs just over 51 pounds.
A stack of 1/2-inch ultralight drywall is nearly 300 pounds lighter than a stack of conventional drywall.
Also significant is the weight difference between sheets of the larger, 4-foot by 12-foot drywall.
Ultralight drywall is a generic term for a building material that is about 25-percent lighter than standard drywall.
A panel of 1/2-inch thick ultralight drywall weighs 13 pounds less than standard 1/2-inch thick drywall sheets.
This foaming agent may also be responsible for better-shaped pockets that provide superior structural strength.
In other words, ultralight drywall has more air in it than regular drywall.
This difference becomes significant only for very large jobs.
Design
There is no appreciable design advantage for ultralight drywall over standard drywall.
This is a material that can be used for all wall and ceiling finish surfaces in any residential software.
Panels are cut to fit, then positioned against framing members and anchored with drywall screws.
The weight advantage of ultralight becomes more significant with thicker panels.
So, a 19-pound reduction in weight offered by ultralight can be significant.
So, the 26 pounds of weight savings per bundled pair of conventional boards can be helpful.
The other difference between conventional and ultralight drywall is that ultralight panels are not available in a 1/4-inch thickness.
Quarter-inch drywall is less commonly used than 1/2-inch drywall.
But it sometimes comes up when skim-sheeting a surface or creating bends.
Does Lighter Mean Weaker?
Professionals report that ultralight panels may be more brittle and more prone to edge breakage than standard drywall panels.
For DIYers, there is really no reason to avoid ultralight drywall out of concerns for its strength.
Drywall is always heavy and unwieldy, and there is no way to get around that.
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USG Sheetrock Brand Ultralight Panels.USG Interior Panel and Finishing Solutions.
