Pro's and Cons of MDF and Plasterboard for floating wall

[M@ty-C]

Evening all,

As above really i have come to this dilemma i am unsure what route to go down so can you please put what you think are pro's and con's for both MDF and Plasterboard whilst building you floating wall. i look forward to reading your replys and hopefully this will help me choose the correct one.

Many Thanks

Matt

[kumack]

Mdf involves heavy sheets creating a gap for filler provided your using more than one piece and your planning on painting it, and a hell of alot of sanding if you want to get the finish right..

Plasterboard is lighter easier to work with and cut, and is easier to fill any joints with skim tape and a light plastering if you didnt want to plaster skim the whole floating wall, although plasterboard is easy to dent if its not skimmed completely, and can be hard to get clean edges and corners.

Other options are wallpapering it and the wall behind, which I think would work provided you primed the mdf before papering as Im not sure how mdf works with paste if its not the more expensive water friendly mdf sheet(s)

Or you could cover it with material like someone else on here or even leatherette.

Or you could do what I did and make it out of mdf and plaster it, pics are on my page.

Goodluck !

Oh yeah if you just search floating wall on the threads youll get all the info you need there must be nearly a hundred or so floating walls at this stage and you mind find it hard getting an answer as its almost definately already been asked more than once and answered before.

[wese007]

imho , mdf is just the hassle of sanding the joints,get one sheet,job done,just screwholes to cover,

alot stronger than plaster board if you have a overhang round the frame for ropelights,

if you dont do a good job of sanding the filler it will show when lights are on at night,more so if you have say spotlights shining down


first coats of paint on mdf can be rough,as the fibres lift when wet,unless you use a non water based primer for mdf which is rather expensive,saying that,a quick rub with sandpaper will give ou a good finish prior to putting your colour of main paint on top

plastering it, waiting for plaster to dry,couple of days,maybe not a issue for you,and no big deal.

no joins to sand,

figureing a way to finish the two rough chaulk side finishes,cant use angle bead as its wider than the board so you will have some showing,using angle bead will give you a neat straight edge though

,you can get edge beading,but will still show some of the edge,could pva it,then go round with decorators caulk

reapairing it if it gets broke round the edges


paying for a plasterer to do it unless you know someone who will do it for a couple of beers


risk of getting a crap plasterer unless you know of his work and can trust him,

both finishes will give you the same finish if done right,

im a plasterer,and given the choice again after one mistake i made, i would choose one full sheet of mdf over plastering it

hope thats some help

choice is yours

[mark88]

At the gym I just joined in a newly built hotel I noticed they've used quite a lot of MDF for walling sections instead of plasterboard. I couldn't work it out at first as it's hard to tell the difference but they've defo used MDF and it looks good.

MDF is much more durable than plasterboard with or without skim, it's dead easy to sand and cheap. The finish is as smooth and blemish free, unlike any plastering skim. It also provides something solid to screw into.

If you've confident enough to fill and conceal all joins/corners then I see no reason not to go with MDF. At least it means you don't have to wait around for a plasterer.

regarding wese007's post above and his comments relating to plasterboard edges. You can buy various edging profiles to conceal the cut edges of plasterboard and also to create shadows etc...see http://www.palcouk.com/pdfs/dry_lining.pdf

[wese007]

some good beading there,not seen half them before,perfect one there for the edge of board if to be used as a floating wall

[M@ty-C]

Thanks for your replys i think iwill be going down the MDF route and hopefully i will be able to get one sheet seems to save a little hassel

Matt