Putting up a new internal wall sounds simple until you find there are six different kinds of plasterboard on the shelf, in three thicknesses, and nobody in the shop can tell you which one you need. The board you pick decides how quiet, how solid and how fire safe the finished partition will be. This guide covers what we actually fit on jobs around Harlow, Bishop's Stortford and Epping, and what it tends to cost.
A plasterboard partition is a frame of timber or metal studs, usually at 400mm or 600mm centres, with a layer of board fixed to each face. Metal C studs (50mm, 70mm or 92mm wide) are now the norm in most of our domestic work because they are straight, light and do not shrink or twist the way kiln dried timber can in a centrally heated house.
The gap between the boards is where the useful stuff goes: acoustic mineral wool, cable runs, pipework and noggins for anything heavy that will hang on the wall later. Get that planned before the second face goes on, because opening a finished wall to add a back box is slow and messy.
For a standard room divider, 12.5mm wallboard is the usual choice. It is stiff enough to span 600mm centres, takes a skim coat well and is the cheapest option at roughly 8 to 12 pounds for a 1200 x 2400mm sheet. The 9.5mm board is really a ceiling board and feels drummy and fragile on a wall. The 15mm board comes into its own when you want a more solid feel or need extra fire performance.
The colour of the paper facing tells you what the board is for. Grey is standard, green is moisture resistant for bathrooms and utility rooms, pink is fire rated, and blue or purple is acoustic. Manufacturers vary slightly, so check the printed edge marking rather than trusting colour alone.
The most common complaint after a partition goes in is that it lets through more noise than the old room did. A single 12.5mm board each side on an empty frame gives you roughly 30 to 35 dB of reduction, which is enough to hear a normal conversation next door. Adding 50mm of acoustic mineral wool and a second layer of board, or switching to acoustic board, takes that up to the mid 40s, which is where speech becomes indistinct.
Two cheap things matter more than the board grade. Stagger the joints so no seam lines up on both faces, and run a bead of acoustic mastic where the head and base track meet the ceiling and floor. Sound finds any gap, and that 3mm slot behind the skirting undoes the money spent on fancy board.
Boards go up with 25mm drywall screws for a single layer, or 38mm for a double, at 300mm centres and no closer than 10mm to the edge. Over driven screws that tear the paper have no holding power, so a screw gun with a depth stop is worth having. Joints get scrim or paper tape and two coats of jointing compound before either a full skim or a tape and joint finish ready for paint.
In older Harlow properties, particularly the 1950s and 60s New Town houses, floors and ceilings are rarely level, so the head track often needs packing to keep the wall plumb. On first floors, check the joist direction before fixing the base track so you are screwing into timber and not just floorboard. If the wall forms part of an escape route or encloses a new habitable room, Building Control will want to see the fire and sound specification, so it is worth a quick phone call to Harlow Council before the boards are ordered.
For a straightforward 3 metre by 2.4 metre metal stud partition with standard board both sides, insulated and taped ready for paint, expect somewhere between 550 and 900 pounds supplied and fitted in this part of Essex. Acoustic or fire specifications, a doorway with lining and architrave, or a skim plaster finish each add a proportion on top. A wall with a door, double boarded and skimmed, will typically land in the 1100 to 1600 pound range.
The biggest variables are access, whether electrics need moving, and the state of the surfaces the wall meets. Two people can usually frame, board and tape a single partition in a day, with a second visit for skimming and making good.
Planning permission is almost never needed for an internal wall. Building Regulations do apply if the wall creates a new room, affects fire escape routes, or if the new room needs ventilation and natural light, so check with Harlow Council's Building Control before starting.
Yes, but plan for it. Ask for timber noggins or a plywood pattress fixed inside the frame where the weight will go, because plasterboard fixings alone are only reliable for light loads on a 12.5mm board.
Metal stud is straighter, lighter and does not warp, which is why we use it on most jobs. Timber is easier if you want to fix lots of heavy items later or need to match existing joinery, and either is fine when built properly.
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