plasterboard ceiling

[simon beer]

which thickness plasterboard do most people use for ceilings? I have normally used 12.5mm in the past, but is the 9mm ok. I have used the thicker before as I thought it would be better for sound insulation.

[Gary]

simon beer scribbled :

12.5 for walls and 9 for ceilings is what most plasterers use. I used 1.5 for both my walls and ceilings though.

[Toby]

I used 9mm over original cracked lath/plaster purely as it is easier to manoeuvre a full sheet over ones head, and directly beneath a loft storage space. Building regs now cover sound transmission, so any material changes should meet the guidelines in Approved Document E. Lath & plaster ceilings seem quite highly regarded in this respect. AD E talks about upgrading other ceilings by applying two layers of staggered plasterboard to give an overall thickness > 30mm ! If you can fit 12.5 without difficulty then it would certainly be better than a single 9mm, the extra expense must be all of £2 per room.

[Zapp Brannigan]

What a cheapskate. 1.5mm you'd be better off using old cardboard boxes and nailing them up there... :-)

[Gary]

Zapp Brannigan scribbled :

LOL @ Zapp (and myself for the typo), should have been 12.5mm!!

[Rich]

Another consideration would be the fire barrier.

12.5mm meets building regs for a half hour fire barrier. 9.5mm Doesn't.

If it is going over an old ceiling this is not really a problem.

Rich

[Christian McArdle]

Use 12.5mm for fire reasons. I seem to recall you need 25mm total, although T&G floorboards count for 12.5mm, requiring only 12.5mm on the plasterboard.

Christian.

[simon beer]

plasterboard.

Thanks all, I had not considered the fire aspect, so looks like I will be staying with the 12.5