Wall maintenance and repair become easier when you can identify the kind of material your wall is made of. Between plaster walls and drywall, there are key differences that may not be too visible when you see them through naked eyes such as materials, density, size, and hardness.
Drywall repair Dale City VA, one of the most trusted services when it comes to drywalls, has been repairing drywall for quite some time and they were able to identify plaster from drywall. This is what we will be sharing with you today. Rest assured that after reading this, you will be able to identify their differences.
The first thing to do is to find out how your house is built. Before World War Two, plaster walls were the number one choice that homeowners had although drywall was already invented during these times. It was only after a few years then that drywall became more popular than plaster walls. So, if your home was built before or during World War Two, then there is a big chance that your home is built with plaster walls. However, this does not fully guarantee the type of wall you have in your house.
The second thing you can do is to go to your attic or basement. Often, basements are left unfinished and this means you can see the backside to see if you have a drywall or plaster wall. If there are wall studs vertically spaced, then most likely it is drywall. However, if you see wood strips with loose wiring, then your house is made of a plaster wall.
The third way is to look for some flaking paint and some cracks. These imperfections and flaws are an indication of a material type. Plaster walls typically have cracks that resemble that of the spider’s web; it goes in different directions. Moreover, plaster walls tend to have flaking paint imperfections. On the flipside, the drywall may have the previously mentioned flaws but they tend to have them in smaller areas.
The fourth method you can do to identify what kind of walls you do have is to do the pushpin test, which experts usually do for a quicker result. Simply take a pushpin and press it on the wall. If the pin does not poke easily into the wall, you have a plaster wall installed. However, if the pin pokes easily into the wall, then you have drywall. This is due to the material that makes the drywall softer compared to the plaster wall.
The fifth method you can effectively use is the knocking method. Knock on the wall in a continuous manner and if you hear a consistent thick sound, you have a plaster wall. However, when you hear a hollow sound followed by a thick sound, then you have a drywall. The dense or the thick sound is caused by the studs vertically spaced with one another.
If you happen to familiarize yourself with these distinctions, it will be easier for you to tell the difference in just a couple of minutes.