# UK construction practice: plaster over drywall? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 16, 2022, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-construction-practice-plaster-over-drywall/966334 "2022-06-16T22:11:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2022, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-construction-practice-plaster-over-drywall/966334/41 "2022-06-21T19:52:49Z")
Okay, so when I said “perfectly flat,” that was not perfectly accurate. But for all practical purposes, and as far as what is visible to the naked eye, it is pretty damn flat. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2022, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-construction-practice-plaster-over-drywall/966334/42 "2022-06-21T20:25:50Z")
I assume it happens, but I have never seen plaster skim used in Canada. I assume it’s because mudded joints is simpler and quicker and requires less skilled hours. AFAIK that’s the case in the USA now too. We had dividers put up in the office using metal studs. Then they got fancy desks with a bunch of shelving and cabinets that hung above. To mount those to metal studs, they had to cut out a section of drywall the size of the cabinet, and replace it with plywood screwed to multiple studs in multiple places for a strong enough base to hang the cabinets. Typical construction (well, better quality construction) will use blue waterproof drywall in the area in and around the tub and shower in a bathroom. ---
**Author:** ![abcdefghij](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/43a26b/32.png) [@abcdefghij](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abcdefghij)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2022, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-construction-practice-plaster-over-drywall/966334/43 "2022-06-21T21:22:38Z")
> [@md-2000](#): > > I assume it’s because mudded joints is simpler and quicker and requires less skilled hours. Yes. No. Yes. Veneer plaster on blueboard is much faster than mudding, sanding, mudding, taping, sanding, mudding, sanding, and mudding. It takes a lot more skill, though. I’m self-taught and sometimes I do a really nice job. Sometimes, not so much. ---
**Author:** ![vbob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vbob/32/4439_2.png) [@vbob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vbob)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2022, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-construction-practice-plaster-over-drywall/966334/44 "2022-06-21T21:34:38Z")
Rhode Island here - have hung and finished a LOT of drywall for personal renovations - finally settled on using setting-type joint compound instead of ready-mix, starting with Durabond and finishing with EasySand-90; skim/scrape coating the entire surface for the 2nd or 3rd pass - so grade 4.5 I guess. Getting the entire surface to the same level of porosity before priming makes a huge difference in the final look. I tried to teach myself veneer plaster, but it’s hard to get good, and VERY hard to rework mistakes and trials. But I’m not paying myself by the hour. ---
**Author:** ![jjakucyk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3d9bf3/32.png) [@jjakucyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjakucyk)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2022, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-construction-practice-plaster-over-drywall/966334/45 "2022-06-21T22:19:01Z")
> [@abcdefghij](#): > > …mudding, sanding, mudding, taping, sanding, mudding, sanding, and mudding… I said step pause turn pause pivot step step! Not step pause turn pause pivot step pause! Ugh, shudder. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2022, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-construction-practice-plaster-over-drywall/966334/46 "2022-06-23T23:38:06Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > So why do Brits put plaster over drywall, instead of the (presumably) cheaper and easier method we Yanks use? Is there some definite benefit, is it a code issue (if so, why?), or just custom and inertia? If there is a benefit, why don’t we do it? Or is it done in US buildings, too, and I’ve just never heard about it? Why do Brit (and European) grocery stores stock biscuits (cookies) that include butter and sugar as opposed to American store cookies made from Crisco (partially-hydrogenated fat) and corn syrup and a hundred chemicals? Why do Euros drink [Chocomel\*](https://www.chocomel.com/en-gb/products/chocomel-250ml-can#:~:text=Alliance%20Certified%20cocoa.-,Ingredients,bean%20gum%20and%20carrageenan%2C%20flavouring.) and Americans drink [Yoo-Hoo\*\*](https://www.heb.com/product-detail/yoo-hoo-chocolate-drink/1616041)? Why does a 6th form-dropout hooligan British chav have the vocabulary of an American college student when his US equivalent speaks like a (British) kindergartener? Why are American satisfied with crappier quality\*\*\* in general? \*Chocomel Ingredients: milk, sugar, cocoa powder, locust bean gum, carrageenan, flavouring \*\*Yoo-Hoo Ingredients: Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Whey (from Milk), Contains Less than 2% of Cocoa (Alkali Process), Nonfat Dry Milk, Natural and Artificial Flavors, Sodium Caseinate (from Milk), Corn Syrup Solids, Calcium Phosphate, Dipotassium Phosphate, Palm Oil, Guar Gum, Xanthan Gum, Mono and Diglycerides, Salt, Spice, Soy Lecithin, Niacinamide (Vitamin B3), Sucralose, Vitamin A Palmitate, Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), Vitamin D3. \*\*\*high-quality cookies and chocolate drinks are of course available in the US but they’re considered “gourmet” and cost twice as much. Europeans get quality in their store-brand, generic foods. ---
**Author:** ![Tride](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tride/32/13907_2.png) [@Tride](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tride)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2022, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-construction-practice-plaster-over-drywall/966334/47 "2022-06-24T00:35:54Z")
Cite that any of these things are the same price? Cite that it applies to plaster/drywall? Cite that equivalent US building practices are worse than UK practices? ---
**Author:** ![Tride](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tride/32/13907_2.png) [@Tride](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tride)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2022, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-construction-practice-plaster-over-drywall/966334/48 "2022-06-24T00:39:42Z")
[Local chocolate milk](https://www.darigold.com/products/flavored-milk/old-fashioned-chocolate-59oz-carton/) Give me a break. There are many things wrong with the US. This is not one of them. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2022, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-construction-practice-plaster-over-drywall/966334/49 "2022-06-24T01:44:34Z")
> [@jjakucyk](#): > > > [@abcdefghij](#): > > > > …mudding, sanding, mudding, taping, sanding, mudding, sanding, and mudding… > > I said step pause turn pause pivot step step! Not step pause turn pause pivot step pause! Ugh, shudder. As I’ve noticed with watching pros, and a little experimentation myself - unless you are filling a large hole, two passes should suffice. mud dry sand mud dry sand. playing with it makes it worse, and whatever you think is a minor flaw will be hidden by two coats of paint. And they there’s the home-owner’s syndrome; whether it’s smooth walls, dents in the hardwood, uneven pieces, etc - you know where all the flaws are and they stand out like red flags, the average visitor sees nothing wrong. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-construction-practice-plaster-over-drywall/966334.md?page=2)