# Forum Home Renovation Plastering  Fibre cement sheet for lining garage

## peter_sm

I would like to line my timber framed weatherboard garage. I know that plaster is the cheapest option, however. I actually do work in it, and lean things against walls etc.  
I have seen some products like what eaves are made from, tile underlay, Villaboard etc. I am interested to know what some people would think is the most economical product, and strong product. 
I am not going to throw hammers at it (maybe sometimes?), but I would not be happy if leaning against it a bit hard encouraged it to crack. 
I would not be joining the sheets with regular plaster joining methods, I would just use H channel. Walls are 2.7m in height, so a 1350 wide sheet would be ideal.

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## echnidna

Its possibly a bit stronger than plasterboard but not much.

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## Burnsy

I think plasterboard is easier to repair when you do throw the hammer! 
Have you considered MDF or ply?  Depending on how much you need you can sometimes get the stuff they use for cover sheets on packs of ply cheap.

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## pawnhead

Yeh, not much stronger at all. Certainly not if you're _were_ going to throw hammers at it. I reckon that 13mm gyprock would be as strong as Villaboard, and probably stronger than hardiflex. 
I used MDF on a job once. An antique shop where the bloke wanted to hang clocks and other heavy stuff off the walls without having to locate studs. You can plaster set that stuff as well.
Or just use yellow tongue. Three sheets @900 wide would get you to your ceiling. A bit dearer though.
Of course if you want the ultimate, then use Aqua-Tek, or compressed fibro.  :Biggrin:

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## Rod Dyson

For cost strength and ease of use you could not go past villaboard.  But because it is rebated it would be better stopped up rather than using jointing strips. 
Villaboard is a lot more impact resistant than 13mm plasterboard. 
Cheers 
Rod

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## peter_sm

Thanks Rod. From what I could find on the manufacturers websites, Villaboard is listed as a high impact wall covering. They list it as suitable for high traffic areas also where impacting may occur. 
I knew it was rebated, so maybe the stopped joints will be the go. I could just go straight basecoat and paper tape done real smooooooth. It would only ever get painted with leftovers mixed together anyway.

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## pawnhead

You can get 6mm Hardiflex if you don't want to stop it. It only goes to 1200mm wide, but you could get 2700mm long sheets and stand them up on end.

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## Tool-Horder

I like the idea of blue board for workshop lining. At 7.5mm thick will take quite a impact or concentrated load. Cost wise gyprock is cheapest followed by villa board ... about twice the price, followed by blue board ... double the price of villa board. Gyprock is the easiest to work with. The main reasons I went for blue board was strength, the extra sound deadening, and the fire resistance. Although as a single layer is not considered fire rated it will still take a fire longer to get through than gyprock and if the coulcil one day insists I upgrade fire rating I only need to overlay with one layer on firecheck to get 90min f/r.

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## echnidna

Other options
1.  line it with cd ply. 6mm is probably thick enough
2.  use 9mm mdf which you can get in sheets up to 3600 x 1800.
(with mdf I'd paint the back before you put it up) then varnish or paint the finished walls.)

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## silentC

Jesus, what are you planning on doing in your shed? 
Parts of mine are lined with 6mm hardiflex. 12 months later and no holes. It also doesn't mind getting wet if I leave a door open and it rains. Plasterboard doesn't like that much.

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## rod1949

The only two blokes who has spoken any sense are Prawnhead and SilentC.  Hardiflex is the best way to go, after all it is an external cladding.

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## peter_sm

It is pretty much a vehicle restoration and fabrication garage. I do everything from making new panels to stretch limousines. There are occasions a jack handle may drop against the wall, or a toolbox lid may drop down and hit it. I will also be leaning panels and parts against it. 
Gyprock will certainly bruise easily in this case. It is not a house internal wall., so doesnt have to be as smooth. The Hardiflex 6mm sounds good too. I will get prices on them. The preference is sheets that I can just stand up and cut around the windows and done. 2700 x 1200 will work good on the 2.7 wall height.

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## journeyman Mick

Peter,
unless you're really, really, 100% sure that the stud spacing co-incides perfectly with the sheet width of whatever you're using you need to run your sheets horizontally. Trust me, the sheets aren't going to line up with the studs and you want to fix them horizontally. 
Mick

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## silentC

I ran the sheets vertically in the big room. I bought 2400s, which made it easy - no cutting. I nogged out at 450 centres between studs wherever there was a join. It's OK for a shed but I wouldn't recommend it for finish level 5!

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## peter_sm

Just bringing up an old thread that I did have a finished result. 
I Used 1200 x 2700 hardiflex.  
I was able to run two sheets between each window, and trimmed the sheets to make the H joiners coincide with the studs. At the windows there are double studs on the sides, so that was real easy. I am lucky in the fact that the studs are all as square as you could get. No more than 1, maybe 2mm out of square on 45mm studs gave me easy target for soft sheet nails on the edges. 
The long wall with no windows I installed joiner battens (studs) as required, although the sheets joined on a stud every so often anyway. 
While I was at it I installed insulation and then painted it all with a big wide roller. It sucked up the primer sealer real quick with 10 litres going real easy in one coat. This I thinned down with a bit of water to enable it to soak into the cement sheet. Then I was able to do two coats of top colour with about 8 litres

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