Brick Walls versus Plasterboard Walls

[Topdriller]

Does anyone know why the Greeks continue to build internal walls with brick and plaster rather than employ the wood frame and plasterboard used in the UK / USA etc?

Sad though it may seem, this came up in conversation last night and my local Greek friend thought it was cheaper to use traditional brick and plaster - even though I mentioned that once up the electrician comes along with his jack hammer and undoes all the plasterer's good work to put in the cables, sockets etc.

I've heard someone else say plasterboard is subject to the heat and bugs over here but that seems pretty far fetched when you consider it's used in climes such as Texas where the summers are hotter and more humid and the bugs carry luggage when the come to stay !!

I've a hunch it's simply down to tradition and the perception the locals might have if developers began erecting plaster board walls i.e. not as strong, not as safe etc.

Are there any builders out there who could nail (sic) this once and for all ?

Jon

[latsida]

There is a large Knauf store here at Aghios Nikolaos at the main traffic lights into town.so their plasterboard and insulation must be widely used here.Do not forget the earthquake regulations for buildings.Stone is readily available here and keeps houses cool in summer and warm in winter.
Having watched quite a few renovations in the village the electrician does all his first fixings before the walls are plastered.

[Topdriller]

Latsida,

I'd have thought it would have been safer living in a house with plasterboard walls i.e. the traditional brick walls are not load bearing (the concrete beams and columns are) and therefore would surely be more of a danger (if they fell) than plasterboard. What's more, you can easily insulate internal walled plasterboard walls (and even buy it with insulation attached) whereas the double brick walls are not usually insulated.

I only know what happened during my build and the plasterer spent weeks building the brickwork before plastering and then along came the electrician with his jack hammer and drilled all the holes, tracks etc. for the wiring and sockets. Maybe my build was backward but it just seems plasterboard internal walls would be a cheaper and better way of building all internal walls. In fact it was the painter on our build who finished everything off i.e. sanded and smoothed the walls etc before painting and this seemed far more labour intensive than taping and skimming plasterboard !

Jon

[filippos]

When we put an upper floor on our house here in 1998 the builder used aluminium framing [rather than wood] faced with plasterboard for all the internal walls so I don't think all builders use rendered brick. Load bearing internal walls would need to be brick, concrete or stone.

Also, in our original building and the 2004 apartment all the cable trunking [spiral], switch and socket boxes were installed before the walls were rendered after which the electrician returned, installed the wiring and fitted switches and sockets. The only power tools used were a drill and screwdriver.

I've yet to see an electrician cutting out for sockets/cabling in any new construction here (except once when a neighbour decided he wanted a couple of extra lights after the rendering was done. The electrician was not happy.

[Retired in Crete]

........it just seems plasterboard internal walls would be a cheaper and better way of building all internal walls.
Jon

A few kilometers from us they have built about a dozen houses on a peninsular. The houses were priced from 800,000 to 2 million euros each.
They have plasterboard internal walls.

Perhaps carpenters are paid more than brickies!

John

[Diesel Doris]

Hi

The fact that the Cretans in our neck of the woods refer to them as 'paper walls' may give us a clue as to their views about them

Caroline

[jeansy]

The biggest problem I have seen with plasterboard walls is the fact they use 25mm aluminium frames which are screwed to the floors and ceilings and the plasterbord then screwed to the framing. Reminds me of false ceilings and they can really be a pain in the butt.
On a couple of jobs I have run here we have needed to build stud walls but I have done it with 50 x 100mm timber. Then the problem is getting somebody to plaster the wall with gypsum and that I am afraid is where the big problem comes, I can't find anyone who can do it too a decent standard.
What I have done is to tape the joints and then paint over with a textured roller to give a reasonable finish, another problem it is not a cheap option for a large property.Sorry to be a bit negative but you did ask the question.

paul