Plasterboard finished 6" above foundation?

L

lastbuilders

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Hi All,
I have employed a company to do the plasterboard in my self buld and they finished last weekend. One thing I am not sure about is the fact that in some rooms where I am putting wooden floors they have finished the plasterboard about 6" above the foundation. I am putting battens for wooden floors here but these will be max 2" while the wood will be 1" leaving a 3" cavity?
I know the cavity will be covered by the skirting board but I still am a bit concerned about it.
Lastbuilders
 
Hi Lastbuilders
Yeah, I'd be concerned about that one too. Probably what's happened here is that your rooms have a floor to ceiling height in excess of the length of a standard plasterboard slab, ie higher than 2440mm. I don't think it's satisfactory to rely on a skirting board alone to cover the gap. Timber and metal stud partitions in particular rely on sheeting both sides, full height to attain their full structural integrity, sound integrity and fire integrity. The 6" gap must and should be slabbed, i would insist on this being done.
 
Esp. if you have to slap the walls for fire safety reasons. El. cables, gas pipes but also (loadbearing) timber have to be protected with plaster board to stick to the min. fire resistancy legislations. If you've no competent engineer supervising the job then you could take the building regulation guidelines as a guideline - so to say.
 
reason why is the plasterboards are 2.4m and it is possible to purchase boards at 2.7m. its a cost issue less waste for builder bigger profit for bulider i work in the trade dont except this let me the result..
best of luck
 
I got an extra 3 inches added to the plasterboard so there will only be about an inch between the plasterboard and the wooden floors. i do not know exactly how high the floor will be until the battens are put down on the foundation but I think it should be fine. The contractor was not too happy when I asked but because there were a few other issues (and he hadn't been paid yet) we were able to come to an agreement.

Thanks
Lastbuilders
 
Presumably this 1" gap is where the sole plate occurs so there is no "void" behind the gap in the board? If the stud cavity is closed off by timber at this point there is no problem as there is no route for fire or noise.
 
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