Get to know better choices for the interior wall of your home by checking out this list of alternatives to the drywall.
Why use drywall if you can have better and more durable options? Most of today’s houses use drywalls to protect their interior walls.
Although it’s inexpensive and easier to deal with than other materials, drywall construction remains a challenging process involving taping, mudding, and sanding.
The last stage is particularly famous for the clouds of fine dust it produces.
Drywall creates a hollow sound when you bump it, and it doesn’t hold well to water damage or high-traffic spaces.
It is fragile, easily damaged, and a prime breeding ground for mould and bacteria.
Taking a home improvement project is the perfect chance to rethink your choices for the interior walls of your home.
Why Consider the options below for alternatives to drywall that look nice and hold up better.
1. Wood Planks
Wood planks are going to be an excellent choice for anybody who wants to get a rustic look.
These wooden planks will be perfect for building a wall, and once they are hung, you won’t have to do anything to them. You will literally admire the natural appeal of the wood.
It is also a cost-effective option that is preferable to drywall if you want a rustic country-style home.
Pros:
The wooden planks are pretty nice overall. You’re going to be able to install these without getting too much trouble. They’re not as easy to work with as some of the other options on this list, but they’re not going to be too hard to figure out. Wood boards are offering you a lot of options, also. You’ll be able to pick from a different variety of wood to get the look you want.
Cons:
If you’re not interested in a down-home, country-style look with your new walls, you may not be so thrilled with wooden planks. They’re undeniably lovely, but they’re not going to fit if you’re interested in modern décor.
It also depends on what you want with the walls you are creating and your personal style. Think about it and determine whether or not wooden planks are excellent choices for your walls.
2. Plastic panels
The thoughts of using plastic panels may seem strange at first if you are not familiar with these alternatives to drywall.
The fact is, plastic panels are really really good for a few reasons. A lot of people use these plastic wall panels to cover up the damaged drywall. It’s easy to hang out, and it’s not going to take you a lot of time.
If you choose to purchase the tongue and groove paneling shown here, it may not be as cost-effective as possible. Even so, this is a fantastic choice if you need an alternative to drywall.
Pros:
Plastic paneling is very easy to install, making it an easy-to-use drywall alternative. You can easily screw most of the plastic panels into place, and you’ll be able to cover the walls directly. You can place them right over the studs, so it’s pretty handy overall.
The plastic will also be easy to clean and will be mould resistant, making it ideal for rooms with a lot of moisture.
Cons:
The most excellent plastic panels on the market are going to be a little more precious than many people would have liked. You can find more inexpensive options, but they are a little less desirable than the plastic tongue and groove wall panel shown here.
In some cases, there won’t be a significant price difference between plastic panelling and drywall, but plastic panels are definitely easier to mount.
3. Plywood
If you’re trying to create walls in your home as cheaply as possible, then you may want to start thinking of using plywood. It can be bought at an incredibly low price, and it’s pretty easy to work with.
This is the best materials to use when you don’t have a lot of experience constructing a wall. Everything you really need to do is screw the wall in place.
Pros:
Plywood is easy to work with that you don’t have to be an expert builder to make use of it. Screwing the plywood into place is relatively easy. It’s a very cheap material that will save you time and money when you create walls. You can also paint the plywood if you want to make it look a little nicer.
Cons:
This isn’t going to be as good to use as drywall. Drywall has some useful characteristics, such as being fire resistant and generally more natural.
Plywood is a decent choice, but it won’t be superior to drywall unless you really need to save money. It depends on your budget and your level of style when it comes to using this instead of drywall.
4. Plaster of veneer
To begin with, it’s a plaster, which means it’s added to a surface called a substrate. The most popular substrate used is a specially formulated gypsum board base similar to drywall.
Nowadays, much of the new building uses drywall.
Plaster veneer is suitable for the restoration of older homes with existing lath-and-plast walls. It’s much more straightforward, cheaper and quicker to knock on veneer plaster over existing walls that need work than to take down those walls and place them in drywall.
That means that in places where there are many older houses, plaster veneer is widely used and you will find professionals who are adept at applying plaster veneer.
Veneer plaster is possibly a much better surface for interior walls than drywall. Usually, it is applied to a plaster-ready gypsum surface. It’s stronger and smoother than the drywall. But it takes someone with excellent trowel skills to apply that skillfully.
It’s a nice choice for older walls in an older house, too. Instead of tearing out the walls, you may add plaster on top (you will need a bonding agent).
All-in-all, this is an excellent surface, but it’s more expensive than drywall alone.
5. Pegboards
Pegboard is probably not the first thing you’d think about when you’re trying to come up with alternatives to drywall. Actually, it could be a pretty good option to consider, though.
Pegboard is very easy to use, and you’ll be able to use it to add extra storage space to your home. People also use pegboard walls in garages to make space for their tools to hang.
Everything you really need to do is fasten the pegboard to the studs. You’re not going to have to do some complex finishing process either. You only need to screw it where it needs to go, and then you’ll be able to make use of it.
Of course, this choice doesn’t give you a lot of visual types to choose from, but you probably won’t want to use the pegboard inside your home anyway.
Pros:
It’s straightforward to mount because all you need to do is screw it in. Find the studs in your wall and place the pegboard correctly.
You’re not going to have any trouble seeing where you need to position the screws. You’re going to be able to fasten the pegboard to the wall, and you’re all going to be done with your job.
Using a pegboard is perfect if you have a garage area or some other sort of workshop area. Places, where you can hang tools, can be handy pegs. It’s a unique choice that gives you some usefulness outside of being a drywall substitute.
This is certainly something that needs to be considered in some cases.
Con:
This drywall solution is only really attractive in specific circumstances. For example, you won’t want to put a pegboard wall in your living room. You could decide to use pegboard walls anywhere you like, but it wouldn’t look natural in most settings.
The visual appeal of the pegboard is minimal, making it a choice that is only practical in the garage or workshop environment.
6. Lath and Plastic
If you choose to use an older way to create your walls, it can be utilised as an option instead of drywall. Lath and plaster used to be a very prevalent choice for building walls prior to the advent of drywall.
This is not the easiest option for DIYers, but you can build a very nice wall successful, and it’ll even be convenient to install the insulation for as long as you plan ahead.
The overall look that can be done with lath and plaster walls is impressive, too. If you want to build a wall that looks so good in your house, then this is something you should consider.
It’s not more straightforward to use than drywall, though. If you are looking for an alternative to drywall to remove the hassle, you should immediately disregard this choice.
Pros:
Lath and plaster can be used to create a really good wall. It’s going to look very good, and you’re going to be able to add insulation without too much trouble. This choice will build a wall just as easily as you will be able to do when using drywall. It’s just a long process.
Cons:
It takes too long for most people to create a wall using this process. It’s not going to be the most realistic way to do stuff when you’re trying to save yourself time and money. This is a process that has become somewhat rare in the drywall era. It’s still a choice to consider, but it’s too complicated for most people to want to use.
7. Wahoo Walls
Wahoo Walls is a do-it-yourself wall product that is typically used for basement finishing. It is made of non-organic materials and has an expanded polystyrene heart. The 4′′ thick wall panel of Wahoo weighs 95 lbs. And it has a total R-value of 13. Plus, it’s waterproof and doesn’t support mould growth.
8. Textured wall panels
The elegant walls that used to be found only in luxury hotels and fancy cocktail lounges are now a wall covering choice for your home. These are easy-to-install 3D textured panels that stretch across existing walls and are 3/4′′ to 1 1/2′′ thick.
9. Basement Wall Finishing Device
These are pre-designed or pre-cut wall panels that are sold as part of the proprietary basement finishing system. They are moisture-resistant but can also be costly and can not be mounted by a DIYer.
Basement finishing systems particularly focused on the part of the “system.” They use construction materials specially designed for basements to withstand moisture.
None or nothing in these finishing systems is from scratch; almost everything is pre-designed and in some cases even pre-cut.
10. Brick & Masonry
Whether painted or left exposed, a stone or brick wall adds character to space and enhances the value of your house and increases your property value. This can be an expensive alternative, but stone and brickwork are built to last and sustainable materials.
11. Cement board
Cement boards are sheets or horizontal panels made of cement and cellulose-containing fibres. They are very heavy and need two people to be lifted and relocated.
They are also moisture-resistant, but they are better used in areas with high humidity levels. Cement boards are thicker and better than drywalls. They are also a little more precious, but the advantages of this material can be very attractive, particularly for those living in high humidity areas, since they are water, moisture and moisture resistant.
The panels will come in various sizes, colours and styles, giving you all sorts of design choices. Panel one wall in a room, a whole stairwell, or a whole room, it’s all up to your style and taste, and no matter what, it’s a perfect alternative to drywall.
12. Lath and Woodchip-Clay
It’s a blend of a lath frame with bark-free wood chips and clay. This alternative is the best solution for reducing noise and a safer substitute for conventional laths and plaster.
Lath and plaster used to be a more time-consuming wall surface to install, but over time, the method has improved and is now a faster and easier wall to install, making it a pleasant alternative to drywall.
The device includes wooden slats to run horizontally through the region called lath, providing a foundation for the wall framework. The contractor then uses gypsum plaster, which is employed all over the lath, moving it into crevice and cracks. The plastic is a bonding agent called the key.
Then another layer is added all over to create the actual surface of the wall. Usually, it may take fine-tuning, meaning more plaster will need to be added here and there in order to achieve the exact look you want.
This is a costly job, and it is not really a DIY project, but one that should be left to a professional contractor familiar with this form of method.
13. Fiberglass reinforced panels,
Made of strong polyester resin reinforced with fibreglass, these thin, flexible plastic panels have a sturdy, scratch-resistant surface. It also has the distinction of being stronger than a lot of other materials.
It is lightweight and highly malleable, which means it can be easily shaped into various shapes. The panels are easy to clean and are resistant to mould, bacteria and other potentially harmful biological agents.
14. Fibreglass mat gypsum panels
This alternative is a non-combustible, mould-resistant interior panel that is much more durable than standard drywall. It also provides a white drywall look if that’s what you’re looking for.
15. Cork Wall The Wall
Corkboard has always been a popular commodity for a variety of reasons. Most people equate the corkboard organising. Typically, this form of organisation is found in an office environment, or maybe a school, where messages can pin to them and keep track of them.
Ok, you can get rid of dull drywall and use corkboard instead. There’s a great choice of types, hues, thicknesses, and more. Corkboard can be used in any space to build a beautifully textured wall that looks elegant, as well as helping to warm up the room and making the wall really stand out.
16. Exposed concrete block
You can forego any of the above choices and only leave the structural surface exposed. Depending on your sense of style, the exposed concrete block will look fantastic.
Concrete is one of the architectural ideas most used in industrial-style houses. You may think of a concrete wall as a cold, masculine look, and it may be, of course, but it depends on the choice of design of the concrete used for the walls.
It can also be a very warm and welcoming look for any room in the building, particularly due to the variations in the colours, designs and sizes of the concrete blocks used.
Concrete walls coupled with concrete floors and industrial furniture parts, among other design elements, and you can create a beautiful look for any room in your house.
