Water Damage in Plaster Walls vs. Drywall: What’s the Difference?

When asked about your wall or ceiling, you might describe it as “plaster” or “drywall” without thinking twice. However, do you really know what your walls and ceiling are made of? This is important because the type of material will affect how they respond to water damage and how they need to be repaired.

How Do Plaster and Drywall Respond to Water Damage?

Water is not good for either of these building materials. When plaster gets wet, it can immediately begin to bubble and deform. It might sag and even have pieces fall off.

Drywall is a little more resistant to water damage, thanks to the paper envelope. This can help drywall shed water that falls on it. However, with prolonged exposure, water can soak into the paper, especially when water is exposed to the open ends or cut surfaces of the drywall. Drywall might not show this water absorption at first, but over time it will begin to swell. The paper can break down, and drywall panels can begin to sag in the ceiling. In the wall, drywall panels will weaken and can fall down if exposed to too much water.

Plaster walls are highly susceptible to mold growth when exposed to water. Drywall is typically treated to reduce the ability of mold to grow in the wall, but this doesn’t stop it completely.

How to Tell If You Have Plaster or Drywall

If you can look at a wall or ceiling from the other side, it’s easy to tell drywall from plaster. Plaster will have numerous small boards nailed between the studs, and you ‘ll see the plaster material seeping from between the boards. Drywall will look like large panels of paper that only have plaster material seeping through the joints.

You can also tell plaster from drywall by knocking along the wall. Drywall will typically sound hollow until you get to a stud, where you will hear a solid sound. Plaster tends to sound solid along the entire width of the wall.

The third test is quick, easy, and definitive. Take a pushpin and try to drive it into the wall. A push pin will go easily into drywall but will be hard (if not impossible) to press into plaster by hand. However, remember that drywall can have plaster joints. If you can’t push a pin in, move over five inches to the side and try again. Still hard? Then you’ve got plaster

Repairing Water Damage in Plaster Walls vs. Drywall

For large areas of water damage, it’s recommended that you work with a water damage restoration company to make sure you are eliminating all the water and don’t have saturated studs and insulation, which can lead to serious structural weaknesses.

However, for small water-damaged areas, you can repair it yourself.

In a plaster ceiling or wall, you should wait until the area dries. Then, carefully chip or scrape out the water-damaged plaster. Using too much force can cause the ceiling or wall to collapse. Once you have removed the water-damaged plaster, clean the area with a dry brush and vacuum up the dust. Once the dust is gone, apply a primer to help seal the wall against future damage. Then use joint compound to fill in the hole. You might have to apply the compound in multiple layers to make sure it dries thoroughly. When the patch is dry, you can sand it smooth, then repaint the wall.

For drywall, you can repair it by cutting out the water-damaged section of the wall. If the hole is small enough, you can close it with just joint compound. For larger holes, cut a new piece of drywall to fit in the hole. Secure the patch in place with brackets on the surrounding drywall or by driving screws into the stud if there’s one behind the damage. Use joint compound to close the seams between the patch and the wall. Sand smooth and paint.

Note: in both cases, it can be hard to achieve a smooth finish on your patched area. If you aren’t experienced with this type of work, it might make sense to hire a water damage restoration company to handle it. This is especially true when working with ceiling water damage.

Choose Alpha Omega Disaster Restoration for Major Water Damage

If you have experienced major water damage to your home or office, you shouldn’t try to repair it yourself. Once water starts soaking into the insulation and the studs, the building’s structural integrity may suffer if you don’t properly dry out the entire affected area. You may experience serious mold growth in and behind the walls, and if you can’t immediately say which areas were affected, the problem might be much more serious than you suspect.

At Alpha Omega Disaster Restoration, we are the leading water damage restoration company in the Billings area with over 50 years of combined experience in the restoration industry. We have worked with plaster, drywall, wood studs, metal studs, concrete, and all other construction materials. We offer 24/7 emergency response services, so we can be out right away to help with your water damage, limiting the risk of major and long-term damage. We can handle restoration of both commercial and residential properties. Plus, we handle the entire process: finding the source of water, stopping it, tearing out damaged plaster or drywall, and completing the patch so that you won’t be able to tell where the damage was.

In addition, we work with your insurance company. We can document the full extent of the damage as well as every step in the restoration process. We’ll present this information to your insurance company so that your claim will never be diminished or denied because of poor documentation. It makes the process easy for you: we handle all the insurance hassle. Contact Alpha Omega Disaster Restoration today to schedule an appointment.

We serve customers throughout Billings and the surrounding areas.