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Cross-market term

Plasterboard / drywall

A rigid board with a gypsum core faced in paper, fixed to studs or furring to form a flat internal wall or ceiling surface, then jointed and finished.
  • 4Markets
  • YesSame thing everywhere
  • 3Calculators

What it is called, by market

One concept, four markets. Where a name means something else locally, the card says so rather than leaving you to find out on site.

  • United Statesyours

    Same thing

    drywall

    also gypsum board, wallboard, sheetrock

    "Sheetrock" is a brand name used generically.

  • Canada

    Same thing

    drywall

    also gypsum board

  • United Kingdom

    Same thing

    plasterboard

    also gypsum board

  • Australia

    Same thing

    plasterboard

    also gyprock

    "Gyprock" is a brand name used generically in Australia.

The governing standard, by market

  • United States

    ASTM C1396

    The board itself — core, facing, dimensions and tolerances.

  • United Kingdom

    BS EN 520

    Plasterboard definitions, requirements and test methods.

Calculators for this

Each works in either measurement system, and the terminology on the page follows whichever market you have selected.

Drywall Calculator →Drywall Joint Compound Calculator →Drywall Corner Bead Linear Footage Calculator →

Frequently asked questions

Is plasterboard the same as drywall?
Yes — the same product under two words: a gypsum core faced in paper, fixed to a frame and jointed. British and Australian usage is plasterboard, American and Canadian usage is drywall, and gypsum board is the formal term in both. What differs is not the product but the finishing tradition around it. North American practice normally tapes and fills the joints and leaves the paper face as the substrate for decoration, while British practice may either tape and fill the same way or skim the whole surface with a thin plaster coat — which produces a different surface, a different trade and a different quantity of material. So a specification saying drywall and one saying plasterboard describe the same board, and may not describe the same finished wall.
What is sheetrock?
A brand of gypsum board, used generically in the United States much as gyprock is in Australia. It is not a different product or a grade, and a specification calling for sheetrock is calling for gypsum board. It matters when reading a quotation or a schedule, because the brand name carries no information about the board's type, thickness, edge profile or fire and moisture performance — all of which are specified separately — so a supplier offering another manufacturer's equivalent board is supplying the specified product rather than a substitute. Check the board type and thickness in the specification, not the name in the quote.
Do board sizes match across markets?
No, and the difference is dimensional rather than terminological. North American boards are made in imperial widths and lengths — four feet wide, in lengths chosen to suit standard ceiling heights and stud spacing at sixteen or twenty-four inches. British and Australian boards are metric, commonly 1200 mm wide to suit stud centres at 400 or 600 mm, in metric lengths. A 1200 mm board is a little under four feet, so the two are close enough to look interchangeable on a drawing and are not: the sheet count for an area differs, the joints land in different places, and the framing centres the board was designed for are a different module.