DensShield?

[keelan]

A local hardware store is selling 5/8" 'DensShield' tile backer board for $10 a sheet (looks like it's a discontinued product). As I understand it, this is drywall with fiberglass backing instead of paper backing. $10 isn't far off what I would pay locally for a sheet of 1/2" drywall. What are the potential pitfalls of using this stuff instead of drywall in my garage?

 

[keelan]

I'll add that I have a fully detached garage, so the wall-adjoining-the-house thing doesn't apply.

 

[Architorture]

Shouldn't be any pitfalls...it can be painted but is typically used as a tile backer

 

[cleveman]

You don't mention the size of the sheets, but if these are 4x8's, you'll want to buy every sheet you can get your hands on.

This isn't sheetrock with a waterproof face and a fiberglass back. It is gypsum based, but the gypsum itself has somehow been waterproofed, and it is reinforced with fibers. If you are trimming some of the stuff, put the dust in a bucket of water and see what it does.

The 1/2" stuff is selling for about $.70/square foot in my area.

 

[MrMark]

Is this the yellow exterior drywall for firerating an exterior that you are talking about?

 

[keelan]

They're 4x8 sheets, it looks like they're white or off white. I haven't seen them in person, I found them through an ad posted to the local classifeds site.

The timing is good for me. 3 out of 4 of my walls are below-grade concrete block walls. I've lived here two years, and the only time I've had water come in through those walls is when I've left a sprinkler on overnight. We've had torrential rains this year, and my garage stayed bone dry. Regardless, I'm hesitant to put drywall on the walls if there is any potential for leakage. I just stripped out 40 feet of Masonite walls covering preparation for insulating the walls, and I need a replacement finish.

 

[cleveman]

The densshield I get here is light blue/gray. There is an identical product from a competitor, maybe national gypsum, which is more purplish.

There is a product called Dens-Armor which is more of a whitish color. This product is not waterproof.

You'll want to go to the georgia pacific site and check out their different products.

 

[keelan]

Here's a photo of the stuff, for the curious.

 

[willymakeit]

If it is dens shield it is a exterior product and a good one. You can use it but their is a texture to the paper.

 

[Architorture]

If it is dens shield it is a exterior product and a good one. You can use it but their is a texture to the paper.

You are thinking of dens glass sheathing

 

[Pluribus]

That doesn't look like the Dens Shield I used for tile backer/underlayment; it looks like a Dens Shield label stuck to the side of a stack of drywall. It's been years, so maybe the name is used on different stuff now.

IIRC, the stuff I used had one gray side and one blue side, and the blue side had visible fiberglass threads. It was super-easy to work with, and supposedly it wouldn't absorb any moisture. I used it for flooring in two bathrooms and on the floor of an entryway.

I can't remember if it had the recess on the edges for taping and mudding, but if it doesn't, then that would be a disadvantage vs. normal drywall.

 

[Architorture]

http://www.buildgp.com/DocumentViewer.aspx?repository=BP&elementid=3112