Interior walls in drywall construction

Hello everyone,

as already described in some other threads, we are building our single-family house with Massivhaus Mittelrhein. Since we have a very wide ceiling span in the living room, the structural engineer suggested the following:

The interior walls on the upper floor will be built in drywall construction in some rooms. This is intended to reduce the ceiling load. Alternatively, a crack-bridging plaster mesh will be applied to the interior walls. However, there is a risk that cracks will still form.

I am now very skeptical about what we should do or whether this is understandable and would appreciate some support.

Best regards

Marco

To what extent are you skeptical? Can you formulate a question? Is it about the drywall construction or about the crack formation?

As already described in some other threads, we are building our single-family house with Massivhaus Mittelrhein.

I did not find the design here, so it is difficult to consider the individual case.

Since we have a very wide ceiling span in the living room, the structural engineer suggested the following: The interior walls on the upper floor will be constructed as drywall in some rooms. This is supposed to reduce the ceiling load.

Weight reduction makes sense above walls that do not exist in the floor below (at this point). Firstly, I agree with that, and secondly, I have the impression from this supplier that planning is done properly there (and therefore I assume the suggestion is well thought out). However, in the following paragraph I do not understand at least what is "alternative" about it:

Alternatively, a crack-bridging plaster mesh is applied to the interior walls. However, there is still the risk that cracks may form.

Crack-bridging mesh is used where building materials with different shrinkage or expansion behavior meet, e.g. drywall on masonry. This would probably also be done at connections of calcium silicate blocks to aerated concrete – but calcium silicate is probably not considered when weight reduction is desired. Thus, the question arises for me:

What wall materials are generally planned here? – as far as I know, this supplier prefers aerated concrete for exterior walls (which is also a lightweight building material).

Good morning everyone,

I am skeptical about the sound transmission, whether there is generally a static problem, and whether cracks can still form.

The alternative means:

1. Drywall instead of solid interior walls (11.5) thickness
2. Solid interior walls and additionally crack-bridging mesh. However, this is not recommended.

I wonder why the intermediate ceiling is not simply made thicker....

Best regards

Marco

Drywall partitions can be relatively equivalent to masonry interior walls depending on the construction. Of course, it depends on the materials used, but drywall interior walls are now widespread.

From my own experience, I can say that the walls are only more audible when you knock on them with your hand. Otherwise, they behave quite normally and are also airtight.

We also have drywall in the upper floor. We see no disadvantage. described it very well. If anything makes noise, it goes through the doors or in the outdoor area it’s the windows. The areas where drywall meets stone are always in motion and show cracks after a certain time: these should then be sealed with acrylic.