Greenboard vs. Regular Drywall

elbee

Hi all,
I have a quick question. I had some water leaking awhile back and as a result we ended up doing a copper repipe. Right now I am doing the tape and mudding of the drywall. I hired someone to hang the drywall. The person that I hired used regular drywall as a patch in the bathroom. I heard recently that greenboard should be used in bathrooms, but I am getting conflicting information. Some say, the whole bathroom should have green board, others say no green board on the ceiling. The patches we did are in the ceiling over the sink area. The area will not be tiled. Should I have it redone? I don't want a mold problem and I would rather it be done right since at this point it can be fixed relatively easily.

Termite

Green board may be more ideal for bathrooms, but it honestly should not matter. Either will mold if the inside of the wall gets wet and stays wet, as will the studs.

Be sure they're not installing any sheetrock at all behind conventionally installed tile in the shower or tub enclosure.

Marvin Gardens

If you are going to have a mold problem nothing you do will stop that.

Mold will grow anywhere there is high humidity (best way to get that is a combination of low temperature and lots of water) and low air movement.

The best way to keep mold from growing is to have a fan that pulls excess moisture out of the bathroom.

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Maintenance 6

Today, I would use only fiberglass faced drywall in a bathroom. (Or any other potentially wet/damp/humid location.) Greenboard, Blueboard and conventional drywall all have organic paper facers and all will grow mold under the right conditions.

Marvin Gardens

Problem is that they are textured and painted or even tiled and having mold resistant sheet rock will do nothing to stop mold when it's sealed.

Mold grows on anything. I have a truck that I hardly ever used before I retired. I rode a bicycle to work. The truck sat for months at a time. It grew mold and moss all over it and it was well polished and waxed metal.

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bjbatlanta

The "greenboard" you buy today is not what it was 15 years ago. The old "greenboard" or MR (moisture "resistant", [many people referred to it as "waterproof"] which was the misconception) had a brown colored "core" under the green paper. The core was "impregnated" with some type of water resistant substance. Hence, it was even used as "backer board" for tile for many years. For whatever reason, after the flaw was discovered and Durock came on the "scene", the core of "greenboard" now looks just like regular drywall. Seems like most of the "MR" is only in the green paper on the face of the drywall..... I do use greenboard unless a customer is adamant about using it. It costs more and adequate ventilation in the space along with the proper paint will serve the purpose.

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AtlanticWBConst.

Green board's "core substance" was never rated as "water resistant". It was originally developed for commercial "special use" applications, and was "mis-used" as a tile backer.

http://ceramictilefloors.net/advanced_tile_history.htm:

John Bridges:
"Greenboard," or moisture-resistant sheetrock, came out in the sixties. It was originally developed for use in commercial construction -- in rooms where abnormally high moisture might linger in the air -- commercial restrooms, for example. Well, it wasn't long before home-builders converted "moisture-resistant" to water-resistant and finally to waterproof. Once they had accomplished that feat, there was nothing stopping them from using it as a backer in ceramic tile showers. It was waterproof, wasn't it? The gypsum wallboard industry winked when all of this took place. Why shoot yourself out of the box? The "sheetrock shower" had been born, and most of the old mud men went down the road. The younger tile setters, although they still learned how to do mud work, spent much of their time gluing ceramic tiles to sheetrock.

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AtlanticWBConst.

There is no set rule, or code requirement for using MR (AKA Greenboard) in bathrooms.

The reason for that is because the average home owner, doesn't subject their walls and ceilings to massive amounts of water on a consistent basis.

General Example: If you are getting more water on your bathroom ceiling, than what may be catergorized as "vapor" (steam), then maybe you would need to re-consider your bathing habits.
Proper exhaust ventilation for the Cubic Feet of the bathroom size, is also vital for removal of airborn water vapor(steam).

(The only exception to where you "should" use MR board, is if your bathroom is located in your basement, or you have a steam room in it. In that case, I'd fore-go the MR, and go with the paperless sheetrock that Maintenance 6 recommended, as it is a superior product for Mold Resistance)


If you have so much moisture in the area, or in the air of your bathroom, then you need to improve your exhaust venting system, or stop getting water on your ceilings and walls. Otherwise, don't worry about it.
A proper coat of primer and paint, along with a mildecide additive, or mildew resistant sealer (example: http://www.painterstoolbox.com/catalog.cfm?dest=itempg&itemid=1232&secid=21&linko n=subsection&linkid=42), is enough to protect any ceiling from moisture vapor concerns.

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elbee

Thank you everyone for the input. My mind is now at ease. Thanks again!