Drywall construction changes the logic of a building job: instead of making the wall on site with water, mortar and drying times, prefabricated components arrive ready to assemble. The result is faster, cleaner and far more precise, because the tolerance of a rolled steel profile is measured in millimetres and that of a brick partition is not.
At Grupo Construcciones Alicante we work with dry construction systems across Alicante and the province: partitions and linings, light gauge steel framing, mezzanines, external walls and ventilated façades. It is the natural solution when you need to renovate without wrecking the property, when the programme is tight, or when the existing floor structure cannot take the weight of traditional construction.
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The first advantage is weight. A drywall partition weighs a fraction of a brick one, and that is decisive when you want to divide a floor in an older building, build a mezzanine in a commercial unit or add an extension over a structure that was never designed for more load. Many projects that would be unviable in traditional construction are solved this way.
The second is programme and cleanliness: there are no curing times, nothing gets wet and there is barely any rubble, so work can go ahead in an occupied home or a unit that stays partly open. And the third, often the most valuable: the insulation and all the services fit inside the partition, so there is no chasing out and no need to give up on insulation for lack of space.
Industrialised systems demand precision from the setting out onwards. This is the process:
We establish what has to be resolved and to what requirements: acoustic insulation between dwellings, fire resistance, loads to be hung or wet areas. That determines the system and the type of board.
A fixed quote with the chosen system, the thickness and number of boards per face, the insulation inside and the reinforcements allowed for. Two partitions that look identical can cost very differently.
We set out the exact position of every partition on the floor and check heights, so everything is plumb and square from the start.
We install the framing with acoustic tape around the perimeter, fit insulation and services inside and screw the boards to the studs, respecting the board pattern.
We tape and fill the joints, check flatness with a straight edge and raking light, and confirm the reinforcements line up with the points where weight will be hung.
We hand over surfaces ready to paint, with corners protected and access hatches fitted, and mark up where the reinforcements are.
Partitions and linings. The most widespread use: dividing spaces and lining existing walls. A lining lets you introduce thermal and acoustic insulation against a cold or noisy party wall, and at the same time straighten a wall that is out of true, which is very useful in older properties.
Light gauge steel framing. Galvanised steel framing for mezzanines, extensions and complete low-rise buildings. It is engineered like any structure, assembled on site quickly and its self-weight is very low, which makes it ideal for building on top of what already exists.
External walls. With cement board and continuous external insulation, they resolve low-weight façades with very good thermal performance. Combined with a ventilated façade, they greatly improve summer comfort, which is the real issue here.
Fire and acoustics. Dry construction systems achieve certified fire resistance and acoustic performance by selecting the board type, the thickness and the wool inside. It is the usual route for compartmenting a commercial unit or meeting requirements between dwellings.
The usual prejudice is that a drywall partition is flimsy. The reality depends on how it is built: with double board and the right studs, a partition easily carries wall units, televisions and wall-hung sanitaryware, provided the fixings were planned during installation. That is the key, and it is what distinguishes proper work: fitting timber or steel reinforcement inside the partition where weight will later be hung.
On acoustic performance, a well-built drywall partition performs as well as or better than a brick one of the same thickness, because the mass-spring-mass principle works very effectively against airborne noise. What ruins the result is flanking paths: socket boxes back to back, unsealed gaps around the perimeter or a resilient strip that never got fitted. Cheap details that decide whether you hear the neighbour or not.
Where we don’t recommend it: in areas subject to constant impact, or for walls that must carry structural load without prior engineering. For everything else in interior refurbishment, it is now almost always the better option.
Dry construction work we carry out regularly in Alicante and the province:
Yes, if it is planned for. A loaded kitchen unit or a large television needs reinforcement inside the partition, fitted during installation in the intended position. For lighter loads, specific plasterboard fixings that spread the load are enough. What matters is telling us beforehand what is going up and where: doing it during installation costs virtually nothing, resolving it afterwards means opening the board.
No, if the system is correctly chosen and correctly built. A partition with double board per face and mineral wool inside insulates against airborne noise as well as or better than a ceramic partition of equivalent thickness. Failures come from details: sockets back to back, unsealed junctions or a missing resilient strip. Where insulation between dwellings is the objective, we select the system by its acoustic test data.
Yes, with moisture-resistant board or, better still, cement board where there is direct contact with water, such as inside a shower. That substrate is then waterproofed and tiled as normal. What does not work is using standard board in a bathroom and trusting the tiles to cope; that is where problems appear years later.
Considerably. A division that in brick means building, waiting for it to set, rendering, waiting again and skimming, is assembled dry and ready to paint within days. Across a whole property the difference can be two or three weeks of programme, plus the saving in rubble and cleaning.
Yes, and it is one of its best applications: adding a storey over what exists or building an extension without overloading the current structure. It needs structural engineering and consent like any extension, and the existing structure must be verified as able to take the additional load, which although light, is still load. With that check done, assembly is quick and very clean.
They run inside the partition, through the openings in the studs themselves, without chasing out a single channel. That saves time and rubble and makes any future modification much easier. It is worth leaving access hatches wherever there are items that may need maintenance, such as isolating valves, and noting where everything runs before the boards are closed.