Field note
DensShield Tile Backer For Your Next Project
DensShield tile backer board is one of the most versatile drywall products out there. It’s perhaps the best product of its type in the construction industry.
DensShield tile backer board was introduced in 1988 as the first backer board with a built-in moisture barrier. Originally designed as a substrate for interior floor, wall, and countertop tile applications, its superb performance in high humidity and wet areas sets it apart from the competition.
What is DensShield? How to install DensShield and where to buy DensShield, these are all questions we will address. But let’s start with backer board and why it’s important.
What is Backer Board?
Backer board is a substrate material made specifically for tile. Unlike wood substrates such as plywood that have the potential for warping, backer board is hard and flat, with a level and consistent surface.
Because it is stable, tile can be adhered to it using a thin-set mortar. Backer board holds up to moisture seeping behind it, making it a great choice of drywall for wet locations, such as bathrooms, laundry rooms, and pool areas.
Cement or Gypsum Core
Backer board is made with either a cement or gypsum core. Boards made with gypsum, a soft sulfate mineral composed of hydrated calcium sulfate, are lighter in weight, easier to handle, and absorb less water than their cement counterparts. They can be cut and installed like any drywall without the need for special tools or fasteners.
Backer board can be used in new construction or on renovation projects wherever tile is installed, including floors, walls, ceilings, and countertops. It can also be used to back exterior brick and stone, as long as they are thin enough.
What is DensShield Tile Backer?
DensShield Tile Backer is manufactured by Georgia-Pacific Building Products, a company known for creating innovative, high-quality products designed for commercial and residential buildings.
Established in 1927, the company produces sub-floors, exterior sheathing products, and drywall. In addition to making DensShield, Georgia-Pacific is North America’s No. 1 producer of wood panels and a leading producer of gypsum products and lumber.
DensShield Fiberglass Mat Drywall
DensShield Tile Backer is a mold-resistant tile backer board with fiberglass-mat facings and a unique acrylic coating that blocks moisture from entering the floor or wall cavity. It is ideal for wet and high humidity areas because its built-in moisture barrier stops moisture at the surface.
It is suitable for commercial and residential walls, roof, ceiling, and floor projects. Versatile and high-performing, it can also be used in dry applications and as a substrate for other materials. It can also be taped, finished, and painted.
What is DensShield Made From?
DenShield Tile Backer is composed of a water-resistant treated gypsum core covered on both sides with fiberglass mats. The mats are permanently integrated with the core during manufacturing, preventing delamination.
The surface of the back of each board has a built-in heat-cured acrylic coating that stops surface water and moisture seeps. DenShield retards moisture transmission, protecting the wall cavity. It is mold-proof, preventing mold and bacterial growth behind the panels. DensShield is the ideal ceramic tile underlayment.
DensShield Sizes
This drywall is supplied in convenient sizes, including 5/8″ Type X board. The panels are available in the following thicknesses, widths, and lengths:
- ¼” thick: 4’ x 4’
- ½” thick: 32” x 5’, 4’ x 5’, 4’ x 8’
- 5/8” thick: 4’ x 5’
Where to Use DensShield Tile Backer
DensShield Tile Backer can be used wherever wetness, moisture, and humidity are present in both residential and commercial settings. Here is a list of areas where DensShield is suitable:
- Bathroom floors
- Bathroom ceilings
- Bathroom walls
- Bathroom remodeling
- Indoor swimming pool enclosure non-tiled walls
- Indoor swimming pool enclosure non-tiled ceilings
- Kitchen backsplash
- Kitchen counters
- Kitchen floors
- Kitchen walls
- Shower walls
- Steam rooms (residential only)
Georgia Packfic Sustainability
There’s a saying in the drywall supply business, and it goes something like this, “we have one simple pledge: to get the right products into our customers’ hands as quickly and safely as possible…” Georgia Pacific is one of the largest manufactures of drywall products, and they take sustainability seriously.
Georgia Pacific (GP) has been committed to environmental stewardship, including using wood sourced from certified sustainable forestry methods. GP is one of the top brands responsibly using natural resources since its inception almost 100 years ago. Many of its products are certified by GreenGuard, LEED, Green Seal, and UL Responsible Sourcing.
Backed by GP Quality
GP defines sustainability as meeting the needs of today’s society. It uses resources efficiently to provide products that meet its customers’ needs while operating in a way that is both environmentally and socially responsible. It focuses on the following:
- Improving energy efficiency at its manufacturing plants
- Seeking to reduce water use and reuse water more efficiently
- Finding cost effective ways to reduce air emissions
- Recovering and reusing materials that otherwise would end up in landfills
A little-known fact about Georgia Pacific is that its founder, Owen Robertson Cheatham, was a distant nephew to Ben Franklin. “With $6,000 in his pocket, he arranged financing of another $6,000 and, with characteristic boldness, opened the doors of Georgia-Pacific in September, 1927.” Source, WorldofForestry.org
Backed by the GP Reputation
DensShield Tile Backer is manufactured in keeping with GP’s environmental principles listed by the following two environmental organizations:
- The Collaborative for High Performance Schools (listed is on its low-emitting materials list)
- GreenGuard Environmental Institute (listed as a microbial-resistance product)
DensShield was the first tile backer named by GreenGuard as a microbial-resistant product. It was tested under controlled laboratory conditions to demonstrate resistance to mold growth in compliance with SDTM Standard d 6329-98 and ASTM D 3273.
How to Install DensShield Tile Backer
One of the advantages of DensShield Tile Backer is that it is lightweight and easy to install. It’s more than 40% faster to install than cement board. It scores and snaps easily just like regular drywall using an ordinary utility knife. In addition, no additional moisture barrier needs to be used.
The installation technique differs slightly for different applications, such as shower walls or ceilings, shower pans, bathtub receptors, floors, and countertops. You can easily find instructions for a particular type of installation from the manufacture on YouTube.
How to install DensShield? This video covers everything. You will find everything you need to know about installing DensShield tile backer from this presentation.
Simple Steps to Installing DensShield
Here are the three easy steps for installing DensShield Tile Backer:
Measure and Cut: The panels should first be positioned next to the framing, with the coated side facing away from the studs. They can be scored with a simple drywall utility knife, something you wouldn’t be able to do with a cement backer board. Panels should be installed parallel or perpendicular to the framing with the ends and joints closely fitted.
Fasten: Fasteners should be spaced 6″ on center for both walls and ceilings. The fasteners should be driven so they are flush with the coated surface. Another great feature about this product, no special drywall screws or fasteners are necessary to install DensShield in place.
Caulk and Tape: You can establish a moisture-resistant envelope by caulking the intersecting joints and corners of the panels and around a tub base or shower pan. The sealant should be applied before taping the joints. Apply a self-adhesive 29″ wide fiberglass mesh tape over all the joints and corners. Then embed the tape with the same material used to set the tiles.
Where to Buy
You can purchase a full range of DensShield Backer Board options at most popular home improvement stores, including Home Depot, Lowe’s, and Menards. It’s usually one of the most readily available residential construction supplies.
To find a source near you, add your zip code to “Where to Buy” on DensShield’s website: GP.com
If you are looking for a reliable tile backer board that is simple to purchase, easy to install, and meets all the codes for performance and flame-resistance, DensShield Tile Backer Board couldn’t be a better choice.
An added bonus is that it is produced by a respected company that has been around for 100 years and is committed to protecting its clients and the environment.
READ more about other popular drywall products,
What You Need To Know About Ballistic Drywall
Sheetrock Vs Drywall: The Guide To Gypsum Panels
Green Board: The Basics Of Water-Resistant Drywall
What Tests Does DensShield Pass?
DensShield has undergone numerous laboratory tests for performance, fire rating and sustainability, and has met or exceeded the following standards:
- ASTM E84 Standard Test Method for Surface Burning Characteristics of Building Materials
- ASTM C473 Standard Test Methods for Physical Testing of Gypsum Panel Products
- ASTM C1178 Standard Specification for Coated Glass Mat Water-Resistant Gypsum Backing Panel. Classified as Type X , accepted for use as a tile backer in shower and tub areas in accordance with IBC and IRC Codes
- ASTM D3273-12 Standard Laboratory Setting Test Method for Resistance to Growth of Mold on the Surface of Interior Coatings in an Environmental Chamber
- ASTM E119, 10b Standard Test Methods for Fire Tests of Building Construction and Materials
- ASTM D6329 UL 2824 Environmental Claim Validation for Mold Resistance
- ASTM C627 Robinson Floor Test Standard Test Method for measuring load strength of the tile floor assembly
- ASTM E96: Standard Test Methods for Water Vapor Transmission of Materials, which rates water movement through a material’s surface (vapor permeability) over a period of time
- ICBO-ES Percolation Laboratory Test: Measures how much water passes through a panel within 48 hours. The test showed that DensShield stopped water at the surface,
- Conforms to requirements of the 2009 IBC/IRC Code for tile backer in wet areas
What is a Demising Wall? READ more here,