Drywall origins?

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Location
Seguin, TX
When did drywall come into fashion?

Been doing some 'move in' stuff on the new old house and I've found some original 1949 walls (in the kitchen) that look to be masonite with plaster, then covered with several layers of wallpaper. Kitchen ceiling also appears to be masonite with plaster. Closet walls also. Bedroom walls, or at least SOME of them are drywall, because somebody put up five shelf standards with three molly bolts each... missed the stud on every one. :doh:

I'm beginning to think I shoulda took all the wall covering down and started over so I know what's there. :(
 
When did drywall come into fashion?

Been doing some 'move in' stuff on the new old house and I've found some original 1949 walls (in the kitchen) that look to be masonite with plaster, then covered with several layers of wallpaper. Kitchen ceiling also appears to be masonite with plaster. Closet walls also. Bedroom walls, or at least SOME of them are drywall, because somebody put up five shelf standards with three molly bolts each... missed the stud on every one. :doh:

I'm beginning to think I shoulda took all the wall covering down and started over so I know what's there. :(

According to this article it was developed in 1916, intersting article.
http://db.inman.com/inman/content/subscribers/inman/column.cfm?StoryId=031201AG&columnistid=Gellner
 
On a related note...

I remember taking delivery of a bunch of drywall when my basement was being finished. As the guys stacked the sheets on the floor, I noted the date and time of manufacture printed on the sheets.

I'm in Northern Virginia and the sheets were manufactured (I think) in Pennsylvania. What struck me as being neat was they were manufactured less than 24 hours before they were stacked on my floor.

Talk about "just in time" manufacturing.
 
Kirk,
Post war drywall came into it's own due to the housing boom and the lack of skilled mud slingers.
You probably have a type of "blue board" which was used for veneer plaster. Our 1954 home has it. The blue board was used instead of wood or metal lath and the brown coat. Only the finish coat of plaster was needed. It could be that you have a derivative product similar to one Celotex produce at one time - which was dense and brown like Masonite. Depending on the original board thickness, you should be able to do any patching with blue board like USG's Tuffrock or Celotex's Rocklath.

The article linked has a lot of information missing - and makes some assumptions unfortunately. But that really isn't important, just annoying.:rolleyes:
FWIW,
Wes
 
We built a house about 1951 using something called 'sheet rock'. Was incredibly heavy stuff. 'course, I was a skinny 112 lb. kid, everything was heavy then. ;)

Yes, yes it is, I can remember a time that by older brother and I (about 8 at the time) decided to count the sheet that were stacked against the wall of the basement. About 30 sheets into the process it became too much for my brother and I to hold and it made a very loud bang against the floor. We managed to put a new crack from one side of the basement to the other of my parents new house. :D Needless to say, Dad busted our cracks after he hugged us for not being dead.
 
Yes, yes it is, I can remember a time that by older brother and I (about 8 at the time) decided to count the sheet that were stacked against the wall of the basement. About 30 sheets into the process it became too much for my brother and I to hold and it made a very loud bang against the floor. We managed to put a new crack from one side of the basement to the other of my parents new house. :D Needless to say, Dad busted our cracks after he hugged us for not being dead.

I saw an ad recently promoting the use of sheet rock in flood prone areas as replacement for drywall. The ad stated that the mold found in houses after being flooded was caused by the paper covering on drywall. Sheetrock doesn't have the paper, therefore no mold.
Personally, I would move to higher ground. But, as usual, I digress. :rolleyes:
 
Yes, yes it is, I can remember a time that by older brother and I (about 8 at the time) decided to count the sheet that were stacked against the wall of the basement. About 30 sheets into the process it became too much for my brother and I to hold and it made a very loud bang against the floor. We managed to put a new crack from one side of the basement to the other of my parents new house. :D Needless to say, Dad busted our cracks after he hugged us for not being dead.

Well that would not have been good. I remember a time only a couple of weeks into my apprenticeship I was in a cargo trailer and needed a piece of plywood that was pinned between the wall and about 20 sheets of drywall. I thought I could tip them back a little bit and weasle the plywood out of there by myself. Well that didn't happen and over they went, taking me with them. But luckily there was a wheel barrel on that side of the trailer to get in the way and keep them from crushing me. Who knows what the damage could have been. It got my heart racing that's for sure! My foreman said he knew a guy that had something similar happen and it broke his leg... ouch!
 
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