Why drywall replaced plaster in homes. The odd original use for drywall.

Drywall is used in houses great and small, but that wasn't always the case. The early purpose for drywall (known by many other names) is quite fascinating. Come re-learn what you thought you knew.
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[@HawkGTboy]

I just sat and watched a whole video on the history of Sheetrock. I’m officially an old man now. 😅

[@BrentHull]

haha, join the party.

[@Colorado_Native]

Same here. My parents bought a house years ago that had sheetrock but had holes in it. You would then coat it with several layers of plaster. I think it was called RockLath.

[@carlsapartments8931]

well, I guess we need to have a name for this club then!

[@jerbear7952]

We've been waiting for you. Hi, yeah over hear. I'm the guy sitting in that clean blue Buick. Yeah you like that don't you. Cloth seats too. Got the tires at Costco. I was just on my way to pick up some antique hand planes. You coming? We can grab cracker barrel on the way.

[@gorosemonde]

Im a middle aged woman apparently at 40 and… same. Same.

[@kurtvonfricken6829]

My cousin lives in a 1899 Victorian. He is fortunate enough to possess all the original blueprints and bids, and contracts which is super cool. The contracts for the plaster specify how much goat hair is to be used in the plaster. Imagine that!

[@BrentHull]

I've seen historic specs like that. They are really cool.

[@stevensko9153]

Now they put fiberglass in it instead so you know the hair was legit

[@itoibo4208]

@@stevensko9153 definitely. It is incredible they lived in a time where there were little or no artificial fibers. They also used stuff like blood to paint things.

[@1987higgs]

I grew up in a house with horse hair plaster. If I remember, most of it was reddish. Maybe it was cow hair. But original trim in most of the house. Did a few renos and there was about a foot of coal dust between each stud. Stone foundation. We pulled back about 8 layers of wall paper and someone had written " snowing outside, woman walked by April 1911 "

[@UntitledUnlimitedCreations]

@@1987higgs I always wrote something in the walls or framing when renovating or a new build. Never know who will read it down the road.

[@stevesmith1404]

Very interesting video. My Dad was a plasterer. His career followed your timeline. When retired, his work was almost all remodels in Beverly Hills to match the exiting work in those beautiful old mansions there. He had distain for dry wall commenting that it was applied by "shack artists" , 😊 But even the 14 year old version of me could see that his was a dying art. In fact, one of his last projects was to come out of retirement to work on the J. Paul Getty Museum in Pacific Palisades'. Much of the fancy plaster work, (Crown Molding, Cornices and Medallions, etc.) were created by my dad. Are there people around now who can do this type of work? Not many, I'll bet.

[@BrentHull]

THx for sharing.

[@DoubleMrE]

I was a painting contractor until I retired and I can tell you one thing I hated about plaster walls…repairing cracks was a bit of a nightmare. Not that they were hard to fill, it’s that they almost always open up on you again. You get them because that’s where the stress is the greatest and that doesn’t change unless you replace like the entire wall or at least a huge section. …Bad memories!

[@janetsbrick]

I worked at the Getty in the 90s during the period leading up to and through the opening of the main campus in Brentwood. Two doors down from me was the office of the original caretaker of the collections at the Malibu villa in the 1970s. The chit chat about the history of both the facility and the art over the decades was something really special.

[@flo2348]

I owned a 1920s house in CT. I renovated the living room and found old sheetrock with "patent pending" stamped on the inside. Also just to mention for fun, the previous owner renovated the upstairs bedroom and they must have overturned a can of paint. I found a big glob of paint sitting on the upside of the first floor ceiling. It never fully dried.

[@BrentHull]

Haha. Wow. THx.

[@RealNorthernFox]

That's wild. Neat!

[@galewinds7696]

Oil based paint

[@stevenm3141]

Just imagine going in a room and nailing a 1/4x1 strip of wood on every stud and ceiling rafter. Every 1/4" apart. Then you use gallons of plaster on three coats each wall and ceiling. It must be smooth and flat. Now you got to clean all your tools and the spills. Now either brown paper or news paper is applied. You can then paint, wallpaper or wood finish. Very time consuming and expensive. Years of experience are necessary and very special tools.

[@jeffmiller3150]

Yeah, it's kinda the difference from a Bentley to a Hyundai!🤷

[@behindthespotlight7983]

Yep. But Americans weren’t paying ridiculous rents to listen to their complete stranger neighbors pee at 4am, either

[@BrentHull]

Good point. Thx.

[@dancooper6002]

Yeah, doing things right usually does take time. Much better that way, the builders are real craftsmen as opposed to the cheapest illegals money can buy.

[@MikeJones-rk1un]

Rock still has to be taped, mudded, and sanded. Rock is also heavy and hard to handle and leaves a lot of waste.

[@foxotcw30]

My junior high had real plaster walls, and even as a kid I noticed the difference. If you knocked or tapped on the walls they were dead solid, without the hollow, cheap drum effect of newer buildings. The ceiling, molding, walls and corners seemed sculpted and unified in a way that drywall construction couldn't match.

[@BrentHull]

True. Thx.

[@thomasdobbs4615]

That's so true I noticed that too when our family lived in the old 1890s home I couldn't hear my neighbors and they were pretty loud. And when I bought this home from the 1980s I could hear everybody. Thanks for the great info

[@taradactyl5690]

When drywall taping became popular, plasterers rejected it and tapers as inferior tradesmen. This was a big mistake, because the tapers were swallowed up by the painters union, while the plastering trade became more and more obsolete.

[@BrentHull]

Thx

[@mitchellragle6415]

Plaster is still the superior product. Drywall is only used because it is cheaper. As any product cheaper means less durable

[@davidferguson2898]

​@@mitchellragle6415 I consider sheetrock to be entirely superior as a wall finish. Not at risk for cracking from the house settling, easier to patch and repair when you need to access wall interiors, and much, much less messy to handle, install, and demolish. What advantages does plaster have?

[@mitchellragle6415]

@@davidferguson2898 plaster is the skim coat on the walls. They still do it over special drywall that is manufactured with a adhesive primer that helps the bond coat. The drywall is taped and corner bead just like regular drywall. But then plaster is skimmed over the entire surface. The plus side is it’s not soft like regular drywall so it’s hard to make dents and scratches in it

[@ps7462]

@@davidferguson2898 from what I can tell here when we talk about plaster, we’re talking about gypsum plaster. Both gypsum plaster and drywall when becoming wet if it should happen, have to be torn out. It never dries. Drywall is primarily gypsum. However, going further back in time to lime plaster, it’s advantages are: alkaline, so therefore nearly impossible for mold to grow, permeable (breathable). If lime mortar becomes wet, it will dry out. Unfortunately, for three coat lime work, it would take about a month to finish a room. Basically, you need about 10 days in between coats and it is desirable to keep the plaster somewhat moist. Lime plasterers are much more forgiving to movement. In historic renovations in England and Scotland, lime mortar is necessary when used adjacent to wood. Via capillary action, moisture will move from the wood to the lime. Wood next to Portland products will rot, as there is no capillary action. The beauty of a lime plaster wall is unmatched!

[@theofarmmanager267]

A UK perspective. Our current house has a wonderful mixture of “plaster”. The front part dates from 1760: it is traditional lathe and plaster. The lathes were made from chestnut and hand-riven not sawn. There is a great tradition of coppicing chestnut here (also in Italy and maybe other countries). Chestnut trees are initially allowed to grow maybe 20’ and then the main trunk is sawn off. The tree regrows but with multiple stems (or branches?) around the place where the main trunk was. These multiple new stems are allowed to grow for 3 or 4 years and they get up to 20 feet or so; then those stems are harvested; the stump left and more, new stems, grow. It is a rotational crop. A woodsman would have perhaps 20 copse which he looked after and, every year, he just went from one to the next as the chestnut had grown. Some of these copse are well over 100 years old and you can see the evidence of how the chestnut resiliently grows, is cut down, grow a again, cut down etc. It’s not as widely practiced as it used to be because we don’t use as many chestnut products as we used to - but it is still quite common. We have a stock fence which has chestnut stakes driven into the ground. One big use was/is that the largest and straight-est of the crop became hop poles for the huge number of hop gardens that we had in Kent. Smaller branches became sheep hurdles, garden fence hurdles, baskets, trugs- all manner of things that were used in rural UK. So , branches of chestnut, perhaps 2” in diameter, were riven with a special axe in halves or quarters when green and allowed to dry. They were then sold to the local builders. The builder had already got the building up using large oak beams, again usually hand cut with axe and adze and he then put in more vertical, smaller oak columns to provide the place onto which he could nail the wooden lathes. He could then mix up his own plaster mixture which was usually a blend of slaked lime, chalk and horse hair. Obviously the thickness of the plaster had to be quite high so that you could push the first coats through the lathes and get it keyed onto the lathes. Later coats were thinner until he got to the finish he wanted. Then, in a later part of the house, we have crude fibre board used instead of the lathes and this was again plastered over. Later still, we have what we know as plaster board which is again skimmed over with a layer perhaps 3/16”. In the barn conversion, we have a mixture. We have different grades of plasterboard for different appplicat

[@theofarmmanager267]

Sorry - pressed wrong button. We have different grades of plasterboard for different rooms - green, silver-backed etc. we also have a goodly amount of masonry walls. All walls and ceilings have been plastered in the traditional way of 2 coats plus finish coats. It’s great to see the 2 guys we have getting such a great finish - hard and smooth. In a couple of areas, we had plasterboard which wasn’t plastered for about 3 years. The plasterers hated it because they said that the board had dried out too much and it was sucking the water out of the plaster before they could smooth it. I never knew that you should only use young plasterboard. I obviously can’t speak for all new houses and I’d be pretty sure that we would wince at some of the building techniques but one of our sons has a new house (1980’s?) and that is all plasterboard but properly skimmed over completely - not just tape and screw holes filled. British Gypsum are not far from us and they Brough dry lining into the UK in 1917. They are near the towns or Robertsbridge and Battle. As yet another diversion, Battle is named after the battle of Hastings in1066 when William the Conqueror (William the Bastard - which is a comment on his parentage and not his character). William went on to be William 1 and was responsible for the building of so many strongholds all around the country including the Tower of London. The Battle of Hastings wasn’t fought in Hastings but on a hillside about 5 miles north (it couldn’t be south as it would have been fought on the sea) which was called Senlac Hill after the nearby village of Senlac. William built Battle Abbey near to the battle ground to commemorate his victory and the whole village became known as Battle - and not Senlac. Anyway, The site around there has all the earths needed for dry lining and that’s why British Gypsum started there although it know imports most of the ingredients for its plaster board. Plastering as a trade is still common over here. I don’t see any signs of a major decline in numbers of experienced plasterers. Another son lives in NSW, Australia in a house built in the 1960’s. it’s a strange, terribly built house which has to cater for extreme heat (no walls of brick or masonry which could act as a heat store) and extreme floods (built on brick piers but timber stumps are also widely used). Walls are fibreboard throughout - just wooden cladding added to the exterior walls. If you stayed to the end, congratulations!

[@BrentHull]

Thanks as always! Cheers.

[@jimc4731]

Thank you for taking the time to produce this historical description of the process! JIM ❤

[@wayward-saint]

@@theofarmmanager267what a wonderfully meandering comment. I really enjoyed reading it. I mean that sincerely.

[@richdiddens4059]

@@theofarmmanager267 Historically I believe lathe and plaster replaced the ancient wattle and daub. Thicker willow branches were run vertically every foot or so and then thinner flexible willow branches were interwoven horizontally in front and behind the uprights. That was the wattle. Then a mixture of mud, straw, hair, and dried animal dung was pressed and smeared (daubed) into the wattle from both sides. This was often coated with powdered lime or a slurry of lime. It lasted pretty good and was a fair insulator. This technique goes back several thousand years.

[@skeptick6513]

Our house built in 1941 had a brown coat and plaster veneer over a sheetrock like product made by US Gypsum, total thickness neatly one inch. The finish coat was like glass, you could not see a trowel mark on it. Made for a very nice, soundproof house with good thermal mass. Way better than modern drywall and a huge improvement over lathe construction.

[@peter-pg5yc]

hight end homes 2 layers of sheet rock..

[@BrentHull]

thanks for sharing.

[@alanlight7740]

As an electrician who has had to cut a hole in a plaster wall and fish some Romex through I can tell you that drywall has been a huge blessing for anyone wanting to add an outlet or a switch. Cutting the hole to add a switch took considerably longer than it would have with sheetrock and it was difficult to make the cuts even and neat, and with the rough texture on the backside it took more than half an hour to fish the Romex through where it would typically have taken only a couple minutes with drywall.

[@BrentHull]

Good to know. Thx.

[@alexandrelegault5727]

One drawback of drywall is that it will grow mold on it's paper layers easily with water damage.

[@peter-pg5yc]

they have new ones that dont also no oil base paints its food. get a dehumidifier and lower humidity it dies..

[@natenate2280]

@@peter-pg5ycholy shit throw that back in the hopper and maybe a sentence will pop out

[@BrentHull]

Thx.

[@SeptemberMeadows]

Treat it with Daconil or some other fungicide, before putting in place.

[@rgplpc]

In 1962, when I was 15, I began working summers with my dad, who was a lather. This was in the San Jose area of California, and apartment buildings were being built all over. Carport ceilings were covered with "Rocklath," a sheetrock-type material full of holes, over which plaster was applied.

[@BrentHull]

Nice. thanks for sharing.

[@Don_P.717]

@@BrentHull Your video popped up in my research, thanks! I'm working on a theater currently that has the holy rocklath on some ceilings, smooth ~16"x4' drywall lath on some walls, a good bit of wire lath, beaverboard or similar and ~2" thick Kimsul insulation in the ceiling. A Kimberly Clark layered and stitched crepe paper insulation. This was built in 1950, about 3-5 years before safety film was common. I'm in the Blue Ridge and we do lag you all in material and style adoption/abandonment. The local courthouse is the last Richardsonian I believe, from 1908. The projection booth on the theater balcony level was on a 4" thick slab on 2x10 joists with a paper embedded wire "pan" the mud was poured on. Sprinklers above and below that, they were apparently very fire concerned, rightfully, the early film was nitrocellulose and the projectors ran carbon arc light. An unextinguishable fire waiting to happen. Apparently Kimberly Clark had a cellulose based fire resistant theater curtain material during that period as well. The fire alarm is driven by a Viking company water motor that spins and bangs the bell when a sprinkler opens and the water flows.

[@gr8dvd]

@@Don_P.717 Taking pics… even if not sharing widely, you’d likely enjoy years later. This all reminiscent of my starter home…. 1920’s ‘railroad’ style - narrow had to walk thru 1 room to get to another.

[@markkillion8980]

Gypsum, of course, is a mineral. Minerals are basically rocks found in the ground. Hence, the term. Rocklath could have holes or not have any. With holes, a plaster “key” will form. Practices changed and rock lath was also shipped without holes. My understanding was that two coats of plaster was troweled over it. I think the big difference was whether it was “doubled back”. Pretty sure that means a coat was put on and then another coat was put on immediately thereafter.

[@josephpadula2283]

My 1964 house Ojai Ca had the rock lathe sheet rock with holes to Key into then covered with plaster

[@Toastedtasty42]

You're telling me drywall was originally invented to be used for as a plaster and lathe replacement? No way, I don't buy it, you're blowing my mind over here

[@markkillion8980]

No, that really happened. Gypsum lath may still be used today if you want a traditional plaster job. Are you familiar with blueboard? It is basically a plasterboard base for what we call veneer plaster.

[@Toastedtasty42]

@@markkillion8980 yeah, it was joke, the title made it sound like it was a surprising origin

[@ianbelletti6241]

I'm not surprised. In most modern cases we don't worry about finish coat and just coat the seams and screws because we've found the finish coat mostly unnecessary. However, this has cost us laborers skilled in coating a wall making it truly flat.

[@BrentHull]

Yep. Thx for watching.

[@markkillion8980]

Sarcasm doesn't always come through on line. I didn't pick up on it! Plaster is"monolithic" while drywall can often show the butt joint. Imperfections in the wood framing can come through also. The commercial world uses metal studs which provides a straighter wall and with the screws locking, no nail pop.

[@beckerderbacker4976]

Interesting fact, in today's modern world, wifi signals transmit better through drywall than plaster.

[@BrentHull]

Good point! Thanks.

[@firstname-qq3xp]

yea, and dont forget the bed squeaking

[@allenatkins2263]

@@firstname-qq3xp Giggity

[@swisschalet1658]

That’s why they “outlawed” lead based paint. They can’t have people in their homes being “shielded “ from the propaganda they continue to beam in.

[@danielbwambale3438]

Fascinating! 80-90% of any middle class or even lower middle class homes are either fired clay brick or concrete brick in my country, Uganda. With cement and sand plaster as the preferred veneer. Ceramic tiles are usually the floor. Richer folks may use marble, wood tiles, or terrazzo. The only wood is usually in trusses for the roofing and in the kitchen and wardrobes. Makes for excellent sound proofing.

[@BrentHull]

Wow, very interesting. Thanks for sharing.

[@gamingwithfrodo]

Interesting. Thanks so much for sharing.

[@tassiehandyman3090]

I moved to a 1860s farmhouse in Devon, UK, as a 6 year old kid in the mid 80s. All the rooms had lathe and plaster walls, including hair for binding. We know it was installed on 1899... because there was a newspaper from that year, still readable, in the gap behind one of them...👍

[@BrentHull]

Very cool. Thx.

[@dutch4117]

I helped remove a room of plaster and lathe from a 1930s farm house so that the walls could be insulated better. The wall cavities were filled with newspaper. We spent a lot of time reading what we could.

[@StringerNews1]

My childhood home (built 1958) had sheetrock in the closets, several layers thick. But the rooms were plastered. Instead of lath, there was perforated steel. The first layer looked like spray-on concrete. It was solid stuff! Great for soundproofing.

[@johnnyxmusic]

Yes, expanded metal lath.

[@BrentHull]

Thx.

[@paulnicholson1906]

@@johnnyxmusic that stuff is nasty to remove.

[@DoubleMrE]

I worked on a house that had walls like that, except the bottom layer was 1/4 drywall with holes in it. But it did have that really hard first layer that you mentioned. Like you said…very solid. 😊

[@Adamanthil]

For most cases sheet rock is a lateral move in craftsmanship for lower labor and easier remodeling. But you can only get beautiful coved ceilings and curved walls with plaster.

[@Adamanthil]

@@guitar-jo I actually just looked this up. Very interesting!

[@BrentHull]

Agreed. Thanks!

[@BrentHull]

Agreed. Thanks

[@pcno2832]

You can curve Sheetrock in one direction. They usually use the thinner panels, soak them in water and double-layer them, though I believe you can use the thicker panels if you soak it long enough. But, yes, you want a compound curve, plaster is the only option.

[@BillSmith-fx7xx]

@@pcno2832 Doen't exposing them to water denigrate the hardness & durability ? I would think any mishandling and it would crumble on the spot.

[@Shahrdad]

I live in a large brick house from 1897, and luckily, almost all the plaster walls are intact. In very few places, we have had to replace it with sheetrock, but most of the repairs have been done with the old three layer technique. Compared to sheetrock, I find that the plaster simply looks better, and it is much quieter as well. In modern homes, one can often hear everything going on next door, where as with plaster walls, very little sound come through.

[@BrentHull]

I agree! Thanks for sharing.

[@ensatlantic]

Regarding the noise, you obviously have to put some sort of noise insulation between sheet rock plates of an interior wall - either rockwool or something more natural. In Europe we now have hemp mats for instance that work as a heat and sound insulation.

[@dad1432]

Thicker drywall reduces noise, too. Using 5/8" instead of 1/2" makes a difference.

[@darkfur18]

​@@ensatlanticI've heard shredded recycled denim works well

[@allangibson8494]

Two layers of 10mm/3/8” is used where sound deadening is important. Thermal insulation also helps damp noise propagation.

[@jasonconnor8492]

Thanks for sharing. Was working on my house built in 1940's and noticed a plaster final coat, on a brown /scratch coat, on what looked to be 2 ft wide pieces of drywall hung horizontally.... have wondered why about the wall build up .. now it makes sense. Thank you again for sharing!!

[@BrentHull]

Great, thanks for watching.

[@lisalaufenberg6002]

Thank you for the education, I do love my plaster walls for many reasons, one not mentioned is the ability to hang a painting on the wall anywhere I would like, one does not have to worry about finding a stud. Thank you Brent!

[@BrentHull]

Thanks for watching.

[@trickyricky12147]

Yeah that's true

[@ivonekowalczyk5823]

Great video. Thanks! We have an interesting old house in Concord NH. They said it was built 1930s, but the front part of the house has definite indications of an older 1870 date, showing up on older maps. We have beaverboard in most of the house, plaster and drywall in newer remodeled parts. Your show helps me make decisions in fixing it, respecting traditions.

[@BrentHull]

Awesome, so glad it helped. Thx.

[@joetristen993]

Very interesting! Thanks for taking the time to post this. I am in Charleston SC and have noticed this, I have seen and worked on many of the original houses with the old wood lath and horse hair in the plaster mix, to perforated drywall with a skim coat and as some one mentioned the half inch or so holes in the drywall boards, I have seen the wire mesh used on curved areas especially. Very interesting seeing the different products used over the years. Also, plaster crown molding is quite fascinating to me.

[@BrentHull]

Nice, thanks for sharing.

[@jackww839]

I could go either way on sheet rock but it’s definitely not a loss of craftsmanship like we see with carpentry today (in general) Thanks for keeping it going!

[@BrentHull]

Fair enough! I do think it ranks, but maybe not as much.

[@jamesdevries5722]

Brent, I enjoyed the video however you missed one important point. Drywall lath was originally used to replace the labor intensive wood lath application and in many cases the scratch coat. It did not originally replace the brown, or leveling coat. This all-important coat is the one that allows the plasterer to build the wall out to the grounds as well as straighten and square up the wall and room through the dot and screed process to prepare for a full finish coat. I live in a 1962 ranch style builders home which has walls plastered in this way. It is very common in this area (Western Michigan) and in houses from late '40's into the '70's. Of course now virtually all houses and commercial buildings use drywall that is taped, finished and painted and the finished product is rarely as straight, square and plumb as traditional plaster would be. There are still a fair number of us traditional plasterers around (I have just over 30 years experience) who know the difference.

[@BrentHull]

Hi James, your voice and perspective are so important. You are practicing an historic trade. I really appreciate you. I didn't mean to say it was replacing the brown coat. I meant to say it was replacing the wood lath. If I misspoke thanks for correcting. Cheers.

[@Adksnate]

We did a renovation and found some kind of Sheetrock board that was layered with paper. Probably around 5 different layers of paper and drywall. Any idea what this is?

[@psyience3213]

@@Adksnate it's probably just layers of sheetrock. There isn't like a multi layer sheetrock product, but it is common to install multiple layers.

[@Adksnate]

This was a board product. 1/16 gypsum or some other product then a layer of paper. Then another 1/16 of gypsum an so on and made up a 5/8" board.

[@francoisbouvier7861]

@jamesdevries5722 the Darby was/is a wonderful tool in the right hands. My uncle and mentor built our house in 64. I remember the tradesman/plasterer/ stucco man very well.

[@sazafrass]

I can't believe I found this amazing resource just trying to find out why drywall is used at all.

[@BrentHull]

Thanks, Speed, and I think at first a desire for better quality- flatter walls.

[@JohnSmith-fq3rg]

It is VERY HARD to have flat walls with plaster. That's why most plaster walls are heavily textured or the imperfections are hidden by patterned wallpaper. It's fast to put up, and easy to put up. You can do whole walls and ceilings by yourself easily eith sheetrock, and you can add nails and screws easily, which hold well on the sheetrock alone without needing to hit a stud, and add receptacle or light fixture holes easily without shattering the wall like with plaster. Sheetrock is just objectively superior in almost every way to plaster for interior walls. And if you bump it you can easily patch over or ignore the dent, where plaster might break off a big chunk or sheet and even ir patched will likely leave stresses and fractures that will split later with temperature and humidity changes. Sheetrock isn't fire proof but it is very good at acting as a firewall since only the paper backing is flamable, you have much more gypsum between surfaces for fire to try and penetrate than you have with plaster and the wood lathe underneath. Sheetrock is really just that good for interior walls and as long as you don't soak it in standing water, it will last just fine.

[@joelinpa185]

This video explains why my 1947 house has 18" wide drywall under our plaster finish coats. Cost and time savings. Thanks for the enlightenment.

[@BrentHull]

Thanks for watching.

[@whathappened2230]

My current job has the sheetrock covered by plaster in most places. Some has the hair in the plaster. It also has some of the house just steel mesh and small steel c channel. I did not know why anyone would put plaster over sheetrock, but this video gave me those answers. Thanks Brent!

[@BrentHull]

Thx!!

[@j10001]

My 1941 house in New England has sheet rock on interior walls, covered with a uniform ½ inch of plaster layers (including a thin brown coat and a white coat 2:03). You’re 100% correct that they saw sheet rock as a replacement _for the lath only_ (and they kept the lathers on staff to install it), and the plaster guys were the the other half of the team, so they stayed employed as well-even though today we see sheet rock as a finished product with a single installer.

[@BrentHull]

100% Thanks for watching.

[@davidmann4533]

My house was built in 1941 and thank God it just has sheet rock with no plaster

[@paulnicholson1906]

That’s how our house is.

[@mk1st]

My house was built in 1936 and has what I now think was an attempt by the plaster industry to stay relevant: factory made plaster panels that are 3' x 5' that were nailed up which then only needed two skim coats to finish. No lath! (which was a blessing when it came to dense packing the walls with insulation).

[@BrentHull]

Thx for sharing.

[@tonymazzola1821]

Your channel popped up in my KZbin suggestions and since I do home remodeling for customers in Boston and vicinity I too have run into early versions of sheet rock measuring smaller than the common 4” x 8” sheets. In addition, I had to tear down a ceiling made from Celotex and looking at the backside of this product found a factory sticker identifying what it was and its uses. I was curious and went searching on line to see if there was any information and your video did a nice job giving the history about these 20th century building products. In addition when opening walls during renovations, I usually find products left by the workmen which, in my experience, are time capsules of the homes I have worked in!

[@BrentHull]

Nice!! I have the same experience. Thanks for the feedback.

[@clemkadiddlehopper7705]

I had a house from the 1950s in Georgia around 1000 sq ft. True dimension 2 x 4 studs, 3/8 inch drywall, insoboard as exterior sheathing underneath the aluminum siding. House is still standing strong today, and easy to keep cool with a 4X 4 attic fan in the ceiling. Complete air replacement in the house within 5 minutes.

[@user-hd8ej8yx9p]

as a former drywaller of 10 years (office boy now) this is very exciting to learn,

[@BrentHull]

Awesome. Thanks for watching.

[@jacobecorder]

1935 house. Early sheetrock that is 1/2 thick. 16" wide ran horizontal. Then 1/2 cement type base and 1/4 finish coat. Crazy stuff tough as nails. I hope to replicate it upstairs instead of just fragile sheetrock. Great video Brent. Thanks!

[@BrentHull]

Thanks for sharing, good info!!

[@elginoctave]

My house was remodeled in 1929, and in the second floor, the walls were made with long, horizontal sheets, I think which were about 2 feet high, and 8 feet long. (It was 20 years ago while gutting I saw the insides of the walls. The sheets had evenly spaced 1 inch (about) holes, which "keyed" the skim coat of plaster to the base. As you noted Jacob, this sheet base was as tough as cement!, and it was coated with very tough plaster. I could see this as just another evolutionary step in trying to lower the cost of plastering. And it isn't like plaster with wooden lath boards just got replaced by drywall. Instead, as plaster kept evolving, from the lathe boards, to sheets of plaster/concrete like Jacob had, or I had from 1929, it ended up as modern "blue board", which is plaster, done up so that it is fast to install as the base coat of plaster effectively. But plaster didn't just turn into drywall, and plaster disappeared over a few decades........ Where I live, into the 1960s, ranch houses were made with "blue board", skim coated with veneer base coat, and a veneer finish coat. The "veneer" plaster lived side by side with drywall in the market place, and because, as is even true today, drywall is simply cheaper to install, so it won out in the competitive residential construction marketplace. I am not saying what Brent says is wrong, but some more nuance is needed to be told in the story of where did drywall come from, and what happened to plaster........ some of that story is hinted at in Jacob's 1935 house, and in my 1929 remodeled house. I love your videos,,,,,,,,,,, Thanks.....

[@PNdebt-hc2tg]

1/2" SR is plenty strong enough. But you could buy 5/8 impact board if you wanted.

[@kulturfreund6631]

Nice presentation indeed. The history of building techniques and materials is a fascinating subject. - Thanks for the video. Very interesting 👍

[@BrentHull]

Thank you!

[@user-kv4kc4pg6l]

In Canada black asphalt impregnated exterior fibreboard was called Tentest The interior kind of fibreboard was called Homasote Very common in low cost or vacation homes in Ontario Gyproc plaster board was used up to the mid 70s Plastering trade died out replaced by drywallers Some high end homes have level 5 drywall ( skim coat) but it’s harder to find people with the trowel skills

[@BrentHull]

THx for sharing.

[@SenileOtaku]

We had that asphalt-impregnated fiberboard on the house that used to occupy this location. It did get covered with a foam-board insulation in the early 2000s, but when we had a fore start outside I think the fiberboard helped it spread all that much faster.

[@paulnicholson1906]

They still make Homasote. It is made from recycled paper.

[@kurtvonfricken6829]

Interesting presentation, as always. I’m going to use plaster in my new build, which is also an interesting topic( modern plastering techniques). Some people don’t even know that plaster is still done, it is considered a high end material because of its hardness, but finding people that know how to properly apply it isn’t always easy. Also I’d love to hear your opinion on plaster vs. wood moulding. Perhaps it is worth a video!

[@barryallen5507]

I second this, plaster molding is still quite popular in some countries in Europe and Asia.

[@BrentHull]

Ok, challenge accepted. Thanks.

[@BrentHull]

Agreed. We use it quite a bit. Thanks.

[@aaron___6014]

Plaster makes a space much quieter, which to me makes it more comfortable. Hope it turns out well!

[@CountSessine]

It's too hard to find tradespeople who know how to do this, at least in western Canada. We wanted to do plaster work for our walls but gave up finding anyone to do it.

[@PhilRMcGregor]

This is cool video. Our house was built in the 1920's and has still has plaster and lath on the main floor. However, while rebuilding our stairs I encoutered wire lath. Ugh! What a pain to remove. My parents' house was a ranch style house built in the 1950's. It plaster over drywall. Even the garage was finished with plater over drywall, although it was a rougher plaster.

[@user-vl4vw4ur9b]

I lived in a wire lath house. The wire lath made the house a Faraday Cage.

[@BrentHull]

Good to know. Thanks.

[@albertstadt9853]

@@user-vl4vw4ur9b So you couldn't use radios or tvs without a rooftop antenna (or cablevision)?

[@albertstadt9853]

no wifi or cellular reception either, I suppose!

[@vaalrus]

Fibre-board/buffalo board was widespread on the Canadian prairies up to the 70s, but usually as a sheathing before the application of tar paper, chicken-wire lath, followed by concrete stucco… A few years ago I had to remove an exterior wall for a porch addition, and it was an impressive, if painful to remove wall. The 40s built house had been moved 70 miles to a farmstead in the 70s, and there wasn’t a crack in the stucco.

[@theblackbear211]

Thanks, having worked on a number of houses built from the 1920's to the mid 1960's I've run into a number of applications of these various products.

[@BrentHull]

THx

[@raylopez99]

We have a 100 year old farmhouse. We rent it. What's interesting is the wood, over time, has become hard as iron. Either that or perhaps the original wood was some very dense oak tree that grew slow and is very hard. In any event it has a great skeleton and probably could last another 100 years. And this old house did have 'slats' with plaster in some places, that is, pre-sheetrock. Subscribed!

[@BrentHull]

Nice. Thanks!!

[@alanlight7740]

As an electrician I've had to do some renovations of older buildings. It's common for the wood to dry out and harden over the years. In some cases it was almost impossible to drive a nail into the wood - the nail would simply bend. I'm not sure that makes the wood stronger, as strength and hardness are different things. However, the older buildings did tend to have higher quality wood, and things like one 4x4 where today framers would use two 2x4s to reduce costs. Of course going back to the early 1900s and the 2x4s were really 2 x 4, not 1.5 x 3.5.

[@eh_bailey]

Brent, I agree with you. Sheetrock was a great innovation. The same craft could still be applied to stucco, and blue board plastering, and it still takes some craft to hit level 4 and 5 drywall. It is also worth asking if a craft "needs" to be kept (not a lot of wagonwheel makers). If the finish quality is just as good, but the home costs less, finishes faster, and is accessible to more people, then maybe it is an unnecessary or less-necessary craft. It is also a lot easier to patch and make changes on the future. Not sure on this, but the fire resistance may be better as well. Thanks for putting this together. 👍

[@BrentHull]

I see it as a slippery slope. Soon our houses will be printed by machines and they will have no craft. I think one reason why we love certain places around the world is because how they exhibit and celebrate craft. Versailles, the Cotswold's, Philadelphia Hall, etc. I understand what you are saying but not sure we understand the consequences. Thanks for sharing

[@eh_bailey]

@@BrentHull well, you might be right, maybe there is a happy medium

[@philipkern6774]

Don’t forget about split lath and plaster that was used prior to cut lath strips. I owned a house in Maine that was built in 1813 that used this method. When I was replacing walls with Sheetrock, I’d skim off the plaster and leave up the split lath. Very easy to screw into and hardly a miss with the screws!

[@BrentHull]

True. Thx.

[@stephenwilliams163]

My house was built in the 40s. The interior walls are plaster over sheetrock. I always wondered why. Thanks for the history lesson.

[@BrentHull]

Nice. Thanks.

[@Locustandhoney]

I’ve torn out a few walls that were 1930’s consisting of gyp board with metal lath on top of it. It was definitely a transition period. The rock was much quicker than wood lath but not fully trusted. Great video!

[@BrentHull]

Great insight. THanks.

[@RachaelLynnMunson]

So interesting! My house was built in 1918 so the main floor has plaster on the original walls but part of the attic was finished off at some point. Watching this, this is what they used for the walls, but I always thought it was weird that they put plaster over what looks like particle board! And if it gets wet (there was a leak around the chimney from poorly done flashing) it swells and is ruined just like a paper product!

[@BrentHull]

Yep, that makes sense now.

[@dylankmorgan]

You made a great point. Finding a new material or method for completing a task that saves time doesn't have to compromise quality. I'd call that an improvement that creates value and moves society forward. Unfortunately, many of the time-saving tactics that people use are just cutting corners, which does compromise quality. This is value-destructive and moves us backward. For example, I inspected a house yesterday with an improperly installed stone veneer that was leaking water into the wall cavity. My assumption is that the homeowner hired unqualified people to work on their house to save money. Now, the stone veneer has to be removed, the moisture damaged wall needs to be repaired, and the veneer system needs to be installed again properly so that it does not leak. I also assume that a well-qualified contractor, who would have done the job right the first time for a higher price, lost the job. No money was saved in the long-term and all parties are worse-off as a result. The only exception might be the unqualified contractor if they are not held accountable for their work. This is what I'm observing daily, and I experience it too in my business.

[@BrentHull]

Thanks for the insight!!

[@jbrown2905]

In my opinion, (as a 3rd generation, general contractor, in the metro Boston area ) gypsum board/ Sheetrock was the greatest compromise in building practices. It is literally a Petri dish for mold and mildew, catalyzed by the slightest water/ moisture event. I’m perplexed as to why the construction materials industries, at the insistence of the insurance industries hasn’t developed a proper paper wrapper for the panels.

[@chrisdiggs2237]

Thanks for historically geeking out with us.

[@BrentHull]

Geek out is my M.O.

[@Robert-tj3qq]

I saw alot of what you're talking about while remodeling older homes. Commercial work is dense glass and mineral wool as insulation.for exterior applications.nice video

[@BrentHull]

Thanks!!

[@markfowler7171]

Very nice, I think I can help clarify a little bit. wood lath was replaced by gypsum lath right after WWII. That is what " handy Andy" is putting up in the video.we called it Button board when they put holes in it. It was a two coat process, 3/8 inch gypsum, plaster, we called hardwall and a finish (putty)coat. That was popular for the 50's and into the 60's. . The outside ( stucco) used three coat plaster and wire lath over open studs. By 1970, drywall was replacing interior lath and plaster in major chucks and lath and plaster died out. ( Shame) . Plasterers did like losing interior , but stucco ( outside) was so popular it was ok. we had lots of work.

[@BrentHull]

Thanks.

[@jayadinash9102]

I lived in a late 1940's house that had 3/8" drywall covered with 1/2" plaster.

[@GuttersMN]

@@jayadinash9102 I live in a 1957 house- same thing. The rooms are basically soundproof, and solid as all get-out!

[@nickfromm5315]

Love drywall, especially when interior walls are insulated. Germans can have cinderblocks. I love renovating my 60 year old home, tearing down walls, building new ones. Additions, renovations, etc.

[@BrentHull]

Ok.

[@Vreejack]

My building went up in 1943. The walls use sheetrock lath, a brown coat and a finish coat. The rocklath was nailed into the ceiling joists, but over the years some of the nails began to pull through. But even though the pieces of rocklath were small (24x48?) they were all held together by the brown coat, until so many pulled through that large pieces of the ceiling would crash down, heavily, all at once. Had this happen a few times. Putting up channels and screwing in another ceiling all the way through to the joist helped stabilize them all.

[@BrentHull]

Nice. Thanks.

[@bigbob3772]

My 1870s solid masonry farmhouse had plaster, no drywall. My addition is wood and CEMENT BOARD, in place of drywall. Drywall has paper, bugs love to eat paper and mold will grow if moisture is high. Cement board does NOT do this., it also will not burn, will not rot, and does not crumble when wet. As you always say- build with the RIGHT materials if you want it to last.

[@BrentHull]

Nice. Thanks for sharing.

[@robhersey1796]

I could imagine how strong and durable walls would be if done with Hardie board but holy moly $$$.

[@sacia4339]

​@@robhersey1796if you care about the costs, you could build the structure in concrete and brick, and just make the walls in drywall. I think this solution gives you the best of both.

[@lazydadsgarage]

Cement board will eventually crumble. Source: I live in Houston and see failed Hardie all the time

[@bigbob3772]

@@lazydadsgarage hardie is not cement board

[@hindesite]

I own a 1928 house in New Zealand. Lounge had Beaver Board and batten ceiling; bedroom had Beaver Board walls and ceiling. No building wrap, no insulation, just rough sawn bevelback weatherboards and Beaver Board. Freezing cold and full of windblown sand.

[@BrentHull]

Nice, thanks for sharing from NZ. Cheers.

[@pixelpatter01]

I've been told houses in the midwest US were built the same way. I actually lived in a barracks as a kid that was like this. The sand was the silty powdery stuff. I think a common solution to the wind and dust was to paste newspapers to the walls with wheat flour paste.

[@hindesite]

@@pixelpatter01 in this case this is a beachfront property, it was sand blown off the beach - about 100mm piled up on the dwangs and bottom plate. In some parts of NZ there were buildings - especially tramping huts of which some still exist, that had wall cavities filled with crushed pumice. We followed the way US built houses especially early on, our own house would be considered a California Bungalow.

[@ralphmb58]

I agree with you in that I see sheetrock as being an improvement. What I'm interested in these days is trying to match some finishes on drywall that comes close to the historical finishes. Mixing mud in varying consistencies and applying the mud to the drywall in various ways to simulate vintage textures. I have even experimented with adding sand to the drywall mud in order to give that gritty appearance that some plaster finishes had. I'm curious as to what you do in trying to apply a historic finish on to drywall.

[@BrentHull]

Great question. Yes, we have added sand to drywall mud to match Plaster. Lately we have been using some clays and other special finishes on plaster that make it look like a plaster and stone.

[@PeeedaPan]

i love your channel. Craftsmen style homes are my favorite. Hope to build one

[@BrentHull]

Me too! Thanks for watching.

[@daveash9572]

Here in the UK, "plaster board" is routinely used as a substrate onto which wet plaster is applied, absolutely in lieu of the older lath and plaster method. This has many benefits over just smooshing a bit of wet plaster over the joints between plaster boards. I've worked in thousands of buildings where I've found laths behind plaster which has been mixed with hair for strength, and it's still there after 200 yrs

[@BrentHull]

Thanks for sharing. Cheers.

[@2217Video]

Called "Fibrous Plaster" in Australia. Ok until someone bumps into it, then you get an area that is saggy and cracked.

[@tonycosta3302]

That’s how is is still done here in Boston. The plaster finish is so much nicer than a tape and mud job on sheet rock. It also makes mixing the existing plaster and lath with newer “blue board” and plaster. I think the blue is to indicate greater water resistance.

[@jimimmler9110]

It’s my understanding that Sheetrock had some controversy during its implementation. Thousands of plasterers might not have accepted it so it was marketed and sized as a replacement to the laborious lath installation portion. At that time the surface finish was not as good. Eventually plasterers transitioned to using it as the final surface and also sheet size and paper quality improved. One of the most ingenious product implementation tactics ever to hit the building industry.

[@BrentHull]

I haven't read about the controversy but i don't doubt. The fact that so many companies offered this type of product means it must have saved a lot of time compared to nailing up individual lath strips. Thx for sharing.

[@itoibo4208]

this. I was thinking how many plasterers were pulling their hair out worrying about losing their jobs and how many probably refused to use it for as long as possible.

[@t.e.1189]

I've seen blue color sheet rock about 18" to 24" wide, hanged horizontally as lathe. It was perforated with holes about 1/2" in diameter if I remember correctly so the plaster could key to. I think it was 1950s, not sure. Love your channel!

[@BrentHull]

Good to know. I haven't seen that one but I believe it.

[@ziploc2000]

I used to live in a Victorian terraced house in London. When having some repairs done prior to selling it, the builders discovered that several walls were original lath & plaster from the 1870s, with several layers of wallpaper and then paint on top. To replace the lath & plaster where damaged they had to use a double layer of sheetrock to bring it up level.

[@BrentHull]

Nice. Thx for sharing.

[@JL-hn6hi]

Brent, any idea of the history for why the finish plastering trade (on blue board) stayed strong in the Boston area, and other places switched to the drywall approach? The tradesmen were simply concentrated there in New England?

[@brandonfrancey5592]

I wold definitely guess that it would be due to a concentration of old world workers. Just about everything comes down to cost. In most places drywall would be cheaper as it's faster and required less skilled workers where in Boston, plasters wold be a dime a dozen so their cost would be fairly low and content doing what they spent their life doing. Purely a guess but everything always comes down to money.

[@BrentHull]

I think a strong reason is building traditions, and yes skilled trades professionals. I also suspect some architects and builders demand it. We see it here in Texas but it is rare.

[@BrentHull]

I think there is a lot of truth in what your saying. Thanks.

[@pcno2832]

@@brandonfrancey5592 There is a strong financial case for using plaster when doing repairs and maintenance on an existing property, since the contractors can get in and out in one day. But there are probably more home buyers around Boston who want plaster just so they can say they have it, and then some walls in directly light that look better with the random imperfection of plaster and with the subtle grid pattern you see when light hit taped drywall at a shallow angle. I assume they use texturing and/or wall coverings on such walls in places where you can't find a plasterer.

[@anthonyloran4442]

Plaster is great until you have to remove it for renovation work. Most that I have worked on is on wire lathe, walls, ceilings, and tile bathrooms.

[@BrentHull]

True! Thanks for sharing

[@B-and-O-Operator-Fairmont]

Interesting stuff. Our house was built in late 1925 and the interior walls are lath and plaster at least where not remodeled. One of the upstairs closets has some visible Inso-Board still showing. The exterior was clapboard siding but at some point "Insul-Brick" siding had been applied, probably in the 1950s. Today it has vinyl siding.

[@BrentHull]

THx.

[@robertporterfield9578]

You may have discussed this, but in case you haven''t: In the late '40s and early '50s and perhaps beyond on either end, a lath board was used as a base for plaster. It came in 2 foot by 4 foot sections and was about 1/4 inches thick. It had a gray paper cover with what appeared to be gypsum inside. I don't know the details of the plaster application, but it involved several coats, similar to the description of the plaster on wood construction you described. It was durable and many homes with it installed still have it (we sold ours a couple of years ago. Going back to the twenties, one of our homes had a wall board very similar to today's drywall installed. Where it was not painted or wall papered, the wrap turned brown or perhaps came in that color. It survived until the house had a major remodeling in the 1980s.

[@BrentHull]

THx for sharing.

[@RADIUMGLASS]

if any rodents got in the walls they couldn't bite through the metal lathe. That was one of the advertising features back in the twenties.

[@BrentHull]

Interesting. thanks.

[@iunnox666]

Sheetrock is why we don't have nice moldings anymore and everything is square. Much faster and cheaper, but there's not much of an art to it.

[@BrentHull]

Word.

[@kennethbarber438]

The wood lathe in my family's New England saltbox farmhouse is split along the random grain lines, rather than cut. The interior walls in my circa 1928 city apartment are 3-coat plaster over 1/2" Celotex. It's labeled Celotex Lathe, and says which side is to receive plaster. Very sound proof and very strong.

[@BrentHull]

Yes, that is the earliest form of lath. Boards were split on the ends and then stretched. Thx for sharing.

[@myREALnameISiAM]

I was hoping you would get this right and you nailed it (pun intended). I just wish young home improvement workers knew just the basics of old homes. That would save alot of trouble.

[@BrentHull]

True. Thx.

[@bdidier37]

I know in boston they use US gypsum blue board and float a layer of plaster over the whole thing. If you look up NS builders they have some videos on it.

[@BrentHull]

Nice. Thanks for sharing.

[@kennethbarber438]

NYC as well, but pricey

[@petemclinc]

Drywall (sheetrock) is truly a time and labor saving material compared to installing wood lath, however, if you want an exceptional wall surface finish, you will plaster over it...

[@BrentHull]

Agreed!

[@tyrel7185]

One of my properties from the 1880’s has horse hair in the plaster to help bind it and prevent cracks.

[@BrentHull]

Yes, great stuff. Thx!

[@peternicholsonu6090]

I came into sheet rock in 1972 in Australia where we call it Plasterboard. We used the Plasterboard almost exclusively even cut down to 2’x4’ drop in tiles to an aluminium grid. However on occasion we fitted sheets of plaster inlaid with sisal fluffed out and then the factories would work the sisal into the poured plaster much as we worked glass fibre chop strand into polyester resin. The resultant plaster sheets we could not screw through of course but when applied as ceiling we would slop wet plaster/sisal over ceiling battens onto the sheets both sides. A clever Kiwi would prepare this attachment method whilst on the floor by grabbing a handful of dry expanded sisal and dunking it into wet plaster in a bucket. He would form the combination rapidly into what looked like a 12” fish which he cross layered into another clean bucket. After washing hands he work climb up through an opening and slap and smoothen each ‘fish’ quickly and cleanly in record time and effective strength.

[@BrentHull]

Thx for sharing. CHeers.

[@bradwatson7324]

Lath and plaster was the innovative product that replaced wattle and daub.

[@BrentHull]

Good point. Thanks.

[@micheleemcdaniel389]

'wattle and daub' ?

[@joemodley7934]

Sheetrock is nowhere near as strong as lathe and plaster... although it is easier to repair, even though it needs repaired a lot more often... but with the lack of craftsmen today... it's probably a good thing!!!

[@BrentHull]

I'm split on the issue and see both sides. Thanks.

[@raedwulf61]

I've come across a lot of Celotex on older houses on Long Island. Also, many Levittown houses on LI used an exterior sheetrock, which was covered with black paper and water-resistant. After some 75 years, it is still doing its job underneath the asbestos shingles.

[@BrentHull]

Interesting. Thx.

[@Mej_Javiky]

In my 1950"s house the drywall has holes for the plaster to have a better hold. I have always assumed it was used in the place of lathe. The dry wall is very thick, and so is the plaster. It worked so well that when we bought the house in 2000 and had it moved 20 miles to our property, it had very little cracking to the plaster. California

[@BrentHull]

Wow, amazing. Thx.

[@richdiddens4059]

I've seen that while doing remodels during the late '70s in the Bay Area and old timers called it button board.

[@vicmontes7314]

@@BrentHull My 1938 Sears Kit House here in Northern VA (next to the W&OD RR, now Bike Trail) used the same perforated (holes are about 1"-1-1/2" dia) paper finished gypsum sheet goods with a brown coat and plaster finish. Don't have much of it left as I've done some pretty extensive remodeling and additions and it's prone to cracking the plaster and delaminating. The last thing to ride on that RR were the prefabricated rebar lattice for the columns at Dulles Airport. They were built at the Four Mile Run industrial area of Arlington, VA by Trowbridge Steel...I think they are still around.

[@bobpoor6348]

The fireproof aspect of those early materials like Insoboard and Celotex was due to asbestos content so best to wear a proper mask when you run into it on a tearout.

[@BrentHull]

Good point. Thanks.

[@satchmodog2]

I was rehabbing an old Sears family vacation home in NE Illinois and it was built in the early 20s. The house was mostly drywall, especially upstairs.

[@BrentHull]

Interesting! Thanks for sharing!

[@ryanmichael1298]

Thanks for the info. My dad had some Uncles that were in the plastering business from what I assume was in the 1910s - 1930s, maybe. They would start a job and get a down payment upfront, then they would go get plastered and didn't always come back to finish the job or so i heard.

[@BrentHull]

Yikes. Ok.

[@mothanwrdz]

I prefer traditional lime and earthen clay plasters. Going with drywall on an old house in an attempt to reduce labor costs is akin to replacing all the old millwork with vinyl in an attempt to save on artisan labor and eliminate the need to have to worry about keeping up with maintenance of the wood. Sure, it can be done. But the end product will be missing its soul.

[@kurtvonfricken6829]

Vinyl on a house?? Yeech! That's like putting ketchup on a hot dog. Some things simply don't belong. The only place I would maybe accept anything plastic anywhere on my house would be toilet tank parts and PVC drain lines, and I’d still be suspicious of them. (and I don't think PEX, which I think is an incredible product can be considered plastic).

[@BrentHull]

I agree!

[@BrentHull]

Interesting. Thanks for sharing.

[@eh_bailey]

I can partially agree. If it is showing, I totally understand, and I would definitely agree for plaster (maybe without lathe. However, if it will be under wallpaper, paneling, etc., then I don't see a need to avoid drywall. It has great fire-reduction benefits and saves you money that could go toward details that will be in display.

[@twobluestripes]

A young (well, my age, so I guess early 30s now) blogger I follow who is slowly restoring his victorian house in Kingston, NY, discovered several years back that if he used 2 layers of drywall, instead of 1, it creates more of the heavy and deep deadened sound of his plaster walks. He really loved the plaster, but it was fully destroyed in several rooms, including ceilings. He spent a chunk of change to have a few spaces redone by some excellent plasterers, but needed to stay on a lower budget for other spaces. He uses offcuts fir the first layer of drywall and puzzles them together all crazy, seems untaped. Them the second layer how you would normally, then the whole wall is skim coated.

[@TinManKustoms]

So here's my thoughts on lathe and plaster versus drywall. Lathe and plaster walls would have been stronger and reduced racking on walls as the building settled over time. It took a skilled crafts man to finish walls smooth. Drywall does not provide any racking or sheer factor as it will allow screws to come loose over time and it doesn't require much skill to finish. The other point to look at is lathe and plaster walls do not fall apart when subject to water compared to drywall falls apart when wet. Also one final thought is plaster walls are easily repaired cause all you do is remove loose material and reapply compared to drywall you have to remove the damaged sheet and replace with a new one.

[@BrentHull]

The water issue is the big one for me. Plaster can absorb alot of water, then release it without any compromise to strength or rigidity. This makes it superior. Thanks for sharing.

[@jamesdevries5722]

Another interesting fact is that, while drywall is a nearly perfect growth medium for black mold when damp, traditional lime plaster is mold resistant due to the fact that the lime is re-activated by water an kills mold.

[@daltonbedore8396]

@@jamesdevries5722 just one more instance of the cheaper option also being the riskier option!

[@pcno2832]

I think it depends on what they use in the "plaster". I've seen plaster (gypsum-based, I believe) turn to sand and never re-harden while that "rock lath" under it drys out and re-hardens with a little warping. But if they make the "plaster" using lime, doesn't that re-harden? And if they use enough portland cement in the plaster, it will probably stay hard, even when wet.

[@PSNDonutDude]

We removed a wall in our house, one side was lathe and plaster with horse hair, the other side was lathe, wire and plaster. Removing the wire was hell, but it did hold on amazing. It was odd because qe found some newspaper in the walls from the 50s, which tells me the lathe was probably really old and the wire was used in a remodel or renovation of the plaster. The plaster on the ground floor seems to be newer than the plaster work on our second floor. It makes sense to me that originally drywall was used as a backer for plaster. We essentially still do, we just use sandable plaster and only fill the gaps in the drywall.

[@BrentHull]

Thanks.

[@Csharpflat5]

Lath

[@benjones3329]

When discussing the insulating value of an exterior board, such as Celotex I think it’s important to keep in mind that the alternative was pine boards nailed on usually with half inch gaps between the boards. so even though the seams weren’t taped, it would still hold considerably more heat.

[@BrentHull]

Ok, good point.

[@BryanTorok]

I owned a house that was built in the late 1940s. It had 5/8" wallboard with about a 5/8" layer of plaster over the top. My parents had a brick veneer ranch style house built in 1967 in a new development. The houses built there used Celotex sheeting over the wood framing and then the bricks over that. When they had a detached garage built, the builder used celotex sheeting over the wood frame and wooden shingles over that.

[@BrentHull]

Nice. Thx.

[@jamesalanstephensmith7930]

I’ve also seen gypsum “plasterboard” in NYC with many one inch perforations that was coated with the gray coat, removing the laborious lathing process speeding up the process by removing at least one phase of wall finishing. It was still plastered… And I don’t know the timeframe. Interesting video!

[@BrentHull]

Thx!!

[@jelsner5077]

My 1908 cottage bungalow has traditional plaster and lathe in the two front rooms (living and dining room). But the two back rooms (kitchen and bedroom) have a prototype sheetrock. It's only 1/4" thick. It has crazy wallpaper adhered to it, too.

[@BrentHull]

Sounds like you had ship-lap walls that were wall papered originally, then covered with 1/4" sheetrock more recently. We see this a lot on houses in the 1930's and 1940's. Thanks.

[@steveputnam4008]

They used something similar to what you are describing on one of the walls in the old farmhouse we are remodeling.

[@BrentHull]

Nice. Hopefully it helps you date your farmhouse's past work.

[@johnjones928]

My house was built in the mid fifties and has paster over gypsum interior walls. It's a pain doing renovations because the thickness of the plaster is inconsistent so in some cases it's easier to just sheet rock an entire wall than cut out a section and build it up. Not to mention they papered over the final plaster coat which is now peeling, so I'm also skim coating, sanding and heavy priming to get a smooth base for painting.

[@BrentHull]

Thx.

[@johnnytoronto1066]

In my experience renovating a house built in 1900, that first coat, on the wood lath was mortar, called scratch coat. Wire lath, like strips of chicken mesh, was used at the corners and at the ceiling, all covered with the scratch coat, and tying all these surfaces together.

[@BrentHull]

Yes, thanks for sharing.

[@Videoswithsoarin]

seen some insoboard type material on some reno houses ive been in on the exterior walls. very interesting stuff

[@BrentHull]

Thx.

[@bobbarron6969]

When I began work in the trades during the late 70's we were gutting older homes and applying sheetrock on the walls. Trouble is, when these older homes were framed 1/8" to 1/4" of variation in stud surfaces was no big deal because the plasterers could cover this. We come along applying a rigid and uniform product to the wall surfaces. There was lots of shimming and stringing lines to make the sheetrock panels fit together.

[@BrentHull]

Thx.

[@weldongreen9547]

We use those cellulose boards as external sheathing that insulates and absorbs/releases moisture and breaths now in EU building. Also we have the same thing on the inside that is meant for less wet environments.

[@BrentHull]

Interesting. Thx.

[@tomtom2719]

I've seen lath and plaster exactly once in the time I've been doing remodeling. It was a trip.

[@BrentHull]

Thx.

[@finscreenname]

I have 2 early 1950's town houses in Maryland. Both, they put up 1/4" drywall and then plastered 2 layers over it. It came in 2 foot wide by 8 foot sheets. Just basically replaced the wood with the sheetrock board.

[@BrentHull]

Thx for sharing.

[@ronfry3324]

I can tell you from personal experience that the Iso Board does burn, BUT it had to be in the direct fire for a considerable time and it burned very slow. That and the fact that the attic had been built right against the 100 yr old clap board lead painted siding saved the rest of the house when our attic caught fire.

[@BrentHull]

THx.

[@michaeldibb]

We call it plasterboard in the UK but it's the same as sheetrock. We still put a finish coat across the whole board for durability. Whereas in the US it's only the edges and screw holes get plastered.

[@BrentHull]

Very interesting. Thx.

[@lanialost1320]

I lived in UK, and you're correct about plasterboard walls there. But in USA, the more modern houses are built with one of 2 types of "sheetrock/wallboard" -- the better quality one is "sheetrock", where the whole of it gets covered with a skim coat of plaster (not just the joins/seams and screws), and the lower quality (in my opinion) one is "wallboard" where the joins/seams are taped with a joint compound feathered over and the screw holes filled. You would then apply the paint onto wallboard paper, instead of onto a skim coat of plaster. Wallboard is a cheaper end product that does not require skilled plasterers, and I find it always looks cheap compared to skim coated walls when painted. Plus, the paper finish is more prone to damage when re-painting.

[@coldwarveteran4239]

Grew up in an old house my dad was upgrading. Helped wheel many wheel barrels of plaster out the back door. The most fun was burning the lath in the burn barrel. That dry stuff burned hot. ( For the young people, In the 60s every house had a burn barrel in the back yard. ) Other people around us would just remove the plaster and then Sheetrock over the lath. My dad always said that was just asking for a fire. A few homes did get fires and when it got inside those lath walls nothing would stop it. Dad was right, think ahead and don’t skip a step.

[@BrentHull]

THx for sharing.

[@nancydrew5]

I live in a 1906 folk Victorian cottage with lathe and plaster walls. I have some cracks that need to be replaced. Would love a video on how to repair.

[@BrentHull]

Ok, thanks.

[@rachelwilliams2685]

I used to live in Fort Dodge, Iowa, where drywall was first commercialized and still produced today. One of the big old mansions in town has an example of the first drywall in an upstairs ballroom (because it was the fancy new material of the day).

[@BrentHull]

Thx

[@colmhain]

I've been in the home building and remodeling business for almost 40 years. I remember using Celotex Fiber Board sheathing into the '90s. You were supposed to put plywood on the corners and then fiber board on the rest of the field, or run 1x4"s inset diagonally with sheathing on top. Most didn't bother with either...

[@BrentHull]

THx!

[@jonviall5566]

GREAT JOB on the history lesson !!!!

[@BrentHull]

Thanks!!