toronto home club
Drywall was invented in 1916 by the United States Gypsum Company as a fast, inexpensive alternative to traditional plaster construction. Despite its modern construction, it still uses
the same basic material that plaster works have always used: a powdery, white mineral called gypsum. While the very earliest forms of plaster used another mineral – lime – gypsum has been employed in plasterwork since the time of the Ancient Egyptians, as well as in Ancient Rome and throughout China and India.
The United States Gypsum Company’s innovation was to take a traditional raw material and manufacture it into standardized boards wrapped in paper. This allowed for faster, easier, cheaper construction of new buildings that still benefitted from plaster’s natural fire-resistant properties. Though the new material didn’t catch on immediately, drywall saw a boom in the
post-war years as the population exploded and new construction had to keep pace with the increasing number of families that required homes.
In recent years, the emergence of drywall art has seen a return to some of the traditional plasterwork techniques employed by master craftsmen for centuries. Modern artisans who practice drywall art create sculptures and other custom artwork by shaping mud directly on the drywall board. These sculptures extend drywall’s role as a modern alternative to traditional plaster construction.
While paper tape is not as strong as fiberglass mesh tape, it is nonelastic and will create stronger joints. This is especially important at butt joints, which typically are the weakest areas in a drywall installation. Another reason to choose paper tape is it can be used with either drying-type or setting-type compounds. Paper tape is also the tape most often used by professionals, because once you get the hang of it, it’s actually easier and cleaner to use, and it’s cheaper than mesh tape.
Self-sticking fiberglass mesh tape – The one advantage of fiberglass self-sticking tape is that it eliminates the need for the first coat of compound—and that’s a big deal.
But tape manufacturers say, the fiberglass product should be used only with setting compounds, not with drying ones. The difficulties of working with a setting compound outweigh the advantage of using the fiberglass tape. Fiberglass-mesh tape is self-adhesive and is more popular with people who tape only occasionally.
When you are getting the area ready, make sure you are ready as well! Wear a hat and protective eyewear (drywall compound can really hurt your eyes and it stings like crazy), and old clothing that you can toss when you’re done. Remove furniture from the room, and be sure to cover the floor with a canvas drop cloth.
Alex Dymov
Phone # 647.5287210
web: www.torontohomeclub.ca
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