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modernmissus_gw

Is it Plaster or Drywall?

modernmissus
16 years ago

Hello!

My Husband and I decided to finally remove our horrid sunshine ceiling so we began removing it yesterday. I thought our home had drywall but we are beginning to wonder if its maybe plaster. Does anyone know how you can tell? Its a home that was build in 1950. I posted a picture below. Any input would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Comments (16)

  • annzgw
    16 years ago

    Are you removing the ceiling because of the popcorn? Just wondering why you're not scraping the popcorn vs removing the ceiling.

    What you have does look like drywall, but I can't tell what that is in the lower part of the pic. Is it wood?

  • modernmissus
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    We're not removing the ceiling, we just have alot of patch work to do because we removed the sunshien ceiling. The areas where it was screwed into the ceiling have huge holes like this one. The popcorn part was on the other side of the sunshine ceiling.
    I'm just wondering if its perhaps plaster ontop of drywall because that top layer is crumbling/peelng off. So would we have to take that entire layer off?
    I don't believe that is wood underneath...its very thin and appears to be drywall in areas its scratched.

  • tryinbrian
    16 years ago

    Looks like two layers of drywall to me. Plaster doesn't have a paper surface like that to it, and I don't see any indication of a hard, troweled surface anywhere.

    I would take down at least all the unsound stuff, maybe more it it comes off easy. The real question is what are you going to do once you have it all down. Looks like it might be a candidate for 16" on-center sleepers and a new layer of drywall (if very much of it looks like that). Or, patch in drywall where necessary and then skim coat the entire ceiling.

  • rjoh878646
    16 years ago

    It looks like a skim coat plaster job to me. I owned a house built in 1946 that used plasterboard instead of the wood lathe method used in years back. The plasterboard is similar to drywall, but is treated to hold plaster. Then a thin layer of plaster was applied to the ceiling. The walls are usually thicker. I usually patched it with setting type drywall compound. Setting type compound comes as a powder and is mixed with water. It has varying work times on the outside of the bag. Get the longest work time you can find and the Easy-Sand type. The other type cannot be sanded. It can be found at lowes and HD

    I did a web search and drywall came into widespread use in 1952..

    The name drywall derives from its replacement of the lath-and-plaster wall-building method, in which wet plaster was spread over small, wooden formers. In 1916, the United States Gypsum Company invented a 4' x 8'ft sheet of gypsum pressed between sheets of extremely strong paper, which they called "Sheetrock." Despite extensive use at the Chicago World's Fair in 1933Â34, it was generally seen as an inferior alternative to lath-and-plaster, and was not quickly adopted. It was adopted during World War II, when the war effort made labor expensive. It was reintroduced in 1952, impelled by the migration to the suburbs of the 1950s and by the cheaper construction methods it allowed.[2]

  • talley_sue_nyc
    16 years ago

    what is a sunshine ceiling?

  • MongoCT
    16 years ago

    Sunshine ceiling:

    {{!gwi}}

  • modernmissus
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    This is what our sunshine ceiling looked like before we tore it down

  • ron6519
    16 years ago

    The hole is definitely plaster. It has been skim coated with joint compound. Hard to tell what the area is between the hole and the popcorn. As a previous poster noted, it looks like wood or paint with a texture of woodgrain.
    Removing this will be very unpleasant. If it's only the popcorn you want to remove, it's probably water soluable joint compound.
    Ron

  • sierraeast
    16 years ago

    It was common for gypsum wallboard in the 50's to have brown skinned paper different than the grey skinned paper you see today. My vote is that it is wallboard.

  • jejvtr
    16 years ago

    Mongo
    you are such a funny guy !

  • modernmissus
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    Could it possibly be gypsum wall board (which I assume is the same as drywall) with a skim coating of plaster over top of it? Or do you guys think its plaster board with the skim coating on top of it. How can you tell??
    Do we have to take the entire skim coating off or would it be ok to just patch it with water soluble joint compound.
    I appreciate all your help and input thank you!

  • brickeyee
    16 years ago

    One of the first uses for gypsum board products was as a backer for 2 coat plaster.
    Common backers before that included wood lathe, and then expanded metal.
    Both needed 3 coats of plaster to get a finished wall.
    Gypsum backer for plaster was often in panels about 48 x 16 inches and 3/8 inch thick.
    There was thin brown paper on one side and bare gypsum on the other for the base coat of plaster to adhere to.
    The typical build ended up right around 3/4 of an inch, about the same as a 3 coat job (3/8 backer, 1/4 inch base coat, 1/8 inch finish coat).

    I just cannot tell from your picture exactly what is there, but it could two different methods (2 coat on gypsum & 1 coat veneer) where someone made a repair.

  • annzgw
    16 years ago

    That's hilarious mongoct...........thanks for the laugh!

    I'd repair it with drywall compound or as rjoh described.

  • Melissa Green Tumacder
    8 years ago

    Extremely old post but I purchased a home built in 1950 and it had the same exact walls and ceilings. It took me a really long time to figure out what material it was made of and this was one of the first search results on a popular search engine so I thought I would share my experience.

    The walls are gypsum board backing with plasterboard finish. Gypsum back board its thin about 1/4 inch and has a brown paper similar to modern cardboard. The plasterboard 1/2 inch looks alot like brittle concrete or mortar with an extremely smooth skimcoat finish that was applied during the manufacturing process. This board had predrilled holes that where used to nail the board to the studs.

  • Bruce in Northern Virginia
    8 years ago

    The common name for gypsum backer board for plaster was rock-lath, since it was a replacement for wood lathe. This gypsum board is similar to drywall, but the paper surface is more water absorbent so that the plaster layers will bond to it, and it came in smaller sheets (i.e., 4x4 feet). It sometimes also had keys or holes that gave it more area to bond better to the plaster layers.

    Bruce

  • mtvhike
    7 years ago

    When I remodeled my bathroom, I had to tear out some of the walls. Under the plaster was a strange kind of plasterboard: three layers of plaster with paper between them. The paper separating the layers was wavy, but the outer layers were flat. On the back of the boards was the name of the manufacturer (which I cannot remember) and the statement that it was patented in 1885 (the house was built in 1890). So, rigid board made of plaster is not that new!