Old Gypsum Wall Board

[Chad Fabry]

This is the oldest wall board I've seen ( that I know of). The building was in built in 1860 and remodeled after a fire in 1922.

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[John Kogel]

Where these the 16" strips? What we call gypsum lath up here?

I have only seen that in post-1950 houses.

[Neal Lewis]

The rock lathe is pretty typical of 1930's and newer houses in NJ. Usually can see the typical bulging on the individual panels, apparently due to insufficient number of fasteners.

[Chad Fabry]

These sheets are four-feet wide.

For the benefit of neophytes and I'm sure its a typo- but I see it a lot-

Lath is the strips of wood or gypsum or wire mesh that supports plaster.

A lathe is a tool one uses to make balusters, bowls and billy clubs.

[Bill Kibbel]

I found Celotex (fiberboard made from bagasse - the waste pulp from sugercane processing) used for backing of the plaster walls in a large home built in 1922.

Here's a picture of a label, but this is from a later building.

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[John Kogel]

Thanks. I had no idea they were turning out 4 foot sheets in that era.