> I
> wonder if its a "proprietary" thing by manufacturer, or if my surfing
> skills are insufficient.  Anyone know whats in this stuff?

Of course the profiteering pirate corporations don't what you to know 
what's in their gypsum wallboard, because poison is what's in it, at 
least according to recent news reports. An if it doesn't have poison in 
it by "mistake" they are now putting poison in it to keep the mold from 
growing on the paper.

On one project I opened up a water saturated exterior wall where the 
ceramic tiles were falling off at the bath-shower area. It was an 1899 
wood-frame construction with a 1970s bathroom remodel. In the 1970s the 
old wood lath and plaster was half deteriorated and gone, they filled in 
the missing plaster with gypsum wallboard, then covered over the whole 
wall with another layer of wallboard, then glued on the ceramic tiles. 
30 years later the tiles were falling off after a few years of letting a 
lot of moisture into the wall.

As I opened up the wall, peeling off the sopping wet layers I found a 
1/8" thick growth of stackibotrus mold growing on the wet paper surface 
of the wallboard. Right next to that was the wood lath and plaster, 
without any mold on it. Not a single bit of mold, I even examined it 
with my trusty pocket microscope--no mold at all.

I now often recommend against putting any gypsum wall board into these 
wood-framed old buildings. What's the alternative? Plaster and lath. 
It's worked for hundreds of years, and what do you know? It still does.

John
www.HistoricHomeWorks.com

--
**Please remember to trim posts, as requested in the Terms of Service**

To terminate puerile preservation prattling among pals and the
uncoffee-ed, or to change your settings, go to:
<http://listserv.icors.org/archives/bullamanka-pinheads.html>