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Mold Resistant Wallboard Installation

In this scene, Bob meets with Thad Goodman from Georgia-Pacific. Goodman is installing a new wallboard product called DensArmor. DensArmor consists of a non-combustible gypsum core embedded with a fiberglass mat on the back and a smooth, heavy-duty paper on the face. The mat on the back provides superior protection from incidental moisture in the stud cavity and resists the growth of mold and mildew. The material cuts, scores, hangs, and finishes just like standard drywall, and it is possible to skim coat it similar to blue board for veneer plaster applications.

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Mixing Plaster Now Playing

Mixing Plaster

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Installing a Skylight

Mold Resistant Wallboard Installation Now Playing

Mold Resistant Wallboard Installation

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Clip Transcript For:

Mold Resistant Wallboard Installation

computer-generated transcript - may not be 100% accurate

" Now that I want to learn a little bit about the the properties of this product as we were all used to. Gypsum board and and this has the name of its own right. Yeah this is called our -- armor product it's a new interior walls and all the words produced a Georgia Pacific yet and it's unique in the sense that on the back of it. Is that it's a fiberglass. Back on in the inorganic glass Mandy resists mold and mildew in the cavity where we can have the most moisture problems mold and mildew has since he -- On the softest material possible if you think about the plywood that we talked about earlier. That's a product it's very hard and it's hard for it to grow on that -- paper probable papers all made from recycled. Gypsum recycled paper basically cellulose it's like deserve from home. So basically what you're look at as resident and great opportunity for mauled to grow on it. And what we've done in the cavity in the -- right where you tend to have the most problems because it's dark and any kind of moisture will promote the growth that old basement what we've done is we remove. Definite source you put in an inorganic fiberglass surface exactly and then this is the surface that we'll be finishing up all right well let let's let's put one in place. We do have to make cut. Let's listen we're gonna put this one the closet partition. -- Question I have it doesn't cut as easily as regular board cuts scores just like regular drywall -- I think about it it can also finished like regular trial. So the fiberglass on the back doesn't make it tougher to split. OK and as these should fit right into our walk in closet. I spoke too soon -- it. And as -- assistance and of course it's a little -- let me ask you one question about finishes. Is this meant to just to have taped joints. You can take it the nice thing with the paper on -- that you can take it. Like regular drywall and you can finish it the same level. Also we have one coat veneer system you can put over this which in this area of the country is very popular with the blue board. But we've got a system that we developed where you can actually put our dense coat over this product so you can put a post in plaster coat over it absolutely terrific thanks that."

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Georgia-Pacific Wallboard Plant

Bob is at the port of Wilmington, Delaware, at the Georgia-Pacific wallboard plant. Every three weeks a cargo vessel laden with thirty thousand tons of gypsum from Nova Scotia arrives and drops the gypsum onto a conveyer belt that funnels into the football field-sized shed behind Bob. Gypsum is also known as calcium sulfate or plaster of Paris. Here, it is turned into wallboard. Bob meets with Monty Palmowski, the plan manager, for a tour. First the gypsum rock is dried and then ground. Then additional moisture is removed from the powdered form. Monty shows Bob the rolls of paper used on either side of the wallboard. The backing paper is rough while the front paper is smooth to accept paint. A slurry of gypsum is poured on top of the paper going down a conveyer belt. The sides are folded over and glue added to adhere the sides to the face paper, which is placed on top. It then goes through a machine that adjusts its thickness and produces a four-foot by eight hundred foot sheet of wallboard. The board sits to dry and then is cut into thirty six foot pieces and put in a drying oven by a conveyer belt that moves vertically. It sits in the oven for thirty-five minutes at six hundred degrees. After that it is cut into twelve-foot lengths and stacked and packaged.

Fiberglass-Faced Wallboard Combats Mold and Moisture

Bob meets Thad Goodman from Georgia-Pacific who is on site to install DensArmor Plus fiberglass-faced wallboard in the storm-ready house. The four-by-ten sheets are drilled into furring strips installed against the concrete walls. DensArmor Plus is ideal for humid climates where mold, mildew, and insects are attracted to the sugars and starches used to bind gypsum in traditional wallboard. By eliminating the organic material, DensArmor kills the food source for dangerous mold and insect growth. The wallboard is finished with fiberglass mesh tape and a setting compound that is enhanced to set up quickly and reduce the opportunity for moisture intrusion.

Installing Drywall with Wallboard and Taped Joints

Bob is back on the first floor of the barn with Bill Reid from US Gypsum where the crew is installing drywall. This is a traditional installation with drywall wallboard and taped joints. Before hanging the boards the crew takes some measurements so that they can avoid putting a ripped piece in the center. If they installed the drywall with an eight inch piece in the center it would create a weak spot on the board between two studs. The screw spacing on drywall should be 16 inches on center. The installer uses a roto-zip to make cut-outs. Once in place the wall is ready for tape and joint compound.

Hanging Wallboard

When hanging wallboard on an angle, try this technique. Measure the length from the edge of the wall to the end of the angle. Next, measure the height - think of it as outlining a triangle. Mark the measurements on your wallboard and snap a chalkline.