While the builders loved the speed of drywall the public felt a general unease with such a cheap and quick product even though they were clamoring for quick, affordable housing. The sheets are screwed onto the studs and the seams taped and bedded with more gypsum which is cured and ready for paint in just a couple days. Unlike plaster which is traditionally made of slaked lime and san, drywall was made from gypsum sandwiched between layers of paper. Relatively unskilled laborers were needed to screw the drywall into place cutting production times down dramatically and opening up the labor pool massively to almost any able bodied man with a drill. A new form of wall covering called “drywall” aptly names because unlike plaster it was applied dry became immediately popular with builders. The need for quick, affordable housing butted heads with the artisan trade of plastering that required years of training, and even with that resulted in slow to be applied and even slower to cure plaster walls and ceilings. The old ways of building were replaced with the assembly line which was implemented in places like Levittown, New York with stunning efficiency. After WWII the baby boom caused America to need a lot of housing and quickly. Why did we ever stop using plaster you may ask. They were slow and expensive to install, but extremely durable and beautiful. Years ago houses were built with plaster walls that were typically hand troweled 3-coats thick, required a skilled plasterer, and took up to 30 days to cure before being ready for painting.
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