Question on interior wall construction material

[** Frank **]

I just replaced a damaged wall section with standard sheet rock. The existing wall board was 1/2" thick, brown in color, fibrous and very light weight with a cloth cover/reinforcement on the finish side. Its weight and density is like the standard commercial 2'x4' fluorescent fixture light grid tiles. The rest of the house is old plaster and lath and this brown wall board was a latter addition. Don't think its a very good product to begin with and never seen anything like this brown wall board before. Can anyone provide more information?

[Robert Allison]

Sounds like homosote, although the cloth finish is not a part of a homosote panel. Could be sound board. I have seen them made in a variety of configurations. In fact, in checking the homasote site they do have a burlap covered panel. That may be it.

[RicodJour]

It sounds like Beaver Board covered with wallpaper. Beaver Board was a compressed pulp fiber board and was used for a number of purposes in the early 20th century. Artists also used it instead of a stretched canvas.

R

[dadiOH]

They make panels with applied burlap in various colors. Cork too.

[dadiOH]

Fiberboard material like that was pretty common in the 30s and 40s. I know it as "Celotex" which is actually the name of one company that made it.

It came in panels sized as those now for sheet rock. It was used for both walls and ceilings. Walls often used it in panels that had vertical "V" grooves to simulate wood planks.

I can't say I much liked it but it wasn't all that bad either...had both heat and sound insulating value and was world's lighter than gypsum board (never saw that until late 50s or early 60s). It probably burned well too, don't know.

[Robert Allison]

I think that is what I said in the next sentence (which you cut).