Back in the 1960's homes were often built with a brown fiber sheeting on the outside of the studs. This stuff went under the siding, and was a semi-soft material about 3/4" thick. When cut it became "fuzzy" along the cut edge, and it cut pretty easily. I recall this stuff mostly because there were some large pieces left over when they built my parents garage, and since I was building a "fort" I asked the builder if I could have them, and he said yes. With the help of my dad, I covered the entire walls of the fort with it. It must have been treated with some waterproof material, because it held up well in the weather. Years later it was still exposed in my parents garage since the walls were left with just the studs.
What was this stuff called, and what was it made out of?
It's not sold anymore, at least I have not seen it at any lumber yeards in many years. It seemed like a much better material than the styrofoam they use these days.
I think corn fibers too. There was a big celotex plant near a friends farm. He said they would buy the stalks from nearby farms.
The place is now a superfund site. They filed bankruptcy to avoid their responsibility for asbestos. The plant closed and it was declared a "superfund" site so we are paying to clean it up after years of them burying coal tar and other stuff from their process on site.
It was called Buffalo Board around here. It was a product made with wood pulp in a process similar to paper making. There was a plant producing the stuff in my area well into the 1990's. I had the bad luck of having to do some electrical work in that plant on one occasion. Not a pretty place to work in.
They had huge piles of cord wood in their yard, probably several hundred cords per pile. I always though the owner of the plant could have made more money by splitting the cord wood and selling it as firewood to residences in the area than running that plant.
I recall seeing the name "Celotex" on the stuff, but the Celotex company makes lots of building products. I thought that was just the company name and not the name of this actual material.
The question is what is this stuff called now, and where can I buy it (if it's still made). As soon as weather allows, I plan to build an addition on my house and would like to use this stuff if possible. Styrofoam is definately out due to the formeldahyde, and chemicals released in the event of a fire, (not to mention being extremely weak). Chip board is also out for similar reasons, and because it can't "breathe", it's prone to holding moisture, causing decay and mold. Dimensional lumber (horizontal 1" boards) would be my preferred choice, followed up by plywood, but both are too damn expensive.
Just because modern construction is mostly all some type of plastics, dont mean I have to or even want to use the junk. I've seen how poorly these modern plastic homes are destroyed in even a small tornado, while the older homes stay standing with only window and shingle damage. I plan to build for strength more than R value. The fiberglass insulation in the walls will suffice. I'd rather spend a few more dollars on heating, than live is a plastic box that wont stand up to winds, and contains toxic chemicals that get into the inner air. I wont be using (ugly) plastic siding or plastic framed windows either.
Up here in Canada you can still buy "tentest" - it is still used by some roofers over foam insulation before hot tar on "built-up" roofs. Likely can't buy it at the "borg" but real builders supply shops should carry it. Also known up here as "beaver board", I think (likely from the days of "beaver lumber" being a household name) - and south of the Niagara River as "bufalo board"?
As far as formaldehyde, don't hold your breath - or mabee do - the stuff has resins in it too that may contain formaldehyde.
And the tornado that hit downtown Goderich didn't much care how old the buildings were - it demolished old and new alike.
I purchased my first new home in 1982. The builder had offered everyone an option for more money of Styrofoam sheathing. I declined and received the default dark gray fiber board covered with vinyl or alum. siding. The guy across the street from me bought the Styrofoam, and much to my surprise that is all they used as exterior walls covered with vinyl siding, nothing but wall studs behind it. I don't know how the builder got away with that. Seemed unsafe and lacking strength to me at the time.
That's how they build almost all modern homes. Then they put in reinforced steel doors with deadbolt locks and security alarms. Guess what, you can break into those houses without any tools. Rip off the plastic siding with your bare hands, punch thru the styrofoam with your fist. Rip out some insulation and punch thru the sheetrock with your fist, and enter the home. Only idiots break in thru doors or windows these days.
On top of that, these homes just explode when they are hit by a tornado. Sure a large tornado will destroy any building, but most older well built homes will survive the smaller ones, with only shingle and window damage. The biggest problem with the older homes is that most of them were not anchored to the basement, and they shift off their foundations. Even then, they normally stay intact, while these modern styro shacks just explode. But look at why. Neither styrofoam sheathing, nor sheetrock, nor plastic siding do anything to maintain structural stability, the biggest problem is that all the weight is on the top. Shingles, OSB sheeting, and the roof framing, not to mention snow loads and such. It's kind of like putting a concrete block on a cardboard box. Too much weight for the structure. Once the wind grabs that heavy roof, the rest of the structure just explodes. Add to that that most homes are built with power nailers these days, and those nails are generally shorter and thinner than the common nails.
I want nothing to do with modern construction practices. It's my opinion that the homes built in the 1950's thru early 70's were far superior to anything built today. That was when buildings had reached near perfection. Actually many homes built before the 50s were also built very well, and often even stronger, but they had other problems, crappy wiring, and in many ways they were built too heavy and thus caused foundations to fail.
I intend to build my addition similar to that from the 60s. The siding will be either wood or aluminum. Sheating will be this celotex, or solid wood if I can get it for a decent cost. Plumbing will be copper for water supply, not PEX. Insulation will be roll fiberglass. The only modern stuff will be thermopane aluminum windows, steel roofing and PVC drain pipes, plus modern wiring (which will just be extended off what I already have because I rewired this whole place in 2000.
Twenty years ago, maybe. The norm everywhere I've been is OSB sheathing, with plywood being an expensive and seldom used option.
Absolute nonsense.
You're crazy. You think aluminum wire is a good idea?
Although I don't much like the plumbing (PEX) in my house, there's no evidence that it's worse than copper and in many ways it's better. There is nothing magic about rolled fiberglass, and in fact spray foam is far superior, though also quite expensive.
Thermopane aluminum windows? Why bother? I haven't seen aluminum frames, except on cheap sliders, in decades.
Here in Canada I'm researching and writing a book on building techniques in the
1950s as compared to now.It's a humouorus look at building our own house. We used black Tentest sheathing nailed straight onto the wall joists.There were few building codes then, and I suspect it would not be allowed now. I think it came in sheets 5/8" x 8-10- and 12' It was all we could afford and had to see us living there until the following year. It was water-resistant and had a much better insulation rating than other sheathing.We eventually stapled tar-paper wrap (plastic sheeting was not yet invented) on it and then a tongue-and-grooved half log siding. On my last visit in 2015, the logs had been painted as opposed to our stained technique, but still intact after 63 years.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.
