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Here we provide a photo guide to identifying types of plaster, lath, Beaver board, Upson Board, and Drywall to help identify these interior building wall and ceiling coverings and as an aid in determining the age of a building.

This article discusses the identification and history of older interior building surface materials such plaster and lath, Beaverboard, and Drywall - materials that were used to form the (usually) non-structural surface of building interior ceilings and walls.

The age of a building can be determined quite accurately by documentation, but when documents are not readily available, visual clues such as those available during a professional home inspection can still determine when a house was built by examining its components, building materials, even nails, fasteners, and types of saw cuts on lumber.

Also see PLASTER TYPE IDENTIFICATION for a photo guide to different plastering systems used in buildings. See Sheathing Homasote & Other Board for a discussion of exterior wall sheathing fiberboard products such as Homasote® and Celotex® insulating roof, wall, and foundation board products. For plaster type surfaces used on building exteriors, see STUCCO WALL METHODS & INSTALLATION.

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Guide to Plaster & Drywall & Other Interior Wall Coverings as Indicators of Building Age

History of Types Interior Plaster: split wood lath, sawn wood lath, expanded metal lath, "rock lath" or plasterboard, drywall, & tainted Chinese drywall

Gypsum Board Lath Sheets Used for Plaster Walls & Ceilings = Rock Lath, Plaster Lath, or Rock Lathe

Our photo (above left) shows perforated gypsum board panels that were used as plaster lath.

Solid gypsum board (above right, without holes) was also used as a support for a plaster finish coat. Often this material was applied in two-foot widths - a feature that the inspector may spot by noticing scalloped ceilings and walls or even cracks that appear regularly on 24" centers. See PLASTER TYPE IDENTIFICATION for details.

Expanded Mesh Metal Lath for Plaster Walls

Our photo shows expanded mesh metal lath used as plaster lath support for ceilings and walls; this material was also used on building exterior walls to support a stucco finish. Metal lath was on occasion used also to support poured concrete ceilings (shown here) - unlikely to provide adequate strength for a thick pour unless additional reinforcement was used. Depending on building age we may find a mixture of multiple types of plaster support, wood lath, gypsum board lath, and metal lath. Wall or ceiling or stucco crack patterns may follow the borders of metal lath segments, especially if the lath was not securely nailed. See PLASTER TYPE IDENTIFICATION for details.

Identifying Stamps on Drywall Used for Interior Wall & Ceiling Surfaces

Our photos (above and below) show modern identification stamps or labels that may be found drywall products used for interior walls and ceilings. Also see additional drywall identifying number stamps found at Drywall Gypsum Board Used for Exterior Wall Sheathing.

Where there indoor environmental concerns or corrosion damage to electrical wiring, copper pipes, air conditioning equipment, etc. see CHINESE DRYWALL HAZARDS.

Drywall Gypsum Board Used for Exterior Wall Sheathing

We estimate that from 1950 to 1965 gypsum board was used as exterior wall sheathing on a variety of buildings, especially low-cost structures and in panelized construction as we explain along with our photographs shown below. We also find gypsum board sheathing used on some roofs, believe it or not. In some applications a water repellent paper was used to improve the product's durability, as we show in this wall cavity side photograph of identifying marks on gypsum board sheathing.

When gypsum board was used for exterior wall sheathing, as we show in this interior photo (above left), let-in cross bracing was required at building corners. The white paint on the wall cavity side of the gypsum board shown in this photo was added during building renovations to address water damage and to improve water resistance.

Notice the pair of wall studs in the left hand photo? That stud pair marks the abutment of two panelized wall sections in this building. The corner panels were built flat in the panelized home factory and measure just 1/2" under 8' x 4'. Larger 8' x 8' wall panels were also produced and were used for this home.

These details permit the conclusion that this home was constructed using pre-fab exterior and interior wall panels, all clad with gypsum board that was glued to the wall studs for extra strength. Our photo at above right shows additional bracing that was incorporated into the gypsum-clad wall panel bottom, along with an assembly wire.

Details of this panelized construction home are at Panelized Construction.

Mold growth on the wall cavity side of drywall is common when there have been leaks into the wall cavity. Our photo (left) shows mold growth on the wall cavity side of gypsum board used as exterior wall sheathing on a 1960's condominium in New York. See SAMPLING DRYWALL for more information about mold growth on drywall and gypsum board products. Also see Mold-Resistant Building Practices and  Mold proof drywall? You Must Be Kidding!

The photographs above show two different gypsum board wall sheathing products that employ a textured paper surface. At right is a modern product found in a home built in the 1990's.

History of the Use of Wood and other Wall Paneling in North America

Early Colonial Wall Paneling & Wainscoting

Early colonial paneling is described by Isham.

(A concise history of wall coverings in residential buildings, more photos, & dates in process, CONTACT us, contributions invited)

Wainscot Wall Covering

Wainscoting or "wainscot" is a wood wall finish applied to the lower portion of a building interior, typically about three to four feet up from floor level, and usually capped with a chair rail and usually applied with board edge joints butted vertically as in our photo.

Traditional wainscot is constructed by nailing individual boards to the wall surface. Modern "wainscot" panels are sold in 4' x 8' sheets and cut to fit, producing a beadboard surface that looks like traditional wainscot. Wainscot is an old term, possibly from the 1300's, that in its contemporary usage derives from the British Wainscot, "a fine grade of oak imported for woodwork" - Merriam Webster. In North America wainscot has been in use since the colonial era.

Wooden wall paneling - tongue and groove pine and other woods

Wall paneling in 4' x 8' sheets

(A concise history of wall paneling in residential buildings, more photos, & dates in process, CONTACT us, contributions invited)

History of Beaver Board & Upson Board Wall Coverings in North America

Beaver-board and Upson Board are a wood fiber product used as an inexpensive interior wall covering and draft blocker from about 1903 when Beaver Board was invented by J.P. Lewis in Beaver Falls, NY, to the 1950s, with its near-twin product Upson Board continuing in use into at least the 1980's.

Our photographs (below) show this product from it's back or wall cavity side. On the exposed side this wood fiberboard product was usually painted and its joints covered with wood lath or other trim. In some applications it was covered with wallpaper. In some homes it was later covered with drywall to provide a more fire-resistant surface.

Readers should see Sheathing Homasote & Other Board for a discussion of exterior wall sheathing fiberboard products such as Homasote® and Celotex® insulating roof, wall, and foundation board products. There we also include photographs of insulating wallboard products that have been attacked by mold or insects.

Beaverboard takes its name from the Beaver N.Y. and the Beaver Board Companies that produced this product until that firm was purchased by Certain Teed Prod cuts in 1928. Beaver Board and Upson Board were produced by the Beaver Wood Fibre Company Limited, in Thorold, Ontario.

Beaver board's competition was from Upson Processed board (John Upson, Upson Company, Lockport, NY) which was produced beginning in 1910. As late as the 1950's Upson Board was used in prefabricated houses and exterior building sheathing and in recreational vehicles. Upson purchased the Beaver Board plant from CertainTeed in 1955. Upson began its decline in the 1970's and closed in 1984, opening later that year as Niagara Fiberboard.

Beaverboard and other paper or fiberboard products were used for exterior wall sheathing, as we show in this photograph at left. More widespread and recognized are insulating board sheathing products discussed at Sheathing Homasote & Other Board.

How to Identify Beaver Board and Upson Board

Masonite™ and Other Hardboard Interior Wall & Ceiling Products: Identification

Questions & Answers regarding this article

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Technical Reviewers & References

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• InspectAPedia Bookstore lists recommended books, organized by topic & available for purchase. Most of our articles also include a list of recommended books for the specific article topic as well as other references, and information sources.
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• Additional technical contributors & reference sources for this article are listed below.

Use links just below or at the left of each page to navigate this document or to view other topics at this website. Green links show where you are in our document or website.

ACOUSTICAL SEALANT CHOICES
AGE of a BUILDING - how to determine
  ARCHITECTURE, STYLE, & Building Age
  Building Records
  Chimneys & Fireplaces, Age, Types
  Electrical Components, Age, Types
  FLOORING MATERIALS, Age, Types
  FOUNDATION INSULATION OPTIONS
  FOUNDATION MATERIALS, Age, Types
  FRAMING MATERIALS, Age, Types
  FRAMING METAL STUD PERFORMANCE
  FRAMING METHODS, Age, Types
  FRAMING SIZE & Spacing, Age, Types
  FRAMING TABLES, SPANS for DECKS
  Heating Equipment, Age, Types
  Historic Homes, Home Improvement Costs, Research
  Insulation Materials, Age, Types
  Nails and Hardware, Age, Types
  Plaster & Beaverboard & Drywall
  Plaster Ceiling Types
  Plumbing Materials & Fixtures, Age, Types
  ROOFING MATERIALS, Age, Types
  Saw Cuts, Tool Marks, Age of
  Sears Kit Houses
  SIDING MATERIALS, Age, Types
  WINDOWS & DOORS, Age, Types

• Carson, Dunlop & Associates Ltd., 120 Carlton Street Suite 407, Toronto ON M5A 4K2. (416) 964-9415 1-800-268-7070 info@carsondunlop.com. Thanks to Alan Carson and Bob Dunlop, for permission to use illustrations from their publication, The Illustrated Home which illustrates construction details and building components. Carson Dunlop provides home inspection education including the ASHI-adopted Home Inspection Training Program (home study course), publications such as the Home Reference Book, report writing materials including the Horizon report writer, and home inspection services. Alan Carson is a past president of ASHI, the American Society of Home Inspectors.
• Carson Dunlop, Associates, Toronto, have provided us with (and we recommend) Carson Dunlop Weldon & Associates' Technical Reference Guide to manufacturer's model and serial number information for heating and cooling equipment ($69.00 U.S.). Technical Reference Guide, Carson Dunlop Weldon & Associates, Ltd., 120 Carlton St. Suite 407, Toronto, Ontario, M5A 4K2 Canada, ISBN 1-895585-90-2 165pp.
• America's Favorite Homes, mail-order catalogues as a guide to popular early 20th-century houses, Robert Schweitzer, Michael W.R. Davis, 1990, Wayne State University Press ISBN 0814320066 (may be available from Wayne State University Press)
• American Plywood Association, APA, "Portland Manufacturing Company, No. 1, a series of monographs on the history of plywood manufacturing",Plywood Pioneers Association, 31 March, 1967, www.apawood.org
• Asbestos products and their history and use in various building materials such as asphalt and vinyl flooring includes discussion which draws on Asbestos, Its Industrial Applications, D.V. Rosato, engineering consultant, Newton, MA, Reinhold Publishing, 1959 Library of Congress Catalog Card No.: 59-12535 (out of print).
• Building Research Council, BRC, nee Small Homes Council, SHC, School of Architecture, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, brc.arch.uiuc.edu. "The Small Homes Council (our original name) was organized in 1944 during the war at the request of the President of the University of Illinois to consider the role of the university in meeting the demand for housing in the United States. Soldiers would be coming home after the war and would be needing good low-cost housing. ...  In 1993, the Council became part of the School of Architecture, and since then has been known as the School of Architecture-Building Research Council. ... The Council's researchers answered many critical questions that would affect the quality of the nation's housing stock.
  • How could homes be designed and built more efficiently?
  • What kinds of construction and production techniques worked well and which did not?
  • How did people use different kinds of spaces in their homes?
  • What roles did community planning, zoning, and interior design play in how neighborhoods worked?
  "
• Isham: "An Example of Colonial Paneling", Norman Morrison Isham, The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, Vol. 6, No. 5 (May, 1911), pp. 112-116, available by JSTOR.
• Manufactured & Modular Homes: Modular Building Systems Association, MBSA, modularhousing.com, is a trade association promoting and providing links to contact modular builders in North America. Also see the Manufactured Home Owners Association, MHOAA, at www.mhoaa.us. The Manufactured Home Owners Association of America is a National Organization dedicated to the protection of the rights of all people living in Manufactured Housing in the United States.
• Pergo AB, division of Perstorp AB, is a Swedish manufacturer or modern laminate flooring products. Information about the U.S. company can be found at http://www.pergo.com where we obtained historical data used in our discussion of the age of flooring materials in buildings.
• Plank House Construction: webslog from plankhouse.wordpress.com/2009/01/25/plank-house-construction/ and where plank houses were built by native Americans, see
  Large 1:6 Scale Plank House Construction / P8094228, Photographer: Mike Meuser
  06/12/2007 documented at yurokplankhouse.com where scale model Museum quality Yurok Plank Houses are being sold to raise money for the Blue Creek - Ah Pah Traditional Yurok Village project.
• Scott C. LeMarr has provided his file of keys to decode Furnace and Water Heater Age from the data provided on the manufacturer's equipment labels. Mr. LeMarr is a professional home inspector, Certified Professional Inspector/President, MASTER Indoor Environmental Specialist (MIES). Vice President of Wisconsin NACHI. He and his company, Honest Home Inspections, LLC. can be reached at 262-424-5587 or by email to scott@honesthomeinspections.com
• Weaver: Beaver Board and Upson Board: Beaver Board and Upson Board: History and Conservation of Early Wallboard, Shelby Weaver, APT Bulletin, Vol. 28, No. 2/3 (1997), pp. 71-78, Association for Preservation Technology International (APT), available online at JSTOR.

List of Online Articles Giving Detailed Information & Reference Materials for Determining the Age of buildings

• ARCHITECTURE, STYLE, & Building Age
• Chimneys & Fireplaces, Age, Types
• Chimneys, flues, wood stoves & fireplaces: chimney inspection, defects, safety concerns
• Chimneys & Flues, safety concerns, chimney inspection methods, chimney repair methods, chimney relining methods, chimney replacement, new installation alternatives; and direct-vent alternatives to chimneys for heating furnaces & boilers
• Unlined Chimney Flues: Safety Requirements old chimneys may be unsafe - photos, dangerous carbon monoxide and blocked flue case report, chimney flue standards, chimney inspection suggestions
• Chimney Safety Alert for Wood Burning Appliances - US CPSC Alert Document 5017, wood stoves, fireplace inserts
• Chimney Safety Alert for Metal Chimneys - US CPSC Alert Document 5047, metal chimneys, wood and coal stove safety
• Electrical Components, Age, Types
• Aluminum Wiring inspection, hazards, repairs
• Federal Pacific Electric FPE Stab Lok Electric Panels, circuit breakers, Siemens, Challenger
• Lightning Strike risk assessment, protection systems - on historic properties
• Rust and Corrosion in Electrical Panels, A Study and Report on Frequency and Cause for Electrical and Home Inspectors at Residential Electric Panels
• Square D Circuit Breaker Recalls, announced by the US CPSC, recalls include a Square D GFCI circuit breaker distributed by Square D, and a Counterfeit Square-D circuit breaker sold through Scott Electric
• Zinsco circuit breakers, electrical panels, etc.
• FLOORING MATERIALS, Age, Types: history of types and age of different flooring materials: Asphalt or vinyl-asbestos floor tiles, sheet flooring, linoleum, ceramic tile, carpeting, wood floor types and materials
• FOUNDATION MATERIALS, Age, Types
• Foundation Crack Bible, in-depth diagnosis, and evaluation of all types of structural and non-structural cracks in residential foundations [Brick, Concrete, Masonry Block, Stone]
• FRAMING MATERIALS, Age, Types
• Heating Equipment, Age, Types
• Heating Systems: Boilers/Furnace Inspection Methods
• Blueray Heating Boilers/Furnaces Safety Recall by the US CPSC, with additional history, photos, and technical details; Blue Flame Blue Ray
• Goodman Furnace High Temperature Plastic Vent HTPV safety recall US CPSC notice
• Inspection Procedures for Oil-Fired Heating Systems Detailed step by step approaches for inspecting complex systems]
• Lennox Pulse Furnace Safety Inspection/Warranty Program: Carbon Monoxide Warning
• Oil Tanks - The Oil Storage Tank Information Website: Buried or Above Ground Oil Tank Inspection, Testing, Cleanup, Abandonment of Oil Tanks
• Plastic Heating Vent Pipe & Other Heating Safety Recall Notices
• Weil McLain Model GV Gas Boiler/gas valve CPSC recall/repair
• Insulation Materials, Age, Types
• Asbestos HVAC Ducts and Flues field identification photos and guide
• Brick Lined Wall Cavities and exposed saw blade marks on clapboards help determine The age of a building
• Fiberglass Insulation
• Sheathing Homasote & Other Board
• Nails and Hardware, Age, Types
• Plaster & Beaverboard & Drywall
• Mold Resistant Drywall is it worth it?
• Plumbing Materials & Fixtures, Age, Types
• Cesspool Age Estimates help evaluate cesspool condition and need for repair or replacement
• plumbing pipe product failures & litigation use of plastic pipe in buildings
• Septic System Main Page Home Page for Complete Information about Septic Systems and Onsite Wastewater Disposal
• ROOFING MATERIALS, Age, Types
• Asphalt Shingles Home Page
• Asphalt Roof Life / Wear Factors determining asphalt shingle life expectancy
• Fire Retardant Treated FRT Plywood Failures inspection, detection, testing of defective FRT plywood roof sheathing
• Slate Roofs: How to Inspect and Repair Slate Roofs - Detailed Procedures for Inspection and Repair of Slate Roofs - ASHI Technical Journal, 1991, Updated 2006
• Slate Roofs: Inspecting and Evaluating Slate Roofs Hudson Valley ASHI seminar content
• Slate Roofs: a photographic library of slates, slate roofs, roofing styles
• Saw Cuts, Tool Marks, Age of
• Sears Kit Houses and other special home construction methods
• Mobile Home Inspections
• Mobile Home vs Trailer vs Modular vs Panelized Construction an explanation of terms and how to identify these structures.
• Sears Houses: How to identify Sears catalog kit houses photos and tips for identifying these interesting homes.
• SIDING MATERIALS, Age, Types
• Abatibi Siding hardboard siding failures
• Boise Siding Cascade, Georgia Pacific, Louisiana Pacific, Masonite
• EXTERIORS of buildings Landscaping, & Siding: product Failures: EIFS, synthetic stucco
• vapor barriers
• vinyl siding
• siding litigation
• paint failures diagnosis and remedy; decks, steps, railings - trip & fall hazards
• WINDOWS & DOORS, Age, Types


• References
• Age of a Home: Carson Dunlop's How to determine The age of a building [Carson Dunlop]
• Historic buildings Links to other articles: Sears Houses, How old is a House, Old House Materials & Repairs
• Old House Inspection Methods
• Developing Your Building Inspection X-Ray Vision - home inspection methodology for experts
• slate roof inspection and evaluation
• Restoration Products
• Abatron EpoxyWood Repair/Restoration 5501 - 95th Avenue, Kenosha, WI 53144 USA Tel: (262) 653-2000 Fax: (262) 653-2019, For orders: (800) 445-1754 Abatron provides a wide range of wood & building restoration epoxy products including a low-viscosity system that penetrates and solidifies rotted wood and a thicker wood repair putty type epoxy.
• Tremont Nail Company offers steel cut nails for authentic restoration projects and work on historic buildings

Books & Articles on Building & Environmental Inspection, Testing, Diagnosis, & Repair

• Our recommended books about building & mechanical systems design, inspection, problem diagnosis, and repair, and about indoor environment and IAQ testing, diagnosis, and cleanup are at the InspectAPedia Bookstore. Also see our Book Reviews - InspectAPedia.

• "The Elimination of Unsafe Guardrails, a Progress Report," Elliott O. Stephenson, Building Standards, March-April 1993
• "Are Functional Handrails Within Our Grasp" Jake Pauls, Building Standards, January-February 1991
• Access Ramp building codes:
  • UBC 1003.3.4.3
  • BOCA 1016.3
  • ADA 4.8.2
  • IBC 1010.2
• Access Ramp Standards:
  • ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act), Public Law 101-336. 7/26/90 is very often cited by other sources for good design of stairs and ramps etc. even where disabled individuals are not the design target.
  • ANSI A117.4 Accessible and Usable buildings and Facilities (earlier version was incorporated into the ADA)
  • ASTM F 1637, Standard Practice for Safe Walking Surfaces, (Similar to the above standards)
• America's Favorite Homes, mail-order catalogues as a guide to popular early 20th-century houses, Robert Schweitzer, Michael W.R. Davis, 1990, Wayne State University Press ISBN 0814320066 (may be available from Wayne State University Press)
• American Plywood Association, APA, "Portland Manufacturing Company, No. 1, a series of monographs on the history of plywood manufacturing",Plywood Pioneers Association, 31 March, 1967, www.apawood.org
• Animal Allergens: Dog, Cat, and Other Animal Dander - Cleanup & Prevention Information for Asthmatics and regarding Indoor Air Quality.
• Asbestos: How to find and recognize asbestos in buildings - visual inspection methods, list of common asbestos-containing materials
• Asbestos HVAC Ducts and Flues field identification photos and guide
• Asbestos products and their history and use in various building materials such as asphalt and vinyl flooring includes discussion which draws on Asbestos, Its Industrial Applications, D.V. Rosato, engineering consultant, Newton, MA, Reinhold Publishing, 1959 Library of Congress Catalog Card No.: 59-12535 (out of print).
• Asbestos Identification and Testing References
• Asbestos Identification, Walter C.McCrone, McCrone Research Institute, Chicago, IL.1987 ISBN 0-904962-11-3. Dr. McCrone literally "wrote the book" on asbestos identification procedures which formed the basis for current work by asbestos identification laboratories.
• Stanton, .F., et al., National Bureau of Standards Special Publication 506: 143-151
• Pott, F., Staub-Reinhalf Luft 38, 486-490 (1978) cited by McCrone
• ASHRAE resource on dew point and wall condensation - see the ASHRAE Fundamentals Handbook, available in many libraries. The following three ASHRAE Handbooks are also available at the InspectAPedia bookstore in the third page of our Insulate-Ventilate section:
  • 2005 ASHRAE Handbook : Fundamentals : Inch-Pound Edition (2005 ASHRAE HANDBOOK : Fundamentals : I-P Edition) (Hardcover), Thomas H. Kuehn (Contributor), R. J. Couvillion (Contributor), John W. Coleman (Contributor), Narasipur Suryanarayana (Contributor), Zahid Ayub (Contributor), Robert Parsons (Author), ISBN-10: 1931862702 or ISBN-13: 978-1931862707
  • 2004 ASHRAE Handbook : Heating, Ventilating, and Air-Conditioning: Systems and Equipment : Inch-Pound Edition (2004 ASHRAE Handbook : HVAC Systems and Equipment : I-P Edition) (Hardcover)
    by American Society of Heating, ISBN-10: 1931862478 or ISBN-13: 978-1931862479
    "2004 ASHRAE Handbook - HVAC Systems and Equipment The 2004 ASHRAE HandbookHVAC Systems and Equipment discusses various common systems and the equipment (components or assemblies) that comprise them, and describes features and differences. This information helps system designers and operators in selecting and using equipment. Major sections include Air-Conditioning and Heating Systems (chapters on system analysis and selection, air distribution, in-room terminal systems, centralized and decentralized systems, heat pumps, panel heating and cooling, cogeneration and engine-driven systems, heat recovery, steam and hydronic systems, district systems, small forced-air systems, infrared radiant heating, and water heating); Air-Handling Equipment (chapters on duct construction, air distribution, fans, coils, evaporative air-coolers, humidifiers, mechanical and desiccant dehumidification, air cleaners, industrial gas cleaning and air pollution control); Heating Equipment (chapters on automatic fuel-burning equipment, boilers, furnaces, in-space heaters, chimneys and flue vent systems, unit heaters, makeup air units, radiators, and solar equipment); General Components (chapters on compressors, condensers, cooling towers, liquid coolers, liquid-chilling systems, centrifugal pumps, motors and drives, pipes and fittings, valves, heat exchangers, and energy recovery equipment); and Unitary Equipment (chapters on air conditioners and heat pumps, room air conditioners and packaged terminal equipment, and a new chapter on mechanical dehumidifiers and heat pipes)."
  • 1996 Ashrae Handbook Heating, Ventilating, and Air-Conditioning Systems and Equipment: Inch-Pound Edition (Hardcover), ISBN-10: 1883413346 or ISBN-13: 978-1883413347 ,
    "The 1996 HVAC Systems and Equipment Handbook is the result of ASHRAE's continuing effort to update, expand and reorganize the Handbook Series. Over a third of the book has been revised and augmented with new chapters on hydronic heating and cooling systems design; fans; unit ventilator; unit heaters; and makeup air units. Extensive changes have been added to chapters on panel heating and cooling; cogeneration systems and engine and turbine drives; applied heat pump and heat recovery systems; humidifiers; desiccant dehumidification and pressure drying equipment, air-heating coils; chimney, gas vent, fireplace systems; cooling towers; centrifugal pumps; and air-to-air energy recovery. Separate I-P and SI editions."
  • Principles of Heating, Ventilating, And Air Conditioning: A textbook with Design Data Based on 2005 AShrae Handbook - Fundamentals (Hardcover), Harry J., Jr. Sauer (Author), Ronald H. Howell, ISBN-10: 1931862923 or ISBN-13: 978-1931862929
  • 1993 ASHRAE Handbook Fundamentals (Hardcover), ISBN-10: 0910110964 or ISBN-13: 978-091011096
• Best Practices Guide to Residential Construction, by Steven Bliss. John Wiley & Sons, 2006. ISBN-10: 0471648361, ISBN-13: 978-0471648369, Hardcover: 320 pages, available from Amazon.com and also Wiley.com. See our book review of this publication.
• Decks and Porches, the JLC Guide to, Best Practices for Outdoor Spaces, Steve Bliss (Editor), The Journal of Light Construction, Williston VT, 2010 ISBN 10: 1-928580-42-4, ISBN 13: 978-1-928580-42-3, available from Amazon.com
• Brick nogging used as soundproofing is mentioned in this article on Popular Forest
• Brick Nogging, Historical Investigation and Contemporary Repair, Construction Specifier, April 2006. Historical use of brick in timber-framed buildings, drawing on the investigations of the Kent Tavern in Calais, VT. "Brick nogging is a European method of construction which was brought to the new world in the early-nineteenth century. It was a common construction method that employed masonry as infill between the vertical uprights of wood framing." -- quoting the web article review.
• Photo of very rough in-wall brick nogging at an architects website
• Building Research Council, BRC, nee Small Homes Council, SHC, School of Architecture, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, brc.arch.uiuc.edu. "The Small Homes Council (our original name) was organized in 1944 during the war at the request of the President of the University of Illinois to consider the role of the university in meeting the demand for housing in the United States. Soldiers would be coming home after the war and would be needing good low-cost housing. ...  In 1993, the Council became part of the School of Architecture, and since then has been known as the School of Architecture-Building Research Council. ... The Council's researchers answered many critical questions that would affect the quality of the nation's housing stock.
  • How could homes be designed and built more efficiently?
  • What kinds of construction and production techniques worked well and which did not?
  • How did people use different kinds of spaces in their homes?
  • What roles did community planning, zoning, and interior design play in how neighborhoods worked
• The Circular Staircase, Mary Roberts Rinehart
• Construction Drawings and Details, Rosemary Kilmer
• "An Example of Colonial Paneling", Norman Morrison Isham, The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, Vol. 6, No. 5 (May, 1911), pp. 112-116, available by JSTOR.
• Dust from the World Trade Center collapse following the 9/11/01 attack: the lower floors of this building contained spray-on fire-proofing asbestos materials.
• Energy Savers: Whole House Systems Approach to Energy Efficient Home Design [copy on file as /interiors/Whole_House_Energy_Efficiency_DOE.pdf ] - U.S. Department of Energy
• "Energy Savers: Whole-House Supply Ventilation Systems [copy on file as /interiors/Energy_Savers_Whole-House_Supply_Vent.pdf ] - ", U.S. Department of Energy energysavers.gov/your_home/insulation_airsealing/index.cfm/mytopic=11880?print
• "Energy Savers: Whole-House Exhaust Ventilation Systems [copy on file as /interiors/Energy_Savers_Whole-House_Exhaust.pdf ] - ", U.S. Department of Energy energysavers.gov/your_home/insulation_airsealing/index.cfm/mytopic=11870
• "Energy Savers: Ventilation [copy on file as /interiors/Energy_Savers_Ventilation.pdf ] - ", U.S. Department of Energy
• "Energy Savers: Natural Ventilation [copy on file as /interiors/Energy_Savers_Natural_Ventilation.pdf ] - ", U.S. Department of Energy
• "Energy Savers: Energy Recovery Ventilation Systems [copy on file as /interiors/Energy_Savers_Energy_Recovery_Venting.pdf ] - ", U.S. Department of Energy energysavers.gov/your_home/insulation_airsealing/index.cfm/mytopic=11900
• "Energy Savers: Detecting Air Leaks [copy on file as /interiors/Energy_Savers_Detect_Air_Leaks.pdf ] - ", U.S. Department of Energy
• "Energy Savers: Air Sealing [copy on file as /interiors/Energy_Savers_Air_Sealing_1.pdf ] - ", U.S. Department of Energy
• Falls and Related Injuries: Slips, Trips, Missteps, and Their Consequences, Lawyers & Judges Publishing, (June 2002), ISBN-10: 0913875430 ISBN-13: 978-0913875438
  "Falls in the home and public places are the second leading cause of unintentional injury deaths in the United States, but are overlooked in most literature. This book is unique in that it is entirely devoted to falls. Of use to primary care physicians, nurses, insurance adjusters, architects, writers of building codes, attorneys, or anyone who cares for the elderly, this book will tell you how, why, and when people will likely fall, what most likely will be injured, and how such injuries come about. "
• Fiberglass: Indoor Air Quality Investigations: Health Concerns About Airborne Fiberglass: Fiberglass in Indoor Air from HVAC ducts, and Building Insulation
• Humidity: What indoor humidity should we maintain in order to avoid a mold problem?
• Ice Dam Leaks in building attics and roof cavities, how to inspect for evidence of leaks, identify causes, and correct bad attic ventilation, improper roof venting, and these causes of attic mold or roof structure damage
• "Insulation: Adding Insulation to an Existing Home," U.S. Department of Energy - tips on how to do your own check for the presence of absence of insulation in a home
• Insulation: Selecting Insulation for New Home Construction, U.S. Department of Energy - "Your state and local building codes probably include minimum insulation requirements, but to build an energy-efficient home, you may need or want to exceed them. For maximum energy efficiency, you should also consider the interaction between the insulation and other building components. This is called the whole-house systems design approach."
• Insulation Types, table of common building insulation properties from U.S. DOE. Readers should see INSULATION R-Values & Properties our own table of insulation properties that includes links to articles describing each insulation material in more detail.
• Lighting, proper use of: proper aiming of a good flashlight can disclose hard to see but toxic light or white mold colonies on walls.
• Mobile Home Inspections common defects unique to factory built housing, inspection methods
• The National Institute of Standards and Technology, NIST (nee National Bureau of Standards NBS) is a US government agency - see www.nist.gov
  • "A Parametric Study of Wall Moisture Contents Using a Revised Variable Indoor Relative Humidity Version of the "Moist" Transient Heat and Moisture Transfer Model [copy on file as/interiors/MOIST_Model_NIST_b95074.pdf ] - ", George Tsongas, Doug Burch, Carolyn Roos, Malcom Cunningham; this paper describes software and the prediction of wall moisture contents. - PDF Document from NIS
• Nogging: See this photo of exposed bricks on a building exterior on a building exterior in Canada. [Thanks to Carson Dunlop, Toronto - see References below].
• Pergo AB, division of Perstorp AB, is a Swedish manufacturer or modern laminate flooring products. Information about the U.S. company can be found at http://www.pergo.com where we obtained historical data used in our discussion of the age of flooring materials in buildings.
• Piquet Wall Construction: See this photo of piquet wall construction - involving timber-framed wall construction with long top girts, diagonal timber bracing, and small diameter logs placed vertically along with concrete chinking to fill in the wall plane.
• Plank House Construction: weblog from plankhouse.wordpress.com/2009/01/25/plank-house-construction/ and where plank houses were built by native Americans, see
  Large 1:6 Scale Plank House Construction / P8094228, Photographer: Mike Meuser
  06/12/2007 documented at yurokplankhouse.com where scale model Museum quality Yurok Plank Houses are being sold to raise money for the Blue Creek - Ah Pah Traditional Yurok Village project.
• Re-Bath, tub lining products is a bath tub relining manufacturer and distributor located in Tempe, Arizona - see rebath.com
• Rubblestone Wall Filler: See this Lartigue House using exterior-exposed rubblestone filler between vertical timbers of a post and beam-framed Canadian building.
• Slips, Trips, Missteps and Their Consequences, Second Edition, Gary M. Bakken, H. Harvey Cohen,A. S. Hyde, Jon R. Abele, ISBN-13: 978-1-933264-01-1 or ISBN 10: 1-933264-01-2, available from the publisher, Lawyers ^ Judges Publishing Company,Inc., www.lawyersandjudges.com sales@lawyersandjudges.com and also from the InspectAPedia Bookstore (Amazon.com)
• The Stairway Manufacturers' Association, (877) 500-5759, provides a pictorial guide to the stair and railing portion of the International Residential Code. [copy on file as http://www.stairways.org/pdf/2006%20Stair%20IRC%20SCREEN.pdf ] -
• What Mold and Allergens Look Like: mold identification photos to help identify mold - choosing what to sample in buildings
• How to Clean Moldy Wood Framing & Sheathing How to clean/seal mold from/on exposed lumber or plywood subfloor or roof sheathing indoors - some suggestions based on our field and laboratory research
• Lighting, proper use of: proper aiming of a good flashlight can disclose hard to see but toxic light or white mold colonies on walls.
• Manufactured & Modular Homes: Modular Building Systems Association, MBSA, modularhousing.com, is a trade association promoting and providing links to contact modular builders in North America. Also see the Manufactured Home Owners Association, MHOAA, at www.mhoaa.us. The Manufactured Home Owners Association of America is a National Organization dedicated to the protection of the rights of all people living in Manufactured Housing in the United States.
• Mold spores in the Home - a Photo ID Library for detection and identification of mold allergens.
• How to Find and Test For Mold in buildings A "how to" photo and text primer on finding and choosing the right spots to test for mold in buildings
• Stuff that is not mold but is often mistaken for it - things you may not want to test. Also, not all "black mold" is toxic - here are examples of harmless black mold.
• Simple Adhesive Tape Sampling of Moldy Surfaces - how to send a mold sample to our lab
• Mold Sampling Methods in the Indoor Environment - In-depth article: detailed critique of popular mold testing methods - Is your mold test kit worth the bother?
• Mold-Resistant Building Practices, advice from an expert on how to prevent mold after a building flood and how to prevent mold growth in buildings by selection of building materials and by anti-mold construction details.
• Slips, Trips, Missteps and Their Consequences, Gary M. Bakken, H. Harvey Cohen, Jon R. Abele, Alvin S. Hyde, Cindy A. LaRue, Lawyers and Judges Publishing; ISBN-10: 1933264012 ISBN-13: 978-1933264011
• Slips, Trips, Missteps and Their Consequences, Second Edition, Gary M. Bakken, H. Harvey Cohen,A. S. Hyde, Jon R. Abele, ISBN-13: 978-1-933264-01-1 or ISBN 10: 1-933264-01-2, available from the publisher, Lawyers & Judges Publishing Company,Inc., www.lawyersandjudges.com sales@lawyersandjudges.com and also from the InspectAPedia Bookstore (Amazon.com)
• Steps and Stairways, Cleo Baldon & Ib Melchior, Rizzoli, 1989.
• The Staircase, Ann Rinaldi
  
• Common Sense Stairbuilding and Handrailing, Fred T. Hodgson
• The Art of Staircases, Pilar Chueca
• Building Stairs, by pros for pros, Andy Engel
• A Simplified Guide to Custom Stairbuilding, George R. Christina
• Basic Stairbuilding, Scott Schuttner
  
• The Staircase (two volumes), John Templar, Cambridge: the MIT Press, 1992
• The Staircase: History and Theories, John Templar, MIT Press 1995
• Steps and Stairways, Cleo Baldon & Ib Melchior, Rizzoli, 1989.
• Steps and Stairways, Cleo Baldon & Ib Melchior, Rizzoli, 1989.
• "The Dimensions of Stairs", J. M. Fitch et al., Scientific American, October 1974.
• "The Elimination of Unsafe Guardrails, a Progress Report," Elliott O. Stephenson, Building Standards, March-April 1993
• "Are Functional Handrails Within Our Grasp" Jake Pauls, Building Standards, January-February 1991
• "Weather-Resistive Barriers [copy on file as /interiors/Weather_Resistant_Barriers_DOE.pdf ] - ", how to select and install housewrap and other types of weather resistive barriers, U.S. DOE
• Weaver: Beaver Board and Upson Board: Beaver Board and Upson Board: History and Conservation of Early Wallboard, Shelby Weaver, APT Bulletin, Vol. 28, No. 2/3 (1997), pp. 71-78, Association for Preservation Technology International (APT), available online at JSTOR.
• What Style Is It?: A Guide to American Architecture, Rev., John C. Poppeliers, S. Allen Chambers, Wiley; Rev Sub edition (October 6, 2003), ISBN-10: 0471250368, ISBN-13: 978-0471250364
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