The World is Round. Interior Corners Should Be, Too.

I have observed that the most beautiful interiors are in buildings made before the Second World War. The walls look more solid, the corners not so sharp, door jambs tend to be framed and when they are not, they are often rounded at the top instead of square. Even very expensive custom homes built recently in the bary area, I have noticed, look cheap in comparish=on to those older houses, simply because the angles where the walls meet each other are too severe.

I also noticed that there are hundred year old houses in San Francisco Miami that have withstood earthquakes and hurricanes; the worst fallen nature has to hurl against us, aside from volcanoes and tornadoes, which powers no man made thing survives. But I have seen new construction crumble or be blown away. Why?

I think it is because of dry wall. Beginning in the 1950s builders abandoned lath and plaster in favor of dry wall. Today, many builders use dry wall for structural support! Yes, it is true. They have abandoned the heavy beams in favor of drywall, as though dry wall is sufficient to hold up a house, as though drywall can withstand the horizontal pressure of powerful winds or the lunging and toque of an earthquake. This is part of the reason Homestead Florida was blown away by hurricanes - shoddy building.

I've also been thinking about the slums into which the large section of newly constructed American suburbs are turning. It has been noted that the construction techniques of the last 50 years will not stand up to the neglect and decay experienced by pre-WWII urban centers, and thus will not experience a revival as formerly decrepit areas of New York, Chicago, Cleveland, and San Francisco have. No one is going to gentrify garbage. One of the major reasons Chicago and The Mission are gentrifying (and aren't the leftists who oppose it cute in their little yipping dog way?) is because the houses are supported by thick treen beams and and the walls are lath and plaster. (there is also the issue of plumbing. The lead pipes of earlier times are better than the galvanized pipes used from WWII though recent times.)

I have trouble believeg that we will ever get the constuction industry to build with good craftsmanship sensibly sized houses, out of quality materials. They are selling to people who are not looking inside walls but who are measuring floorspace and toilet to bedroom ratios.

In the meantime, if you have a newer house, one built with drywall instead of plaster, I think that there are some cosmetic options worth considering. I like American Clay. They claim they are more than cosmetic, and though I am skeptical of the claim, I do think their product is beautiful. Also there are Venetion Plaster, and stucco interiors that are worth considering.

Of course, these cosmetic solutions won't solve the underling drywall problem; that must be addressed by builders not homeowners, but at least they can help mitigate the stark angularity of drywall interiors.