All Things Gypsum<br>Finish and Decorative Gypsum Board Surfaces
Gypsum finish levels are this month's topic.
For many years, contract documents used these and other equally nonspecific terms to describe how gypsum board walls and ceilings should look prior to final decoration with paints and other wallcoverings. And, for as many years, wall and ceiling contractors have tried to fulfill their obligations by providing the finish conditions envisioned but never truly described.
In the late ’80s, four trade associations representing the drywall and painting industries and trades recognized the potential for misunderstanding and misinterpretation inherent in this type of loose wording. The Association of the Wall and Ceiling Industries International, the Painting and Decorating Contractors of America, the Ceilings & Interior Systems Construction Association, and the Gypsum Association developed drywall finishing nomenclature destined to bring an end to much of the subjectivity contained in the language of those old drywall specifications. The result was the publication, in 1990, of Recommended Levels of Gypsum Board Finish (GA-214), soon to be known by its short name, Levels of Finish.