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Back in January 2002, there appeared in this column a two-part article entitled “Drywall Déjà Vu.” The first part talked about the impact of waste gypsum board; fully 1 percent of the entire solid waste stream and the problems encountered when gypsum is dumped in landfills. The second part discussed the first company to successfully recycle waste gypsum board from both the manufacturing (mill waste) and installation (on-site virgin gypsum board) processes.

The number one source of litigation in the construction industry is leaks. People tend to describe buildings in terms of the dominant opaque cladding: “Turn left at the brick building,” instead of “Turn left at the building with windows.” Thus when a building that has EIFS on it has leaks, the automatic mantra is “the EIFS is leaking.”

Ramón didn’t understand. He said he did but he didn’t. He said he did because he wanted to make his supervisor happy. Making his supervisor happy cost him his life. Making his supervisor happy cost his family their husband, their father, their provider.

Pseudo-holidays, such as Columbus Day and Presidents Day, give respite to those of us who live in traffic-clogged metropolitan areas. Millions of motorists experience the giddy feeling of doing the speed limit to and from work for a change.

We spend much of the time in this column addressing the many facets of gypsum wallboard construction. Lately, with the recent release of our flagship publication, the Fire Resistance Design Manual, we’ve concentrated our discussions on both fire-resistant and sound-attenuating systems. In so doing, we have somewhat ignored other gypsum board wall and ceiling systems that should get more attention. Among these are the one- and two-coat veneer plaster systems.

This month, we’ll conclude the year and our series all about sheathing. In past installments of this series, we looked at the purpose, environmental aspects and types of sheathing products including...

I recently had the opportunity to visit Ft. McMurray, which is located about 300 miles north of Edmonton, in Northern Alberta, Canada. It’s not the northern most point on the road but you can see it from there. The area is a phenomenon because it contains the largest known cash of petroleum in the world. You didn’t know that? Well, neither did I until recently. The amount of oil sand in Alberta is enough-at their current rate of consumption-to provide Canada all of the petroleum it would need for the next 475 years. It’s enough oil to meet the needs of the entire planet for the next 15 years.

When a blues music aficionado uses the term “old school,” he may be referring to artists such as Muddy Waters, Etta James, John Lee Hooker or B.B. King. When old school country music artists are discussed, names such as Bob Wills, Hank Williams Sr., Jimmie Rogers and Patsy Cline will certainly be mentioned. In this instance, old school is used in a positive way. The inference is that these artists were pioneers in their field and that their contributions have stood the test of time and that their art is still considered relevant, even though it was produced decades ago.

Everyone wants to earn more money. That’s a given in any walk of life. So, what do you say when one of your employees demands a raise or he walks?