Mark Fowler

Building owners have more choices, option and selections for ceilings than ever before. The Northwest Wall and Ceiling Bureau has been assisting designers, contractors and code officials for more than 50 years with ceiling selection and proper installation standards. Ceilings will generally fall into one of three basic categories.

A veneer plaster system is a thin coat of plaster, usually 3/32 inch, over a gypsum-based panel. The reason for specifying a veneer plaster is typically to achieve a hard, abuse-resistant monolithic surface.

Portland cement plaster has traditionally been a three-coat cement system as described by all model building codes and now in the International Building Code. Within the last two decades, acrylic has become very popular as an alternative finish coat to the traditional Portland cement stucco finish. Both finish coats are excellent finish materials, can be integrally colored and are vapor permeable but this is where the similarities end.