Wall construction - what's it called?

[BillJ]

I reckon someone here might know this one...

The walls in my bungalow in Bedfordshire are of a construction I haven't come across before. There is a single outer skin of red brick. Inside this (with a narrow cavity) the internal walls (including dividing walls between rooms) are made of large plaster slabs which are about 3" thick, the full height of the room (about 8ft) and about 2-3 ft wide (I can't be exact since I'm not living there at the moment).

The slabs (or blocks?) are hollow, with about 0.75" thick faces and internally a plaster honeycomb with each cell measuring about 6-8" across.

The house was built in 1957, hence I think imperial measurements are more appropriate.

When I bought the house some years ago, the survey described the internal walls as being of "hollow concrete block" construction but once I started working on the house I realised that this wasn't the case.

Has anyone got any idea what this construction is called so I can find out more about it? And more to the point, so I can perhaps enlighten any surveyors who come to survey the house on behalf of prospective buyers?

 

[Rudi McAnichal]

Devon + unusual construction often means “Woolaway”. Could this be a Woolaway bungalow with an outer leaf of brick added later to improve insulation? Is there any sign that the roof might have been extended to cover additional wall thickness?

 

[TechnicAl]

its not the mundick block is it?

 

[BillJ]

Devon + unusual construction often means “Woolaway”.

I forgot to say that the property is in Bedfordshire, hence me not living in it at the moment. It isn't Woolaway, thank goodness.

 

[BillJ]

its not the mundick block is it?

A quick search shows this is a sort of concrete block used in Cornwall. Sorry - my Devon location might have misled you too.

It's definitely not concrete or anything like it. These are definitely moulded in plaster.

 

[brightspark]

its called honecomb walling gyprock used to make it. 2 plasterboards with a cardboard honeycomb sandwiched in between. its held in place by a 2x2 wooden frame along the ceiling and floor and up either side of the 8x4 pannels another one was strammit only that was filled and compressed strawboard between the sheets

 

[Mikey D]

my house has the type described by bright spark above 2 sheets of plasterboard with cardboard honeycomb in between , my house is about 20 years old i dont think that type was available in the 1950's tho

cheers mike

 

[BillJ]

its called honecomb walling gyprock used to make it. 2 plasterboards with a cardboard honeycomb sandwiched in between.

I had that stuff in a previous flat and every Google search I've done turns up references to it but that's not what it is. The stuff I'm talking about has no paper or cardboard in it at all and is cast entirely from plaster. It must have been quite a palaver to make and a heavy sod to lug into place. It appears to be partly load-bearing as the loft beams run over the internal walls.

 

[brightspark]

I had that stuff in a previous flat and every Google search I've done turns up references to it but that's not what it is. The stuff I'm talking about has no paper or cardboard in it at all and is cast entirely from plaster. It must have been quite a palaver to make and a heavy sod to lug into place. It appears to be partly load-bearing as the loft beams run over the internal walls.

ive seen white solid plastercast walls in a house in france. it had nails knocked partialy in to the floor to key 2 . shuttered both sides and must have been cast by filling from the top of mould

 

[BillJ]

These would have been cast and then brought onto site. Each block or slab is definitely separate - this can be seen in the loft and the airing cupboard where they are exposed.

They're not solid but have that honeycomb interior cast between the two faces. I can only imagine that the honeycomb was cast first, perhaps along with one face, then this piece was upturned and the exposed honeycomb embedded in a tray of wet plaster to cast the second face.

The honeycomb core has slots moulded in it to allow wiring to pass down the inside of the block. This is how the original wiring appears to have been fitted but some subsequent wiring has either been chased in or laid in surface trunking.

 

[bigd]

Hi been talking to my dad and he say their called paramount boards

 

[BillJ]

Thanks, BigD. A quick Google for "Paramount board" suggests that it is similar to the stuff BrightSpark mentioned earlier, i.e. two layers of plasterboard with a metal or cardboard mesh in between. The stuff I am talking about is composed entirely of plaster.

 

[rtbcomp]

I Googled it and one site stated "Paramount board is the wall." Unfortunately it didn't go into detail, it was more concerned with fixing tiles to the stuff. This would suggest a structural board rather than a cladding.

It sounds like there may be confusion out there about the name "Paramount board."

 

[BillJ]

I Googled it and one site stated "Paramount board is the wall." Unfortunately it didn't go into detail, it was more concerned with fixing tiles to the stuff. This would suggest a structural board rather than a cladding.

Yes, I came across that too. Paramount board appears to be a form of prefabricated wallboard with a mesh spacer sandwiched between two sheets of plasterboard.

 

[Robotstar5]

Might be worth asking on UHM

 

[BillJ]

Found it - they're Bellrock panels.

In Britain, Bellrock Gypsum Industries, assisted by the Building Research Station, had developed a load-bearing panel said to consist of a honeycomb plaster web faced on either side with a solid plaster slab. The Australian researchers D V Isaacs and J W Drysdale reported on it in 1949, describing the interior as a 'honeycomb core of hessian and gypsum'.

http://mileslewis.net/australian-building/pdf/11-finishes/11.01-plaster.pdf

 

[rtbcomp]

Well done. Paramount gets a mention in that PDF too.

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