Select Products That Prioritize Resiliency
Bringing a new building to life requires navigating decisions that balance the needs of occupants, budget constraints, building code stipulations and construction timelines. Amid these competing priorities, the long-term resilience and performance of the structure can sometimes take a back seat to budget priorities. Selecting high-performance products that emphasize durability is crucial to reducing risk during construction and keeping maintenance costs in check over the long term.
Stakeholders often have different perspectives on these priorities.
Architects use their technical expertise and creativity to design buildings that are safe, functional and visually appealing while adhering to a budget. Their primary question is, “What will best serve the building’s occupants?”
Contractors leverage their practical construction knowledge and financial considerations to assess every product choice and scheduling decision. They often ask, “Where can I spend to ensure quality craftsmanship and maximize profit?”
Building owners focus on the total project cost along with the facility’s ongoing functionality and maintenance requirements. Their main concern is, “Will this investment yield a good return?”
Specifying high-performance specialty gypsum boards from the outset can deliver wall-to-wall resilience, benefiting architects, contractors and building owners alike. This article will explore how high-performance gypsum boards from the Gold Bond® eXP® and Gold Bond® XP® families can reduce wear and tear, prevent damage from mold and moisture, avert construction delays and enhance acoustic performance. Gold Bond Building Products, LLC is an affiliate of National Gypsum Company.
Avoiding the Pitfalls of Value Engineering
To manage costs or address budget deficits, contractors and building owners may turn to value engineering. This process seeks to find a balance between functionality and budget by choosing building materials that reduce the project’s overall cost with what is perceived as a minimal loss in performance.
However, when applied to gypsum boards, this often results in downgrading from specified high-performance products. This choice can introduce significant risks, including the following:
Construction delays: Damage from the elements during the construction phase can lead to significant setbacks.
Reduced resilience: The building may have diminished long-term durability due to damage from moisture, mold and mildew.
Higher maintenance costs: Increased wear and tear from daily use can result in more frequent and costly upkeep.
Tenant dissatisfaction: Poor acoustic quality can lead to unhappy tenants or reduced productivity, necessitating expensive and disruptive renovations.
Mitigating Long-Term Wear
Once a new facility, such as a high school, hospital or office, is operational, the owner establishes a maintenance routine to ensure safe and smooth function. Opting for high-performance products such as Gold Bond® XP® Hi-Abuse® Gypsum Board and Gold Bond® XP® Hi-Impact® Gypsum Board in lieu of standard drywall during the construction phase can significantly reduce wear and tear.
A common point of confusion exists between abuse-resistant and impact-resistant products. Impact-resistant boards contain a fiberglass mesh in their core to help prevent penetrations from going into the wall cavity. However, abuse-resistant boards are denser, with a thicker face paper to resist surface abrasions. If specifications are not clear, a contractor might select on price alone.
Consider this scenario: An architect specifies impact-resistant gypsum board for a hospital corridor to withstand damage from gurneys, but mistakenly groups abuse and impact resistance together on the specification document. The drywall contractor, aiming to reduce costs, chooses the lower-priced abuse-resistant board. The architect later discovers the discrepancy during a site visit. The board must be replaced, which causes schedule delays and added expenses.
To avoid this, specifications should clearly distinguish between the two:
Abuse-resistant type: Manufactured for greater resistance to surface abrasion and indentation compared to standard gypsum board.
Impact-resistant type: Designed to offer superior resistance to surface abrasion, indentation and through-penetration than standard gypsum board.
If the specification isn’t clear, it’s best to ask the architect for clarification.
Where should abuse-resistant and impact-resistant gypsum boards be used?
XP Hi-Abuse Gypsum Board should be used in high-traffic areas to prevent surface damage such as scuffs and scratches.
Challenge: School hallways often suffer from scuffs and abrasions from backpacks, sports gear and instruments when standard drywall is used.
Solution: XP Hi-Abuse Gypsum Board features a denser, mold- and moisture-resistant Type X core with an abrasion-resistant PURPLE® face paper to minimize surface damage. While standard gypsum might require patching gouges, maintenance for XP Hi-Abuse typically only involves painting.
XP Hi-Impact Gypsum Board is ideal for corridors with wheeled traffic.
Challenge: In hospitals, carts and machinery can cause deep gouges or penetrate wall cavities. Such repairs are disruptive, noisy and messy. Additionally, repairs in fire-rated hospital corridors demand more time and expertise to maintain the rating.
Solution: XP Hi-Impact Gypsum Board has a dense, moisture- and mold-resistant Type X core, abrasion-resistant PURPLE face paper and an embedded fiberglass mesh to prevent penetrations into the wall cavity. While a gurney might break through standard drywall, collisions with XP Hi-Impact typically do not breach the wall cavity, allowing for simple repairs with joint compound and paint.
Watch the NGConnects™ Podcast episode “Understanding abuse- vs. impact-resistant gypsum board” to learn more.
Protecting Shafts and Separation Walls
A frequent issue in large commercial and multifamily construction is weather-related damage to paper-faced gypsum panels in shaft enclosures and area separation walls before the building is enclosed. Gold Bond® eXP® Shaftliner features a Type X gypsum core with a coated PURPLE fiberglass mat, making it resistant to damage from extended weather exposure.
Shaft enclosures and area separation walls are built early in the construction process and can remain exposed to the elements for months. High humidity or rain can lead to paper delamination, mold and mildew growth, and board degradation.
Consider this scenario: A contractor selects paper-faced shaftliner on a town home area separation wall, anticipating good weather. Unexpected material delays and a tropical storm result in significant rain. The moisture-damaged panels may have to be entirely replaced, a costly and time-consuming process that involves replacing the entire area separation wall.
While paper-faced panels such as Gold Bond® Shaftliner XP® offer a moisture-resistant core and paper, they are not designed to withstand direct weather exposure, including repeated rain. In contrast, Gold Bond eXP Shaftliner provides protection against weather during construction and against moisture, mold and mildew for the building’s life span. Its features include:
Superior mold and moisture resistance: A coated fiberglass mat encases the core on all sides for protection.
12-month exposure warranty: Provides assurance for 12 months from installation against weather-related issues.
Fire-resistant Type X core: Approved for use in 1- to 4-hour UL shaftwall assemblies and 2-hour UL fire-rated area separation walls.
Achieving Optimal Acoustic Performance
Noise is a well-known disruption in various environments, from healthcare settings where privacy is paramount to offices where sensitive conversations occur and schools where focus is essential. In hotels, a quiet room is a universal expectation. Specifying and installing Gold Bond® SoundBreak® XP® products can prevent future callbacks for architects and contractors.
Despite frequent complaints about noise, acoustically enhanced gypsum boards are often eliminated from projects due to value engineering. Poor acoustics can lead to renovations that are expensive, messy and disruptive.
Consider this scenario: An architect overlooks that a conference room is adjacent to a building’s call center and specifies standard drywall. Once the building is occupied, complaints pour in about the constant chatter (or conversations) from the call center disrupting meetings. The solution involves a costly renovation, adding an extra layer of gypsum board, insulation and SoundBreak XP to the conference room wall to dampen the sound.
Replacing standard gypsum board with SoundBreak XP on one side of a wall can boost its STC rating by as much as 11 points. This is achieved through SoundBreak XP’s unique construction:
It features a viscoelastic polymer layer between two high-density gypsum boards, which adds damping to dissipate sound waves.
The high-density board provides mass, a key factor in improving STC ratings.
Streamlining Schedules
Coordinating different trade crews is a major hurdle in large-scale commercial projects. A delay in one area can trigger a cascade of scheduling problems. Pre-rock construction, which involves installing gypsum panels in plenum areas before the roof is on, can save significant time. This allows plumbing, electrical and HVAC trades to simply cut openings for their lines and ductwork as needed.
However, this practice means drywall is often installed before the building is protected from the elements. The International Building Code prohibits using paper-faced drywall in these exposed conditions, as doing so risks moisture damage and mold growth.
Gold Bond® eXP® Interior Extreme® Gypsum Panels are well suited and designed for pre-rock applications. These panels have a core protected by coated fiberglass facers, safeguarding against moisture and mold. They can also be used on the interior face of exterior walls to prevent moisture damage before the building is fully enclosed. All eXP products are backed by a 12-month extended exposure warranty.
Five eXP options are available for pre-rock work:
Gold Bond® eXP® Interior Extreme® Gypsum Panel: Recommended for all interior walls and ceilings in pre-rock scenarios.
Gold Bond® eXP® Interior Extreme® Fire-Shield® Gypsum Panel: Contains a fire-resistant Type X core for UL-rated assemblies.
Gold Bond® eXP® Interior Extreme® Fire-Shield C™ Gypsum Panel: Offers a fire-resistant Type C core in 1/2″ and 5/8″ thicknesses for UL assemblies.
Gold Bond® eXP® Interior Extreme® AR Gypsum Panel: Provides surface abrasion resistance with a Type X core for high-traffic areas.
Gold Bond® eXP® Interior Extreme® IR Gypsum Panel: Delivers impact resistance with a Type X core for walls susceptible to penetration.
Cut Risks, not Corners
By choosing high-performance gypsum boards, you protect your investment from the initial construction phases through the entire service life of the building. Don’t cut corners; cut risks by using specialty gypsum board products provided by National Gypsum Company.
For further expert guidance, please call 1-800-NATIONAL® Construction Services.
National Gypsum Company is the exclusive service provider for products manufactured by Gold Bond Building Products, LLC.
Chris Whitmire brings 15 years of experience with National Gypsum Company, serving in a variety of roles throughout his career. From working in the field as a general line sales representative to managing corporate product strategy, Whitmire’s expertise spans the full spectrum of the business. In all, he has more than 25 years of experience in the building products and construction industry.
