Old buildings

I love looking at old buildings that are being renovated. I look at them with a different eye than the usual person might see them. If you are in construction you know what I mean. Today I was able to look around the Dock Street Theater. NBM is doing the job. I like to see the different types of construction that were done back some time ago. I get to see Terra Cotta blocks. I see the evidence that concrete was formed up with something other than plywood. I know it seems hard to believe that someone actually used 1x's or 2x's for forming but plywood was just not cost effective. A nice little history of plywood can be found by following the link.

http://www.apawood.org/plywoodpioneers/history.htm

You will find that laminated woods have been around since the Egyptians. Though not mentioned in the above article, you can find out that the rotary lathe used for peeling the logs to make plywood was invented by Immanuel Nobel. He was the father of three sons and one was Alfred Nobel. See the link to find out more.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immanuel_Nobel

Terra Cotta is not used nearly as much, if at all and seeing true plaster hanging from a ceiling or wall is a beautiful sight. It has much more character than drywall. Drywall was invented in 1916. It was used during WWII due to labor costs and found wide spread use during the 1950's when so many people started moving to the suburbs. You can read more by clicking this link.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drywall

Construction is not always about knowing what is new. Sometimes it is understanding the older practices. I am thankful for both the older methods and newer ones.