special forcestraditional gypsum wallboard gets an extreme makeover.

Gypsum wallboard is one of the unsung heroes of the architectural world. It's lightweight, easy to install, and adapts to almost any design. Best of all, it's economical. No wonder, then, that wallboard is used in almost all new construction single- and multifamily projects in this country.

Manufacturers have been moving beyond conventional wallboard in recent years, however. In fact, they've spent a considerable amount of time and resources developing specialty products that address application-specific problems drywall couldn't solve—moisture, mold, and noise chief among them.

By far, the most prominent of these problems are moisture and mold. Greenboard has long been a popular spec for moisture-prone rooms, and in the past, it had even been used as a backer board in wet areas. But in 2005, the International Code Council rescinded its approval of the material as a tile backer in wet areas. The code body now sanctions only cement- based backer boards and fiber-cement products, which aren't typically used for interior wallboard. In response, drywall manufacturers say they've developed moisture-resistant products that work well in moisture-prone areas.

Specialty drywall products, such as Temple-Inland's ComfortGuard, help architects build houses that are better equipped to resist moisture, structural damage, and sound transmission.

“Wallboard companies have been heavily marketing products such as fiberglass-faced and paperless gypsum to reduce the chances of mold occurrences,” says Samantha Ciotti Falcone, AIA, a project manager with Althouse, Jaffe & Associates in Perkiomenville, Pa. She traces the flurry of new product development to a run of headline-grabbing mold problems at commercial properties in Florida and other humid climates. “Mold eats the cellulose found in paper-faced wallboards” and was found “growing behind the wallpaper” at several area hotels, she explains, adding that the problems were affecting “entire, relatively new facilities.” As mold madness began spreading among the general public and insurance companies, manufacturers saw a need in the residential market and responded accordingly.

“Since 2001, we've been promoting the message of managing mold and moisture through good design and construction practices,” says John Pappas, product marketing manager for drywall systems at Chicago-based USG Corp. Among its efforts, USG introduced a “high-performance” line of Sheetrock Mold Tough gypsum panels that look like regular wallboard, Pappas says, but have a treated gypsum core and a paper facing impregnated with a mold inhibitor.

Quiet Solution and Dietrich Metal Framing's QuietRock UltraSTEEL 527 is a noise-minimizing product for steel framing.

Atlanta-based Georgia-Pacific Building Products' offering is DensArmor, a line of moisture- and mold-resistant products that use fiberglass rather than paper. “Paper facing in gypsum has a tendency to hold water” and provides a potential food source for mold, says Barry Reid, GP's product development marketing manager. “The glass-mat face and treated core [of GP's fiberglass alternatives] provide some forgiveness in wall assemblies.”

The new products are gaining fans. Earlier this year, the Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing (PATH) offered its seal of approval, naming mold-resistant gypsum one of its top 10 technologies for 2007. “Due to the fact that mold is less likely to grow on it, [mold-resistant gypsum] requires less maintenance and is more likely to survive water damage than traditional wall materials,” PATH said of the innovation in a statement at the International Builders' Show in Orlando, Fla.

Moisture and mold aren't the only things keeping architects up at night. Sound transmission is an increasing problem as “open floor plan” houses, home theaters, and media rooms proliferate. Noise is an even thornier (potentially litigious) issue in multifamily housing. Durability is yet another concern. But there are wall-board products that can help tone down the din—and withstand everyday wear and tear, to boot.

For example, San Rafael, Calif.-based Supress Products in 2005 introduced sound-engineered wallboard for residences. Used in place of regular wallboard or applied directly over existing walls, Supress products provide an extra level of sound absorption in floor, ceiling, and wall assemblies—for less money, the company claims, than resilient channels and other traditional methods.

Another market player, Quiet Solution of Sunnyvale, Calif., offers seven sound-rated gypsum-based wall-board products. According to vice president of marketing Steve Weiss, soundproof wall-board is especially popular with residential builders. “We see extensive use of our products in single-family construction,” he says. “But a lot of it is being used in multifamily situations too.”