Saw a crazy drywall detail at the new library in Bellingham

They had these huge curved soffits in the main reading room, maybe 20 feet long each. The installer told me they had to pre-bend the 5/8 inch board by scoring the back and misting it for two days before hanging. Anyone ever tackle a radius that big without a bunch of seams?

4 comments

4 Comments

emery2902mo ago

Honestly, I always figured you had to use bendable board or a ton of small pieces for something that big. Learning they just scored and misted regular 5/8 sheetrock is wild. It totally makes sense that slow moisture would let it give in without breaking. Changes how I look at every curved wall I see now. That installer knew their stuff.

foster.tessa2mo ago

That's some serious craft. You see that kind of care in old buildings, but it's rare now.

the_terry1mo ago

Wait, wait, wait. That really rare? I mean I knew old buildings had that kind of detail but I just figured it was all like, stock stuff they ordered special. So they literally did that with score and mist on site back then too? That's nuts. Like I'm sitting here trying to picture some guy in the 1920s just calmly soaking a sheet of rock and bending it around a hallway corner. No wonder those old places feel different. They really just took the time to do it right and nobody even thought twice about it.

aaron7402mo ago

How do you even get a sheet that big to flex without snapping? I used to think you had to cut it into strips for a curve that large, but seeing the prep work they did totally changed my mind. Scoring and a slow mist makes so much sense now.