Homasote

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Homasote is a type of wallboard made from recycled paper that is compressed under high temperature and pressure and held together with a glue.

1 Agasote
2 Railroad cars
3 Homasote
4 Loss of car market
5 Model Railroading
6 Other Uses
7 External links

[edit] Agasote

The Homasote Company operates a 750,000 square-foot factory complex in West Trenton, New Jersey. It started as a division of the Bermuda Trading Company in 1909. Eugenius Harvey Outerbridge founded the company as the "Agasote Millboard Company." Outerbridge brought the process into the United States from England.

[edit] Railroad cars

The panels were first used for lining and sides of railroad cars. In 1915, they won a contract to use the panels as automobile tops and for the next 10 years they supplied board for the tops of Ford, Buick, Nash, Studebaker, and Dodge. They marketed a larger panel as "vehisote," for delivery truck panels.

[edit] Homasote

The Homasote version of the board was marketed in 1916, as "Versatile Homasote Board," an un-sanded panel, strong and lightweight with excellent weather-resistant properties. The panel was impervious to moisture and Homasote was used for the exterior of field hospitals and military housing in France during World War I.

[edit] Loss of car market

By 1925, cars were using canvas tops and Agasote lost sales, so the company heavily promoted Homasote for its versatility and insulation properties. The company then changed its name to Homasote after its now largest product. Homasote, 1 3/4" thick and tongue and grooved, is used for upstairs sub-flooring in two story homes. Covered with carpet, it has superior sound deadening and insulating qualities.

[edit] Model Railroading

Homasote frequently used by model railroading for the sub-roadbed or roadbed, mainly because of its noise-deadening qualities, and because nails can be easily driven in it. cork or foam insulation are also sometimes used as alternatives to Homasote.

[edit] Other Uses

Homasote has also found its way into numerous church basements and fellowship halls as the material used by church dartball leagues for the backboard of their baseball field shaped dartboards. It has proven to be a durable material that darts can be thrown into repeatedly without damaging their metal tips.

Homasote was also widely used as wall sheeting from the 40's into the 70's, however due to the development of the more fire resistant gypsum board it has decreased in popularity as a wall sheeting.

Homasote is also commonly found in studio spaces and featured in many art institutions as a wall covering and doubling as a type of cork board often receiving hundreds of coats of paint over the years due to the strength of the product.