Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 10.3
Sheet and board finishes
This chapter deals with framed and
unframed timber panelling, and
plasterboard dry-lining; there is also
brief mention of wallpapers and
tapestries.
Durable and decorative sheet and
board finishes for interior wall
surfaces have been sought since the
earliest times. Amongst the earliest
was timber matchboarding,
wainscoting or panelling, in various
species of wood instead of plaster to
cover rough masonry. Matchboarding
obtains its name from the fact that
boards used to be planed by hand
with a pair of matching planes to give
a moulded tongued-and-grooved
joint.
Framed wood panelling into
rebated studs began to be used during
the thirteenth century, but became
fashionable in the British Isles during
the fifteenth century; fortunately a
number of fine examples have
survived (Figure 10.10). The wood
was largely left undecorated until the
fashion for painting it in pale colours
was introduced in the eighteenth
century. However, some panelling
was fabricated from contrasting
natural woods, for example poplar
and dark oak, purely for decoration.
Dry-lining masonry walls with
plasterboard became popular
around the mid-1950s following
attempts to reduce the manhour
content of building new dwellings.
Wallpapers were introduced into
Europe from the Far East during the
sixteenth century, though rarely used,
and it is unlikely that more than
fragments of these early papers have
survived. By Georgian times,
wallpapers had become more
common. The earliest papers were
block printed by hand, but machine
printing in continuous rolls was
introduced in Victorian times.
Some of the early varieties may be
found hung on canvas stretched
between battens.
The earliest fabric coverings were
tapestries, introduced from the Low
Countries and France at the end of the
fourteenth century. Imports grew
until the seventeenth century when
manufacturies were established in
Warwickshire and London, just about
the time when wainscoting was at its
most popular. Painted cloths were the
poor man's substitute.
By the late eighteenth century,
there was a wide variety of internal
sheet finishes available to the interior
designer, ranging from moiré silks,
velvets, and flocked wallpapers to
tooled hide, such as used by Grey
Wornum in later years in the RIBA
building and which is still in good
condition after 50 years' service. The
conservation of these materials is a
specialised field, and further advice
may well be necessary.
Characteristic details
Basic structure
Framed panels were at first rather
small in size, with plain rebated and
beaded frames (Figure 10.11 on
page 276). Panel size increased from
the middle of the seventeenth century
accompanied by rather more use of
decorative (eg linenfold) panels
instead of the simple plane or fielded
panels, and by intricately carved
frames. Simple frames are butt
jointed (Figure 10.12), but in better
class work were
usually mitred. Large panels will
Figure 10.10
The Long Gallery at Haddon Hall, Derbyshire
