Due to its ease of installation, durability, ease of repair and cost effectiveness, drywall has been a staple in American homes for years. In 2005, as a category 5 hurricane battered New Orleans, residential buildings were severely impacted by flooding. One plantation home built two centuries before Hurricane Katrina, now known as The Pitot House Museum, sustained little-to-no damage. How can this be explained? It’s simple: building materials matter. “The Pitot house was built the old way, with plaster walls,” says Steve Mouzon, an architect who helped rebuild the city after the hurricane. “When the flood came, the museum moved the furniture upstairs. Afterwards, they simply hosed the walls – no harm done.” The other houses weren’t built the old way. “All the homes around the Pitot house were lost because they were built with drywall,” says Mouzon.
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