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NEATLY_SEALED

                                             November 24, 2012
                                             December 30, 2012

I'm often skeptical about our
penchant for neatly sealing             JACK_OF_EAGLES
things up: it often seems
like it has less to do with
practicality than a passion
for order.

   For example, have you ever
   wondered about the standard
   wall construction of 2x4 studs
   covered with sheet rock?

   The studs are much stronger
   than the sheet rock, and you
   often want to use them to hang
   things up, but the sheet rock
   greatly complicates finding them
   and attaching things to them.

   Then there's the problem of
   the wiring and piping hidden                                       
   behind the sheetrock: if you ever     Then there's the fact that   
   need to work on it, you need to       when driving a nail into the 
   rip things apart.  And it's hard      sheet rock for any purpose we
   to know where you need to rip         just gamble that we won't hit     
   things apart, without ripping         the hidden wiring.                
   things apart first...                                                   
                                                                           
   Then there's the interesting                                           
   way these wall interiors become                                  
   convienient runways for insects      It's always fun when you can     
   and rodents.                         smell a dead rat decomposing     
                                        somewhere in the walls, and      
                                        you're not sure where.           
                                                                         
                                                                        
      Doesn't this all seem a little nutty?      
      Why not, for example, just put sheet                                  
      rock on one side, and leave the studs     Here, I'm presuming that           
      (and wiring, and piping) exposed on       compliance with fire codes is      
      the other side?                           not an issue... but it often       
                                                turns out that Being Normal is     
                                                enshrined in law, rightly or       
        There's one good counter-argument       wrongly, but nominally for         
        that I know of (it wouldn't be          safety reasons.                    
        surprising if there are more):                                             
                                                                                   
        The old Cellspace kitchen area has                                        
        a homebrew wall under the counter                                      
        area, constructed in a way much
        like I've just described: paneling
        on the outside, and studs on the
        inside, resting on the kitchen
        floor: consequently, there were
        permanently dirty areas on either
        side of each stud, in the corners
        where it's nearly impossible to
        reach with a mop.

           Clean lines are
           easier to clean.


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