The Ins-and-Outs of Abuse and Impact Resistance: Five Things to Know

Over its life, a wall system can take a beating. From scuffs and marks to dents and holes, your walls can always benefit from added abuse resistance. Investing in gypsum panel products ideally suited for high-traffic areas will often eliminate ongoing maintenance expenses over standard drywall, adding years of reliable durability and safety to the spaces that need it most.

The following are the five most important things designers, contractors, maintenance personnel, and building owners should know about abuse and impact resistance:

1. Durability is Universal

All commercial and institutional buildings have high-traffic areas where people and objects pass through. Inherently, these areas are more prone to scraping and bumping, and therefore, damage. If the materials used are not more durable than others more suitable for normal use, the condition of the walls quickly erode. Worse yet, if not properly maintained, building owners may be faced with underperforming surfaces, significant maintenance costs, and potential life safety issues.

2. Investing in Added Protection

Owners and facility managers often track both the delivered costs of their facilities and ongoing repair & maintenance costs. From a lifecycle perspective, it is often less expensive to invest in abuse- and impact-resistant materials in high-traffic areas as a first cost, rather than paying ongoing expenses to maintain and repair standard drywall partitions. Ideal areas for higher-performing abuse- and impact-resistant gypsum panel products include, but are not limited to:

·       Hospital hallways, emergency, surgical, and patient rooms

·       School classrooms, cafeterias, gymnasiums, and hallways

·       Dormitory hallways and social rooms

·       Means of egress, such as stairwells and elevator hoistway enclosures

·       Garages, warehouses, and loading docks

Remember, before selecting materials for your project, be sure to check with your local building code authority. Many municipalities are now adopting International Building Code® (IBC®) standards that require greater levels of abuse and impact resistance in several critical areas (such as stairwell and elevator hoistway enclosures), which ensures the safety of the property and its occupants.

3. Classified Information

Building design must consider the purpose of a structure and the type of environment it will house to determine the appropriate level of abuse resistance to incorporate. Identified in the IBC®, gypsum panel products claiming abuse resistance must be tested to ASTM C1629, Standard Classification for Abuse-Resistant Nondecorated Interior Gypsum Panel Products and Fiber-Reinforced Cement Panels. This specification for surface abrasion and indentation resistance, as well as soft- and hard-body impact, details three classification levels in each of the performance categories.

4. It Takes Two

At the most fundamental level, abuse resistance can be defined as the ability of a partition system to resist two types of damage: surface damage and penetration.

5. A New Era

In the past, concrete and masonry systems have been used for projects requiring added abuse and impact resistance. While these materials provide protection from traffic-related damage, they are heavy, require specialized labor to install and finish, and may require favorable temperatures to properly cure. However, with advances in the manufacture of high-performing building products, gypsum-based solutions have become the preferred choice in areas prone to abuse and impact because they offer many advantages over these other materials.

Today, a new generation of high-performance engineered gypsum panel products has transformed the entire field of abuse and impact resistance. These revolutionary products provide designers, maintenance personnel, and building owners greater access to mechanical systems, lighter footprints, pleasing aesthetics, outstanding durability, and long-term performance.

^Note:

^{1.  USG testing demonstrates that when painted with one coat of primer and two coats of latex paint, the abrasion resistance increases to Level 3.}

Building design presents countless challenges, and USG can help you address key performance issues with our comprehensive portfolio of abuse- and impact-resistant solutions. When specified and installed in accordance with best practices, our products can improve the total performance of the building components, keeping the structure and its occupants safer.

For the most up-to-date product information, visit usg.com.