The History of Durock® Brand

On March 10th, 1983, the first truckload of Durock® Brand Cement Board shipped from USG’s Detroit plant. What started as a pilot program for a product innovation turned into an entire business focused on making water-durable and water-resistant panels.

Humble Beginnings

In the early 1980s, USG sent research scientists from the USG Corporate Innovation Center to the Detroit plant to trial a new cement product. The original Detroit plant was built in 1929, and after the main production line was retired in early 1974, it was turned over to Research as the site for the pilot line of what would become Durock® Brand Cement Board. This was a true pilot operation, with 14 second-line employees working overtime to facilitate the trial runs three days a week on a manually run machine.

The initial line speed was 13 feet of panels per minute, and the entire room was heated to allow the cement to set quickly; a puddler—an employee who keeps the edges clear of cement buildup at the forming roll—was needed as the line ran. Many iterations of the process and changes to the machine were trialed over the next two years before the formula was locked in.

The team finalized the Durock® Brand formula we know today in 1983. The speed was increased to 24 feet per minute when a larger mixer was installed and later optimized to 30 feet per minute. By 1986, nearly 100 years after Augustine Sackett conceived the idea of an interior wallboard, USG was manufacturing Durock® Brand panels to clad the exteriors of homes and other buildings.

Going International

USG began operating in Mexico on November 5, 1969 in the city of Puebla, located in central Mexico. By 1995, Durock® Brand was first introduced to the region, but it wasn’t until ten years later that USG opened and began manufacturing the panels at the Monterrey plant, which sits in northern Mexico at just under 140 miles from the border town of Laredo, TX.

When Durock® Brand arrived in Mexico, it was given a different use than the one for which it was created. In the US, it is commonly used as a flooring solution or in areas with high humidity or water exposure, such as kitchens and bathrooms. In Mexico, Durock® Brand® Brand panels became the perfect solution for outdoor facades and areas susceptible to water exposure.

“Our challenge is focused on attacking traditional construction,” says Bertha Villalobos, Director of Corporate Communications, USG LATAM. “Cement occupies a 79% share within the construction materials which indicates [a preference to build] with traditional systems…that is why the Durock® Brand strategy for Mexico is focused on highlighting the attributes that differentiate us, approaching the end user with alternative uses that the board can have in the residential sector.”

In total, there are more than 80 million square meters of Durock® Brand in buildings in Mexico and another 40 million installed in high humidity areas and structures that are exposed to water; notable projects include the amusement park Aztlán Parque Urbano in Mexico City, and the private medical center Hospital Covadonga in Veracruz.

Today, “Planta Monterrey” remains the only USG product line outside the US and contributes to the history of Durock® Brand with the highest quality standards in the manufacture and export of USG DUROCK® FORTE to 16 countries, primarily in Latin America and Asia.

Continuous Improvement

USG makes strides in adopting innovative technology and automation that ensures our people, technology, and equipment work together seamlessly.

USG took its first step toward becoming a leader in lightweight product innovation with the introduction of Durock® Brand Cement Board Next Gen in 2008. Company scientists spent several years developing a patented formula that made Durock® Brand Next Gen the lightest cement board on the market. This re-engineering of a 25-year-old product lowered its weight, coincidentally, by 25 percent and improved its score, snap, and handling qualities without affecting the board’s strength or durability.

A decade later in 2018, USG introduced Durock® Brand® Cement Board with EdgeGuard™. By adding a propriety fabric edge to the panels, this advancement helped reduce screw blowouts during fastening and protects the edge from damage, creating less dust during installation.

After the EdgeGuard™ equipment was installed, USG New Orleans plant employees across departments began implementing continuous improvement optimizations to address delays and defects. This collaboration eventually led the team to design a solution – a new piece of equipment that formed a more consistent edge on the Durock® Brand® panel, allowing the EdgeGuard™ fabric to adhere more tightly.

The USG Solution

As with all USG products, innovation, dedication and teamwork were integral in the history of Durock® Brand.

Today, over 40 years since the first pilot line, Durock® Brand is manufactured at 4 USG plants in the US and Mexico: Detroit, MI began full-scale production in 1986, New Orleans, LA in 1988, Baltimore, MD in 2002, and Monterrey, MX in 2005.

The developing history of Durock® Brand® Brand is yet another example of USG’s commitment to continuous improvement and innovation, where collaboration and bringing the best minds together is a key factor in identifying areas of need across all product categories.

Learn more about Durock® Brand here: http://www.usg.com/content/usgcom/en/products/floors-tile/tile-prep/cement-board-tracker-board.html