Evening star., 1939-05-13
Resins Seen Hope
In Clearing S|ums
AtPrivate Profit
Moehine-Aee Materials
Made Possible by Them
Seen Changing

Resins, used in the manufacture
Of desk telephone sets, paints, CLUES
and innumerable other products,
were declared to be of prime i'm
portance in slum clearance and the
reduction of the cost of housing
In a report by DR.. Frederick O..
Anderegg of Newark, Ohio, consul
tant on building materials. to the
Paint and Varnish Division of the
American Chemical Society.
The production of houses on a
mass basis is hampered by the fact
that houses are bulky and heavy
and by the desire of home owners
to have individual styles, DR.. Ander-
egg pointed out. When the ready
made home becomes widespread be-
cause of its economical advantages
It will, he declared, contain pro-
tective and decorative paints, ply
wood. veneers, floor coverings, fiber
boards in place of wood sheathing
and other products, all of which
have been made possible by resins
This will come about when people
sre willing to accept the same
standardization in their homes as
they have in their cars. Dr. Anderegg
added The evolution In housing
Is gradually taking place, he said,
and it is being accelerated by new
materials which are constantly COM
ing into the picture.
There are needed now strong,
durable, flreproof materials, light
In weight. which can be decorated
readily, and which can be assem-
bled into large units at low cost.
When such are available, the re-
placement of blighted slums will
become an attractive proposition
from an economic standpoint. so
that slum clearance will not have
TO be subsidized solely by the Gov
ernment Resins should play very
important role in such develop
ments.
AN interesting new development
which permits the use of many
materials which could not previous
ly be considered for wall construc-
ton lies in the combination of tough,
durable, modified phenolic resins
with aggregates, to build up pro-
tective surface of greater resistance
to weathering and abrasion than
can be secured with the ordinary
paint film. BY applying roofing
granules, which may be coated with
q variety of colors, an interesting
range of decorative effects can be
secured
In the field of protective coat
ings for metals, especially sheet
steel. variety of baked-on enamels
is available, permitting the lnclu-
sion within the modern home of a
great variety of cupboards, special
closets. conditioning units, re-
frigerators and similar devices at
very moderate costs.
"A novel method has been worked
out for the application of phenol-
formaldehyde resins in the produc-
ton of plywood. 1t is first formed
into a thin sheet, usually by i'm
pregnating a sheet of porous paper,
Such sheets are than interleaved
with the plies. to reduce labor costs
on small work and special shapes.
On heating the resin softens and
flows to wet the wood, after which
1t sets and hardens. For larger and
routine plying, an application in
liquid form from rolls is more gen.
orally used. The resin may be in
water or alcohol solution. With the
latter solution good results are OBJ
tainable almost irrespective of the
moisture content of the wood.
with phenolic glue and to
lesser extent with urea resin binders,
most of the previous objections to
plywood have been removed. The
fire hazard remains, but even after
the wood of the plies is badly
charred, the resin continues to hold
them together. 1t is also feasible to
impregnate the wood with some of
the fireproofing salts. especially
when bonding with the phenolic
film.
by the application of various
eleoresins to the surfaces of fiber
boards, excellent finishes are OBJ
tainable 50 that these fiber boards
may be used for inside finished
walls with good effect. From sugar
cane bagasse, wood pulp, extracted
hcorice roots, fax straws and corn
stalks many million board feet of
such insulating board are being
fabricated every year. Outstanding
results have been obtained with this
product through the use of modified
urea resins, while lacquer finishes
applied with considerable pressure
10 a depth Of about o.050 of an inch
provides beautiful and serviceable
nIrfaces