Scrim and sarking is a method of interior construction widely used in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In this method, wooden panels were nailed over the beams and joists of a house frame, and a heavy, loosely woven cloth, called

scrim Scrim can refer to: * Scrim (material), either of two types of material (a lightweight, translucent fabric or a coarse, heavy material) * Scrim (lighting), a device used in lighting for films * Scrim (internet slang), friendly match between tea ...

, was then stapled or tacked over the top of this. This construction method allowed

wallpaper Wallpaper is a material used in interior decoration to decorate the interior walls of domestic and public buildings. It is usually sold in rolls and is applied onto a wall using wallpaper paste. Wallpapers can come plain as "lining paper" (so t ...

to be applied directly to unplastered walls.What is scrim and sarking?
, ''propertytoolbox.co.nz''. Retrieved 16 September 2019. In New Zealand, the sarking was often the native rimu (red pine), and the scrim was usually either

jute Jute is a long, soft, shiny bast fiber that can be spun into coarse, strong threads. It is produced from flowering plants in the genus ''Corchorus'', which is in the mallow family Malvaceae. The primary source of the fiber is ''Corchorus olit ...

hessian A Hessian is an inhabitant of the German state of Hesse. Hessian may also refer to: Named from the toponym *Hessian (soldier), eighteenth-century German regiments in service with the British Empire **Hessian (boot), a style of boot **Hessian f ...

.Re-lining scrim and sarking walls
, Mustard Construction. Retrieved 16 September 2019. It is easy to tell whether walls have scrim and sarking as their basis: knocking on the wall produces the sound of the wood, and any wallpaper laid over the top has an uneven finish. In many instances, the scrim will come loose from the sarking, in which case the wallpaper will appear to float loose from the wall.

Disuse

Compared with more modern forms of interior wall surfacing, scrim and sarking has poor insulation properties and can encourage damp. It is also more costly to insure homes with scrim and sarking walls, as they pose a fire danger.Bolton, J.,
Risk with houses built before 1945
, ''squirrel.co.nz'', 28 January 2012. Retrieved 16 September 2019. For these reasons, home renovation will often see it replaced with

gypsum Gypsum is a soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula . It is widely mined and is used as a fertilizer and as the main constituent in many forms of plaster, blackboard or sidewalk chalk, and drywall. ...

-based

wallboard Drywall (also called plasterboard, dry lining, wallboard, sheet rock, gypsum board, buster board, custard board, and gypsum panel) is a panel made of calcium sulfate dihydrate (gypsum), with or without additives, typically extruded between thick ...

References

Interior design Construction Timber framing {{material-stub