#224 – Gypsum

It’s amazing the number of things that can go wrong with a house. I think right now I need to replace the windows… the siding… the doors… the kitchen… the bathroom… the driveway… Why does it all seem to go bad at the same time? I used to think it was just because my house is almost 40 years old. Windows and siding aren’t made to last that long… at least not the ones on my house. I have friends though with a house that’s only a few years old and they have their share of problems. So I try to not feel so bad about my place.

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0 thoughts on “#224 – Gypsum”

  1. Pickleduck McWeaselpants says:

    Shazbot. As someone who’s dealt with construction many times before, especially drywall, I can personally say that a drywall rebellion would be a terrifying thing indeed.

    Also, I think I’m first…

  2. J says:

    your house is oldish, your friends house is shoddy. between the aging of older buildings, and the planed obsolescence of newer ones, i have a theory that out society’s entire architectural infrastructure is going to collapse at once within 5 years.

  3. Andrew says:

    I got attacked by a procrastinating piece during my senior year of high school in 2006. It was 10 years late, but it happened. It seemed to be waiting for me.

  4. Scowdich says:

    This reminds me of somenting…
    While watching “Batman Begins” last week, I almost managed to get a friend of mine te believe that there was a “Great Monorail Disaster of 1972”. I’m not sure which would be more tragic…monorails or drywall…after all, there were a lot of monorails in the 70s.

  5. Rikapuppy says:

    Ouch, that looks painful. I haven’t been online for a while, so going back to read all the new comics you posted is refreshing. -nods-

  6. Justin says:

    Meh, the house I live in feels like it’s going to have a lot more than its drywall rebel… sometimes I feel the entire darn thing is going to come down on my head!

  7. Siddnet says:

    Thank god for concrete and brick walls.

  8. Dakras says:

    Nice. well, i disagree with Pickleduck. Children rebelling is far more frightening……

  9. Dan Scannell says:

    Maybe Biff should invest in a stud finder this time around.

  10. Rick says:

    Lol, that used to happen to me in my house in Maryland

  11. Froticlias says:

    At least the walls don’t bite like his couch. I’ve almost had this happen to me. I was holding up a piece on the wall, and a spider, really don’t like spiders, started to crawl up my leg. I kicked it off and tried to stomp it, the drywall then fell on it. Luckly, the drywall only hade minor cracks. Thank the gods for carpet.

  12. Eleanor says:

    Our house is over 50 years old, and when we moved in and opened the windows all the glass fell out the bottom. Other than that though, not much went wrong with it, apart from when we took out of one wall to find that the one atached to it swung from side to side at a push. It nearly fell on us all. Then again our house is mainly bricks.

  13. Phantom says:

    I say we defeat those dry walls once and for all!!! Now everyone together punch the crap out of your walls
    ::breaks his hand punching the wall::

  14. Wannabeelf says:

    it’s because everything was built/replaced at the same time that everything needs replaced at the same time.

  15. Gobbledegook says:

    I got electrocuted twice when I was tearing down a wall in my 80-year-old house. I think the wiring was in cahoots with the drywall, as I firmly believe my absolute lack of experience couldn’t have had anything to do with it.

  16. C.B. says:

    Funny comic again, Chris. Reminds me of my parent’s house that’s in a perpetual state of construction. And god, do I hate drywall dust! It gets into everything, and I think it’s my dad’s least favorite thing when he’s doing renos (he’s a self-employed carpenter).

  17. geeklord says:

    Why 1996? If I had to guess, it was when the first sets of drywall began to fail, once they had reached their age limit. Am I correct, or just rambling?

  18. S. Allen says:

    Jeez… I thought I was the only one. My house is 3 decades older than I am… it’s mostly well behaved, though it could use new siding. Repainting last year I found out that at some point in it’s history it was painted salmon with turquoise trim. I’m sure it bears emotional scars.

  19. DMC_Run says:

    “Chris”:
    Actually, you’re mistaken. It’s NOT your fault, sir (a lot of history-books got this wrong), but the Rebellion was REALLY masterminded by GRAVITY (…she is such a HARSH mistress…). Drywall got a bad rep, here, but they were just the unwitting DUPES – the “TOOLS”, if you will, of GRAVITY & her superior P.R. “spin doctors” & disinformation. Her fatal mistake was that her choice of stooges was just not lethal enough to carry-out her evil schemes. Don’t be hatin’ the “bullet”, or the “gun”, or the “trigger”, or even the “finger”. Rather hate the mind that MAKES the finger PULL the trigger… well, you get the gist.

    “Phantom”:
    Ever hear of ‘Stud Roulette’? You take turns running head-first into drywall, & there’s a 1-in-6 chance that you lose by hitting a stud. This is NOT a game for the faint of heart – or for the intelligent, for that matter. As games go, I believe it qualifies as one of those activities known as “Thinning The Herd”. If someone WANTS to play this, they should do so BEFORE they reproduce.

  20. Mister Rik says:

    I live in a house that is approximately 100 years old (and it looks like it: what a dump). The interior walls are all lath and plaster, though – no drywall.

  21. Random Person 1 says:

    Reminds me of the time I was walking down the hallway in my old house, and right after I walk under the ceiling lamp, it fell. It just narrowly missed my head. Very creepy. The lamps and walls are teaming up I tells ya!

  22. dragonbrad says:

    thats not as bad as he great sock revalution

  23. Ghostviper says:

    my god…. two days ago my CEILING fell-in in my living room…

    its a lowered ceiling like in schools and offices, but still, if any one was there… it’d be just like Biff… only more dead…

    so i say the entirety of houses are conspiring to get us all!

  24. Eleanor says:

    This reminds me of “Right said Fred”

  25. dragonbrad says:

    its not as funny if it happens to other people

  26. ben says:

    I feel your pain. my house is 140 years old.

  27. jessyka says:

    i just read all of them, and biff may be the greatest webcomic i’ve ever read.

    i will be checking back.

  28. Chris says:

    Thanks jessyka, see you on Monday 🙂

  29. HELP! I’M SURROUNDED!!!

    Around my house, it’s the etagere that keeps attacking us, catching us with our pants down.
    etagere: the shelf unit that goes over a toilet. Something you find out once you start shopping around for a new one.

  30. Nate says:

    Quick Biff, get the glue gun!

  31. mr toasty says:

    Fur us, its mostly the furniture. Since last year we’ve replaced the fridge, dishwasher, microwave, washer, dryer, standalone freezer, oven heating element (twice), projection TV bulb and the roof.

    Now the stove, pool lining and my favorite spinning chair are broken >.

  32. Stephennie says:

    Stud roulette?! OMG, That’s too funny. I would love to watch people play that. Something to suggest next time I come across a group of dunk college guys.

  33. Menchi says:

    Yes, most houses are deathtraps. 😛 Just a few days ago I put a window up to clean the windowsill (its meant to lock in tight at a certain height), came back with the cleaning stuff to a giant smash and a couple broken panes.

    Also got a couple floors t ofix while we’re at it. 😛

  34. Phantom Blade says:

    oh yeah…
    I remember that rebellion, I dual wielded a staple/glue gun combo for the first time.

  35. monoXcide says:

    At my place, I’m fighting the carpet upraising by the door. It attacks by tripping me and guest.

  36. Rachel says:

    WE MUST FIGHT BACK! GRAB YOUR SPEARS!

  37. Jenny says:

    That must be the first thing Biff has ever had in common with most people. 😀

  38. REwhite says:

    Both me and my mother have been hit on the head by falling light fixtures. For me, I got a lump on my head. For my mother, it was a free desert, as it happened at a steakhouse.

  39. Darkpheonix XIII says:

    We pretty much rebuilt most of our house. Now, something goes wrong about once a month, usually something related to plumbing. Recently, the dishwasher decided to spring a leak on it’s top. We had to pull up all the lynolium tile thingies to clean up the resulting mildew.

  40. the Scarf says:

    one week this last september, our kitchen sink began to have problems…

    First, the hot water heater for the sink broke, and the smell of burnt rubber filled the house. The smell lingered for weeks. We got my sisters boyfriends stepdad to come and replace it, but then, as a result of not installing it correctly, the draining system on our dishwasher didn’t work, and we couldn’t use the garbage disposal half of our sink.
    Now our house was not only filled with the fading scent of burning rubber, but stagnant dishwater as well. We spent almost a week NOT CLEANING DISHES. It got really annoying, and at one point, my wonderful mother used one side of the sink to clean a massive load of dishes.

    next, we got a leak in the pipe leading from the garbage disposal. It is a very delacate system of pipes down there, and one of them got bumped during the repair of the dishwasher. We got it fixed, and now everything is in working order….

  41. Elkian says:


    *Puts nails back slowly*

  42. Kitsunie says:

    We had a blizzard in 1996, so I suppose it’s lucky our drywall didn’t rebel.

  43. funnyman141 says:

    ever gone to a friends new house and fallin’ thru the floor? it was back in 1997 so it was a little late for the rebellion but the floor is in cahoots with the drywall!!

  44. cam says:

    well my house is 110 years old and it fine but my famile have had it for all that time [grandad made it]

  45. the_gail says:

    I live in a house with a laundry list of problems, but it was built in the late 1800’s so it’s no surprise.

  46. Sipan says:

    There is only one reply left:

    “BIFF! The Flaming Hammers!”

  47. the walrus says:

    I’ve never had any problems like these, but at my dad’s old office he says a piece of the ceiling fell and narrowly missed his head, hitting his laptop instead. The laptop was alright.

  48. ZeoViolet says:

    My house is from 1869. I’m amazed it isn’t falling down around my ears, but it’s still standing and supporting three families in three apartments. I didn’t even think it was that old…sure, I knew it was old, but when my landlord told me its true age, I was floored.

  49. mrmeval says:

    Biff needs a yurt

  50. Juniper says:

    Construction workers will be first up against the…drywall…when the revolution comes.

  51. Howls Like Wolf says:

    I’m told there is a “ten percent rule.” Every year, you need to spend ten percent of the total value of your house on maintainance to keep it healthy. This includes everything from replacing faucet gaskets to reroofing, painting inside and out, and having wiring brought up to code. If you’re buying a house, and you can’t afford that sort of annual expenditure, you need to get a less expensive house.

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