Joists and studs visibly outlined on wall and ceiling

[Battery]

A friend whose wife is very fond of candles recently pointed out his walls
and ceilings to me: you can clearly see the outline of each joist and stud
coming through the wallboard. It's not just the nail heads, but the the
actual stud itself, faintly outlined in black, running all around the walls
and ceiling. It does not appear to be mildew or moisture-related.

His question (and mine) is could (and if so, how?) the burning of candles
over time cause these effects? His wife does burn a lot of candles (she may
have 10 or 15 going at once), but would that cause this effect even in the
middle of the room?

I would gretaly appreciate it if anyone who might know what could cause
this would let me know. It would certainly ease the tension between these
two fine people.

Thanks again
Al Marklin
amar...@deltasys.com

[David Baggaley]

Sounds like Brownian Motion strikes again.

Actually, the studs don't provide as much resistance to heat flow as the
insulated wall cavity so the wall over the studs will be just a bit cooler than
the rest of the wall. The cooler air molecules over these areas don't "vibrate"
as much as those in warmer air, and dust particles settle out (even on a
ceiling). This eventually shows up as darker areas over the studs.

This can show up on any exterior wall. The additional particulate matter in the
smoke from the candles may be what you are seeing.

To prevent (delay) this you can:
1) burn fewer or cleaner burning candles,
2) put additional insulation such as a layer of foam board over the whole
exterior wall,
3) paint more often.

Dave

--
Dave Baggaley
Thunder Bay, Ontario
bagg...@raven.wqt.on.doe.ca

[Dan Hicks]

In <3169f1b0....@news.alt.net>, c...@midwinter.org (Battery) writes:
>A friend whose wife is very fond of candles recently pointed out his walls
>and ceilings to me: you can clearly see the outline of each joist and stud
>coming through the wallboard. It's not just the nail heads, but the the
>actual stud itself, faintly outlined in black, running all around the walls
>and ceiling. It does not appear to be mildew or moisture-related.
>
>His question (and mine) is could (and if so, how?) the burning of candles
>over time cause these effects? His wife does burn a lot of candles (she may
>have 10 or 15 going at once), but would that cause this effect even in the
>middle of the room?

There's a slight difference in temperature and possibly a static charge
difference between the areas over studs and the rest of the drywall.
These factors could easily make a difference in how soot from the
candles collects on the walls. (And, yes, the candles are definitely
causing soot, and it's definitely collecting on the walls.)

Dan Hicks
http://www.millcomm.com/~danhicks/

[John Talucci]

A friend whose wife is very fond of candles recently pointed out his
walls
>and ceilings to me: you can clearly see the outline of each joist and
stud
>coming through the wallboard. It's not just the nail heads, but the the
>actual stud itself, faintly outlined in black, running all around the
walls
>and ceiling. It does not appear to be mildew or moisture-related.

I do not know for sure, but I would assume that moisture does play a role.
It could be that the spent carbon or soot from the candles is sticking
to the walls. Particularly in the areas where the 2x4 meet the drywall.
Those areas would be less prone to moisture because of the wood on the
back of the sheet rock.

Who knows, but i think this might be something to think about. Let me
know what you find out.
-
JOHN TALUCCI PZN...@prodigy.com