Nail Pops and Drywall cracks
Stew & Amy White
We live in a house that is approximataly 4 1/2 years old. We have begun to
have a problem with nail pops. They are appearing mostly on the walls in
various rooms of the house. There are also several along the seam of our
vaulted ceiling in the living room. In addition, a hairline crack has
developed along that same seam. We also have one vertical hairline crack
above our back door.
Our house has a crawlspace and is built on what used to be floodplain that
was filled in. I assume most of the nail pops and such are from settling.
My questions are:
1) How concerned should we be about these problems?
2) What is the best way to go about fixing the problems both with the nail
pops and the crack in the ceiling and above the door?
I would appreciate any feedback.
Thanks,
Stewart
Joe Supulski
Not to be concerned. Common problem.
Many times it is the result of using "green"
lumber that eventually dries and twists
modestly.
For nail heads, just tap the nails/screws so that they are a little
below the drywall surface. Then
spackle, sand and repaint.
For the vaulted ceiling I prefer to install a 1x6
or such along the seams because these cracks
seem to return. The one by can be stained/painted.
If two sheets of drywall meet above the door,
the constant slamming will cause it to reappear.
Best solution is to install drywall mesh over the crack and then spackle
sand and paint that too.
You could also do that with the vaulted ceiling seams if you don't want
to use wood there.
JBOBST
You should be pretty alarmed about this house if it has settled enough to crack
drywall joints and pull nails. Frankly, unless there's some totally compelling
reason, like being right next door to your office, there's no reason to try to
deal with the situation. No matter what you do, the house will continue to
settle, because , flood plain or not, any intelligent contractor can put down
supports into something solid enough to hold up a house. Since this hasn't
been done, you need to cut your losses, patch it and peddle it.
You may even need some legal advice as to whether the original builder owes you
redress.
JBO...@AOL.COM
dboultr....@erols.com
> Our house has a crawlspace and is built on what used to be floodplain that
> was filled in. I assume most of the nail pops and such are from settling.
Contrary to what the other poster told you, settling is NOT a cause of
nail pops. The most frequent cause is the wood framing of your house
drying out and forcing the drywall nails out slightly. Good drywall
installations these days do not use nails for that very reason.
Screws are the alternative and the fix you should try.
It's a fairly annoying job. You put screws into the drywall near the
pops and remove the nails which have popped. You then fill all the
holes (will take two coats) and repaint.
There are some other causes for nail pops, but that's the most likely
given your description of the problem. I've seen screw pops as well
where the screw doesn't move but the drywall mud moves in or out a
bit. I'd go at one pop with a knife to make sure you do have nails
and it's the nail head that is popping.
> We also have one vertical hairline crack above our back door.
Probably because the installer "broke" a sheet at the door, i.e. put a
seam running straight up from the door. That is the easy way out and
VERY bad practice. If so, it sounds as if your house was rocked by
the absolute lowest bidder.
Doug Boulter
To reply by e-mail, remove the obvious spam traps from the address
danh...@millcomm.com
In <68c3em$3iu$1...@usenet89.supernews.com>, "Stew & Amy White" <amy....@nashville.com> writes:
>We live in a house that is approximataly 4 1/2 years old. We have begun to
>have a problem with nail pops. They are appearing mostly on the walls in
>various rooms of the house. There are also several along the seam of our
>vaulted ceiling in the living room. In addition, a hairline crack has
>above our back door.
>
>Our house has a crawlspace and is built on what used to be floodplain that
>was filled in. I assume most of the nail pops and such are from settling.
>
>1) How concerned should we be about these problems?
>2) What is the best way to go about fixing the problems both with the nail
>pops and the crack in the ceiling and above the door?
As others have said, most likely sloppy work by the rock hanger. A few
nail pops is normal, but if you have more than a half-dozen in the entire
house (assuming a "normal size" house) then it was sloppy work. Drive
drywall screws directly above or below the pops and either pull the
offending nails or drive them about 1/8" into the drywall with a pin
punch. Then mud and repaint. The cracks should be fixed by removing any
drywall tape present, scraping away as much drywall mud as possible, and
retaping the joint. Note, though, that if the cracks are worse than
"hairline" then something is moving and a repair won't last long.
Dan Hicks
Hey!! My advice is free -- take it for what it's worth!
http://www.millcomm.com/~danhicks
PBitschura
Common problem. set nail with hammer and reputty, and repaint. I get depressed
by guys who want to damn somebody without any background knowlwdge. MUST HAVE
BEEN A LOW BIDDER. Wish them well smile, and hope their heartburn goes
away.Happy New YEAR.
David Winslow
Stew & Amy White wrote in message <68c3em$3iu$1...@usenet89.supernews.com>...
>We live in a house that is approximataly 4 1/2 years old. We have begun to
>have a problem with nail pops. They are appearing mostly on the walls in
>various rooms of the house. There are also several along the seam of our
>vaulted ceiling in the living room. In addition, a hairline crack has
>developed along that same seam. We also have one vertical hairline crack
>above our back door.
>
>Our house has a crawlspace and is built on what used to be floodplain that
>was filled in. I assume most of the nail pops and such are from settling.
>
>My questions are:
>1) How concerned should we be about these problems?
If it hasn't moved more than that in 4 years, I wouldn't worry too much.
>2) What is the best way to go about fixing the problems both with the nail
>pops and the crack in the ceiling and above the door?
Nail pops can be caused by the normal shrinkage of the framing lumber. This
is particularly true with longer nails or screws. I think most people just
hammer the suckers back down and spackle back before the next painting. I
have and the pops have not generally not reacured.
Joe Bastulli
Stew & Amy White wrote:
> We live in a house that is approximataly 4 1/2 years old. We have begun to
> have a problem with nail pops. They are appearing mostly on the walls in
> various rooms of the house. There are also several along the seam of our
> vaulted ceiling in the living room. In addition, a hairline crack has
> developed along that same seam. We also have one vertical hairline crack
> above our back door.
>
> Our house has a crawlspace and is built on what used to be floodplain that
> was filled in. I assume most of the nail pops and such are from settling.
>
> My questions are:
> 1) How concerned should we be about these problems?
> 2) What is the best way to go about fixing the problems both with the nail
> pops and the crack in the ceiling and above the door?
>
> I would appreciate any feedback.
>
> Thanks,
> Stewart
Its difficult to tell if the cracks and pops are serious. I doubt that they
are. Most, if not all homes experience some cracking and nail pops due to
settling and shringage due to time, temperature and humidity. The only way to
tell if they are serious is to have someone look at them first hand. (By the
way cracks above a door are fairely common.)
dboultr....@erols.com
On Wed, 31 Dec 1997 21:08:11, pbits...@aol.com (PBitschura) wrote:
> Common problem. set nail with hammer and reputty, and repaint. I get depressed
> by guys who want to damn somebody without any background knowlwdge. >MUST HAVE BEEN A LOW BIDDER
And your explanation for nail pops all over the house and drywall
cracking over doors would be. . .?
Mr Fixit
PBitschura <pbits...@aol.com> wrote in article
<19971231210...@ladder02.news.aol.com>...
> Common problem. set nail with hammer and reputty, and repaint. I get
depressed
> by guys who want to damn somebody without any background knowlwdge. MUST
HAVE
> away.Happy New YEAR.
>
I have to disagree here on procedure.
If the nail was able to work out of its hole once, it is my opinion that it
is not likely to stay put the second time. I believe the addition of a
drywall screw near the nail to carry the stress is the only sure way to
repair nail pops.
Nobody taught me this, I learned it by returning to the scene of the crime
at a later date to find the same nails popping again after using the
technique you describe.
After running a screw to take over the job of the nail, it will stay re-set
since it is no longer under stress.
Regards & Happy New Year,
Mr Fixit
Phil
If your house has termites, popping nails is known as one of the
symptoms....
--
Phil
Scott Weierich
In article <sXnyXDNIUu65-p...@spg-tnt5s238.erols.com>,
dboultr....@erols.com wrote:
> On Wed, 31 Dec 1997 21:08:11, pbits...@aol.com (PBitschura) wrote:
>
> > Common problem. set nail with hammer and reputty, and repaint. I get
depressed
> > by guys who want to damn somebody without any background knowlwdge.
>MUST HAVE BEEN A LOW BIDDER
>
> And your explanation for nail pops all over the house and drywall
> cracking over doors would be. . .?
>
> Doug Boulter
>
> To reply by e-mail, remove the obvious spam traps from the address
I have this problem too. My home was built in 1958. These cracks and
popping are probably caused by settling, ground expansion and contraction
due to very high clay content, and extremes of temperatures (several days
in summer are at or above 105 and several days in winter are well below
zero). What I did was take 2 drywall screws and drill them just below the
surface of the wall right above and below each popped nail to stabalize the
drywall. If there was a crack to be mended, clean out the crack and area
around crack on any loose material. Drill in drywall screws on both sides
of the crack whereever there is a stud to drill into behind the drywall.
Again, drill them in until they are slightly below the surface. This
stabalizes the crack and should help prevent it from recurring. Then put a
little drywall compound in the crack. Next cut a piece of self adhering
fiberglass mesh mending tape that is long enough to overlap the length of
the crack by 1 1/2 inches on each end if possible. Next apply this tape and
press very well into place. Let it stand until the compound under it has
set up. During this time, go around and counter sink the popped nails with
a proper size nail set. Now fill screw and nail holes and the taped crack
with drywall compound till it is just overfilled by only a small amount.
After this is all good and dry, sand it lightly until you are happy with
the finished surface level. This may sound like a lot of work, but it is
worth it in the long run.
--
Scott Weierich <sco...@southwind.net>