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dwdtfleet · Mar 6, 2009, 11:52 AM

My home is less than 4 years old and lately I have noticed several rooms where nails are popping out in wall and in ceiling. Since this home is still fairly new, what could be the problem since it is not confined to just one room?

KISS · Mar 6, 2009, 12:15 PM

I'm surprised that nails are being used instead of drywall screws. The nails may be of the incorrect type and/or the house could be settleing.

You will probably have to fix them at the next repainting.

ballengerb1 · Mar 6, 2009, 12:32 PM

This is very common and usually does it in the first year due to lumber materials drying out. The pop is actually the stud behind the wall is bowing as it drys. If these really are nails remove each pop and put in a drywall screw an inch above or below the old hole, then mud.

dwdtfleet · Mar 6, 2009, 02:45 PM

I am just assuming they are nail pops. They have not actually come all the way through to see if nails or screws. Right now they are bubbled out all over the place. It is a two story house and they are upstairs as well as down stairs and in the garage.

ballengerb1 · Mar 8, 2009, 10:06 AM

Usually builders will come out onetime after a year and do a repair of the pops, doubt that they will come after 4 years. Whatever you have just use screws to fix and standard joint compound in a tub.

dwdtfleet · Mar 8, 2009, 12:48 PM

I checked up under one of the pops and there are screws and not nails. I was just wondering since they were not confined to just one room because some are interior walls and some are exterior walls, garage as well.

ballengerb1 · Mar 8, 2009, 07:26 PM

You can screw that same screw back in if you want. However, I figure it already failed once so I'd put s second screw 1" up or down from it.

KISS · Mar 8, 2009, 08:24 PM

I'm going to ask a stupid question, so here goes:

Are they drywall screws?

Can you remove one and post a picture of it with a ruler in the picture?

Use Go advanced/Manage attachments

I'm also wondering if you had inexperienced drywallers that didn't leave the 1/2' gap at the bottom as in this reference:

http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/how-...217215,00.html

ballengerb1 · Mar 8, 2009, 08:26 PM

You aren't thinking wood screws are you KISS?

KISS · Mar 8, 2009, 08:44 PM

I'm thinking something is totally messed up when screws are popping out. Nails pop. Drywall screws don't.

Just like belly buttons innie and outte:

A nail should give you an outie and a screw an innie. If a screw gives an outie, I'm confused. A wood screw or a drywall screw that wasn't long enough could.

ballengerb1 · Mar 9, 2009, 11:26 AM

I've seenscrews pop too. When the drywall is hung, sometimes the studs are bowed a bit. When the screw is set there is still a very small gap between the board and the stud. When the stud dries that gap can get bigger (innie) or the gap gets smaller (outie)

dwdtfleet · Mar 9, 2009, 02:57 PM

Here is the pix

ballengerb1 · Mar 9, 2009, 03:04 PM

Yep, that's a drywall screw all right!

dwdtfleet · Mar 9, 2009, 03:09 PM

Is it normal for them to bubble out in so many places or did they do a shabby job with my home.

ballengerb1 · Mar 9, 2009, 03:37 PM

Fairly common for a new home to have 15-20 pops after the first year. It is more a function of the quality of the lumber and how wet it was when the home was built. Stud walls are up before the roofing so there is always a good chance of wetness.

BigRed1500 · Mar 10, 2009, 10:18 AM

I've always found that the coarse thread drywall screws hold better in the studs than the fine threads do. You have fine threads. Might be part of the problem.

homedoctor · Mar 11, 2009, 09:17 AM

A settling or shifting house will give here and there, so yeah, builders will return. But yeah, they want to limit the time frame so will likely not come back after 4 yrs. The structure has likely settled most of the way by now, though it may continuye a little bit over the next 6 yrs. Depends on the soil/water table/earthquakes. Even wind, if it's strong in your area.

Nails are set in pairs about 2 inches apart, screws are single. I'd like to know if the screws are popping vertically (a few or many along a stud) or randomly across a wall. And are you seeing cracks in the drywall at the corners of the windows and doors, or along the corners where walls meet each other or the ceiling?

dwdtfleet · Mar 11, 2009, 02:06 PM

As I said before there are several rooms involved, some have pops running vertically but most are random on walls and ceiling. There are cracks in corners of the wood that goes around some of the doors and windows. There are also cracks in the crown molding that goes down the middle of wall where it meets the corners.

ballengerb1 · Mar 11, 2009, 02:35 PM

I think we are asking if there are cracks in the drywall. Your moldings is likely a chair rail and is cut into sections so there will be seams but not necessarily cracks.

dwdtfleet · Mar 11, 2009, 02:49 PM

Yes some of the corners have a hairline crack in them.