# Drywall screws popping en masse



## Hammer450R (Aug 17, 2012)

No glue on the sheetrock...


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## joecaption (Nov 30, 2011)

Go back and add your location to your profile for better ansewers and less questions.
Has there been an earth quake in your area?
I'm dealing with one in Keyville VA that's near Mineral VA that had a major earthquake. The house is 50 years old and had no pops, now there's hundreds and the foundation even moved.
It could be as simple as someone had the screw gun set wrong with it was installed.
Any moduler I've worked on there trying to get the boxes set in place so fast they do not wait long enough for the morter and concrete to harden up propperly before setting it in place. There only going to get paid when it's done so time is money, so sometimes things settle.
May not be the case, but it's one factor I've seen before.


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## creoena (Aug 24, 2012)

joecaption said:


> Go back and add your location to your profile for better ansewers and less questions.
> Has there been an earth quake in your area?
> I'm dealing with one in Keyville VA that's near Mineral VA that had a major earthquake. The house is 50 years old and had no pops, now there's hundreds and the foundation even moved.
> It could be as simple as someone had the screw gun set wrong with it was installed.
> ...


I'm sorry - I'm new here. No it's not an earthquake thing - I live in Vermont. I'm thinking its more of a modular thing but I don't know - this whole thing seems bizarre.


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## chrisn (Dec 23, 2007)

The contractor probably used lumber that was not dried properly.


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## Gary in WA (Mar 11, 2009)

Hope it's dry after 25 years... was there a recent repair there?

When you say "beams" do you mean ceiling/floor joists? Is there an attic above the ceiling pops, with trusses; http://www.buildingscience.com/documents/insights/bsi-023-wood-is-good-but-strange/

Gary


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## creoena (Aug 24, 2012)

GBR in WA said:


> Hope it's dry after 25 years... was there a recent repair there?
> 
> When you say "beams" do you mean ceiling/floor joists? Is there an attic above the ceiling pops, with trusses; http://www.buildingscience.com/documents/insights/bsi-023-wood-is-good-but-strange/
> 
> Gary


No recent repairs as far as I'm aware. My 'attic' area looks exactly like figure 10 - the ones in the bathroom are along the bottom chord.

The ones along the wall are a different story however.


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## Gary in WA (Mar 11, 2009)

Pictures, we love pictures!
http://www.diychatroom.com/f98/

Gary


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## creoena (Aug 24, 2012)

So for pictures

Picture 1 is the beam I was mentioning
Picture 2 is the wall to the right of that beam where all the screws are coming out - this is some of hte wall - I couldn't get it all or you couldn't see the screws - that series of screw pops go until the end of the wall. This is the biggest issue for me now. Last night hearing the screws pop was so deafening I had to sleep in another room
Picture 3 is some of the bathroom screws


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## Fix'n it (Mar 12, 2012)

are you sure they are screws ?


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## stoner529 (Nov 12, 2010)

Im going to take a guess and say the screws were sunk in way to far or the board has expanded over time and it is causing the mud to popout of the screws. however, some of them look a bit discolored meaning there could be a leak somewhere in a pipe or in the roof.


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## creoena (Aug 24, 2012)

Fix'n it said:


> are you sure they are screws ?


The ones in the bathroom definitely are. The ones in the bedroom I'm going the same assumption on, but I could be wrong. I'd need to scrape the paint away to be sure. There are some that are definitely screws in that bedroom wall that you can't see, but it seems like those ones in the picture have a bigger head to them. 

*stoner529*: The discoloration is fingerprints. I have no idea what paint they used but it's really easy to discolor when you touch it. It's horrible. I'm going to repaint it once I figure out these issues and repair them (it needs to be done anyway).

It seems that most folks here think that it's probably just shifting sheetrock. It seems to structurally be fine but I'm not really convinced the builders did a great job of sheetrocking it, so I tend to agree. I'm thinking of just letting it shift for a while longer and then pound everything in, put in some additional screws, and then mud, sand, prime, and paint. Or should I just tear all the sheetrock out and start over?

Thanks everyone for your help.


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## stoner529 (Nov 12, 2010)

Well re rocking is a project but if you have a budget for it, then it can't hurt and it also can make your home feel more like your own!


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## Gary in WA (Mar 11, 2009)

You will need to fix them anyway, could you take a picture of a screw (removed) from the bedroom wall with all the trouble? Set it next to a ruler/tape measure on a table/floor for us...

What is on the other side of that wall? Exterior or ?

Gary


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## wkearney99 (Apr 8, 2009)

For this to happen after 25 years is a sign that something has happened to the structure. There's nothing that would just 'happen' by itself after that long to explain it. I'd look at what might have changed related to the structure and the ceiling. GBR's post about truss lift was fascinating. Might there have been something related to attic or roof above the popping ceiling?


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## creoena (Aug 24, 2012)

wkearney99 said:


> For this to happen after 25 years is a sign that something has happened to the structure. There's nothing that would just 'happen' by itself after that long to explain it. I'd look at what might have changed related to the structure and the ceiling. GBR's post about truss lift was fascinating. Might there have been something related to attic or roof above the popping ceiling?


Not that I'm aware of. But there are more popping in the bedroom that were not there even when I made the original post. What would the recommendation be? Should I hire a general contractor? This is getting ridiculous.


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## Hammer450R (Aug 17, 2012)

I bet if you pulled a chunk down there will be no glue underneath!


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## creoena (Aug 24, 2012)

Hammer450R said:


> I bet if you pulled a chunk down there will be no glue underneath!


But why would it all of a sudden happen after 25 years?


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## Hammer450R (Aug 17, 2012)

You dont know that, you just moved in in May...just about the time when crappy cover up starts to show its ugly head.


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## bbo (Feb 28, 2010)

attic venting ok? maybe moisture condensing in the attic?


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## bjbatlanta (Jul 16, 2008)

No glue and the screws were likely overdriven. Once the screw cuts the face paper on the rock, it's "game on" for pops. That's why I glue and NAIL on wood framing. Nails, driven properly without tearing the paper, will have fewer problems. Someone may have repaired the screws before you moved in by just re-mudding. You'll need to add screws (or nails) close to the existing ones to pull the board tight to the framing members without cutting the face paper. Your lumber should be "dried out" by now, but it will still "move" (expand/contract) during heating/cooling seasons to some extent.....


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