# Why is my drywall crumbling?



## SPS-1 (Oct 21, 2008)

As I read your post, I kept thinking "water". But seems you investigated this. Drywall could have been water damaged before it was installed, and installer either didn't notice or didn't care.

I once had water damage on an interior wall with no plumbing in it. Roof leak. Ran down the interior of the wall and got soaked up at the horizontal joint about 4' off the floor. 

Good thing you are trying to figure out the root cause rather than just patch it and forget about it. But I have no better ideas.


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## oldave79 (Oct 21, 2015)

Thanks! Yes, my first thought was water damage as well, and I am leaving the wall open until the next rain (should be this week) to rule out a roof leak. There also were no water stains anywhere inside the wall that I can see (can't see all the way to the top, of course, but I do see the lower part quite well). The sheetrock on the opposing side of the wall also has no damage.


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## ZTMAN (Feb 19, 2015)

Sounds like drywall was damaged during construction and a poor patch job was done. When you look in the hole, any evidence of a prior patch job. Nailers, tape , mud, etc


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## Colbyt (Jan 27, 2014)

I going to throw a few things cause I don't know the answer but experienced something similar while removing a baseboard heater. I removed 5 of them and only found crumbling drywall on a north side wall and over the area where the crawl space door is located. There was no evidence of water, no stains, nada. The stuff was suspended powder.

North side wall? no vapor barrier? very minor condensation inside the wall in that spot?


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## oldave79 (Oct 21, 2015)

ZTMAN, I didn't see anything obvious like that. When i started cutting, the drywall was just very crumbly. No mold. No stains on the paper. No odor.


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## oldave79 (Oct 21, 2015)

Colbyt, thanks for the input. It's an interior wall in the middle of the house (slab on grade, one story, central forced air heating and A/C). Has me baffled.


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## ToolSeeker (Sep 19, 2012)

I think I'll go along with "it was damaged before" and the thought was the baseboard will hide it.


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## Nestor_Kelebay (Jun 17, 2008)

If you've only found this problem in one spot, then I'd say it's just a defect or damage that wasn't caught by the original drywallers. Fix it and you're good.

But, just to be sure, I would hold off on any repairs to see if you notice any water on the bottom plate of that wall. Are there any bathrooms upstairs above that spot or on the other side of the wall? If not, then I'd just call it a freak occurance, and fix it and forgetabouit.


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## oldave79 (Oct 21, 2015)

Thanks ToolSeeker. I'm hoping you are correct.


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## oldave79 (Oct 21, 2015)

Thanks Nestor_Kelebay. It's a single story house so no bathrooms above it, and the opposing side of the wall is perfectly fine. It is supposed to rain this week, so I am leaving it open to rule out any type of freak roof leak that might somehow run down the wall, and then I suspect I will go ahead and close it up if nothing is found.


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## blackjack (Oct 21, 2015)

i"m with the other guys, probably not a major issue. It also could have something to do with the house settling (2 yrs old) and creating pressure in that spot. Somethin's gotta give to allow for the house settling into it's footprint, nail pops, seam cracks or buckles are unfortunate, but fairly normal. especially in tract housing situations.


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## oldave79 (Oct 21, 2015)

Thanks blackjack! I'm thinking you are correct. We had a lot of rain this week, so I've pretty much ruled out a roof leak. Other than that, I don't really see any other possibilities other than those you mention.


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