Bad Drywall??

Sheetrock26

I'm having a USG rep come Monday on site to inspect a problem with a new home I hung and finished last summer.
Walking into this home everything looks flawless. The ceilings are smooth and were skim coated to perfection. Even the experienced eye couldn't find a seam throughout the main floor of this home....then you head to the finished basement. Every single taped joint walls and ceilings shadows through. You can actually see the tape. Every single screw head has a protruding perfect little ring around it....even under the tape. The difference is night and day.
The thing is, I finished every last inch of this home by myslef. The same as the last some thousand odd homes....glue, screw, prefill as necessary, tape, 10, 12, and skim. The builder is also the homeowner....the painter I know well....one things certain, I didnt leave it this way....it happened gradualy. Upon further inspection of this basement it occured to me.....this is all 1/2 48". The upstairs is nothing but 54" and 5/8 for the ceilings. The only explanation I have is the board shrank.....can this be???

Phil

moisture in the basement is the ONLY thing I can think of that would have caused this. So whats the deal, do they want you to repair the problem?

theworx

I don't know where you live, but up here in Canada, our wholesalers store the drywall out in the cold. Installing drywall that is frozen in a nice warm environment has caused us headaches (swelling etc...). But, could be the moisture in the basement??? You said it happened gradually (are we talking changes of a season or two or after years of being installed)?

Drywall1

That is the first thing I thought also. Another thing I have been noticing lately is the rock seems a lot "wetter" and the date on the back of the rock seems like only 3-4 days old. Mabye their pushing it out of the plant too quick since their is such high demand right now. That might explain the shrinkage option.
I had a problem last year where the 8' and 10' sheets all had ripples throughout all the sheets. I only noticed a few when taping and after they painted....OMG it was everywhere. Skimmed many sheets and made it right. The only problem was my supplier could care less. That is when I changed suppliers.
My biggest problem is when things like this happen boy do the fingers start pointing. All I have ever asked from the finger pointers is give a guy a benefit of the doubt. Just got a call from a builder that I did a house for 2 weeks ago and first thing he said was "all your joints are showing in the garage and you need to get over there right away". Little did he know I had stopped in at the house to see how everything was turning out and his foreman (a good buddy of mine) said hey we had a roof leak and it came down through the garage ceiling. Only one joint was messed up . So I told him is the ceiling dry yet from the roof leak? Long pause.....oh yeah there was a leak. Man I hate that @#$%.
Sorry for the rant I could just picture all the finger pointing that I put up with. Good luck with USG hope it all comes out well. Please keep us informed with what happens.

Nate

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Krieser Drywall
Krieser Insulation
www.KrieserDrywall.com

Phil

I hear ya, a roof leak is their problem, and a whole new senerio for whoever is fixing it. Its not your problem. A lot of people would have tried to pull that one. It doesnt take much moisture to pop that mud loose. The only thing I can recommend is coat it with durabond. that stuff holds almost like plaster
...Im sure you know this already

AAPaint

Oooh, that's dirty. If he wasn't paying you to do his houses I'd say kick his

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-AAPaint

AA Quality Painting & Pressure Washing LLC
Jacksonville Painters
Jacksonville, FL.

Drywall1

I'm afraid I'd have to get in line.

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Krieser Drywall
Krieser Insulation
www.KrieserDrywall.com

Sheetrock26

High moisture levels or air movement behind the walls makes a lot of sense to me now.
The basement cosistest of one giant family room/bar. A bedroom, an office, and a bathroom off the main room seem to be less effected. The main room ceilings also have boxed in heat runs that also tie into the effected walls.
The basement ceilings are 14 inch I joists....overkill for the span and guarenteed not to move. Even if drying were to cause pops it wouldnt cause the joints to show so consistanly throughout the walls and ceilings as they do.
I know squat about furnaces but could an improperly installed boiler/hot water furnace system create a problem?
Thank you for the responses...they've been most helpful. Usg has as well...I hope we can come to a conclusion Monday and get the situation under control and more importantly ensure this doesnt happen in the future.

BlkBart54

I think Drywall 1 has it pegged. Sound like you do nice work. The resposibiliy will lie with all 3 for fixing ,you, builder and manufacturer. Have had this new board ,3 days out of factory on site and the rockers pointed it out. Never seen 3 day old board before. We heated the houses uo and put in fans to cure and dry. That was a few months ago. Still looks good. Just ask the factory rep to make it right for once. Also ask him wheb theymre going to retool the factory that makes the board for western Montana. All the seams have raised shoulders on the factory edges. Its Intereste on what he says abouy your problem and all

Sheetrock26

Ok heres what USG said...
Every screw showing is the cause of shrinkage of the lumber. Every seam showing through is not allowing enough time between coats. He then pulled out his usg handbook and went to the section on wood shrinkage and then to drying time which could take as many as 18 days between coats.
My opinion is hes wrong on both accounts. I've seen a few nails pops in my day but you can't take I joists from one manufacturer, 2x4 and 2x6s from another(same manufacturer...different plant) and basement walls that were built at different times under different conditions, yet have every screw on every sheet show in the exact same way. We popped the mud and paint off several bulging screwheads...they were set just right and couldnt benifit from being turned nor did they appear too deep. I looked at the date on the back of the board from in the furnace room...it was manufactured about a week before it was hung. Turns out this one was forced air not radiant heat. I'm pretty sure this basement was poured not block walls. From what I've heard generaly these are just tarred rather than sealed with a spray.
Heres me thoery....It was started in late april. Theres was enough stored moisture either in the osb flooring above, in the walls, or everywhere in general that the board swelled through the hot humid summer months. When permenent heat was introduced the drywall gradualy retuned to its original condition. The timing would make perfect sense...as would the overall consistanly inconsistant state that it's now in. Is this possible for the board to take on the moisture and react this way????