Defective Drywall?

EricTheHandyman

I'm wondering if anybody has heard of this. Customer calls, says that she has some "squishy" spots on her wall. I cut out the squishy spot expecting to find moisture intrusion and mold, but what I find is just what appears to be crummy drywall. The paper faces have essentially de-laminated from the core, and the core crumbles into pieces instead of dust. Home was built in 1992, I'm unsure of the drywall manufacturer. Fixing the problem should be as easy as replacing the squishy sheets, I just want to make sure there isn't something else going on here.

odellconstruct

some times when its hit it crumbles ! how long has drywall been up ?

good luck proving it defective , just patch and call it a day

send_it_all

I would suspect that there could be a roof leak above the bad drywall. Ask the HO if they have had their roof replaced in the last few years. If there is attic access above the bad drywall, crawl up there and look at the underside of the roof sheathing for any evidence. If there is none, I would replace the drywall and tell the HOs that if that spot goes bad again, there is a problem other than faulty drywall. Not your fault.

EricTheHandyman

A little more info:

I searched the attic and crawlspace, no signs of moisture problems. Roof was replaced about a year ago, but there is no evidence of moisture on the roof sheathing or insulation. When I removed the squishy spots, there was no evidence of any water damage whatsoever.

Customer has already agreed to have me fix the damage, I was just wondering if any of you had seen something similar. I want to make sure I'm not missing something here.

OCRS

If you know, how long has that sheet been on the wall? It's possible it got soaked by rain, let dry, then installed.

neolitic

That is a good possibility.
It may have gotten wet when
the house was built.
Some things will forever
remain a mystery.

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taper71

I've ran into this a few months ago. I was sanding out a house and went over some screws and sure enough the paper delaminated itself from the drywall in a couple of spots. This is brand new construction. I honestly have never seen anything like it before in my life. It was an easy fix, and passed it off as a manufacturing error.

Drywalller

I have had this same problem with a brand new house,The manufacturer was Lafarge.
There was spots where it was hollow behind the paper.The supplier told me they will pay for me to fix all drywall,It was close to 400 sheets.Wasnt too bad,Maybe 30 or 40 sheets needed to be fixed.

Capt-Sheetrock

This is a common occurance with Lafarge, its really lousy rock, the paper will turn loose and the rock is crumbly, so that anything that hits or bangs the wall will cause the paper to come loose and then the spot goes squisshy (thats a good way to describe it). All you need to do to verify this for your self, is to pick up a small peice of scrape, and pull the paper off one side, the rock will simply crumble in your hand.

Brockster

We just had some bad LaFarge too where it was delaminating and the supplier paid us to fix. Who knows what will happen in the future??? I'd hate to see sheets starting to fall on people...

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neolitic

Happy to say I've never seen
LaFarge.....
Wasn't she the one knitting
while the heads rolled?

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Brockster

Others have their faults too! At least LaFarge will stand behind their rock. I've seen bad rock from most companies.

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Tim0282

I had GP rock do this not too many years ago. They said the rock was over cooked and burned the back of the paper and caused it to de-laminate. When over cooked, the paper won't stick to the slurry. Made sense to me.

theworx

Hi guys!! In twenty years I have never experienced actual de-laminating of the paper. Have certaintly experienced soft spots on the board either due to moisture or mishandling by the supplier!! I agree it's totally possible that it's a problem in the manufacturing (I've experienced other manufacturing defects often)!!

Anyone else experience overly hard bevels (so hard you can't countersink the screws), or sheets with rediculous roller marks on them (have to basically float out the sheets to make the wall smooth), or how about sheets that were less than 48" wide (like 47 and 3/4"). Try boarding a 100' foot long wall in a commercial building doing standups with 47 and 3/4" wide sheets!! After the third sheet, you're missing the stud on the seam - could reframe as you work your way down the wall but, not really possible with electrical and data already mounted on the steel studs (in specific locations)!! These are just a few things I've encountered.

Tim0282

Have never run into rock under sized. That would really stink. Much easier to fix a de-laminated area. Was that undersized rock from a drywall distribution center or a DIY center? Wondering if that would make a difference? Maybe they get second rate rock.(?)

Drywalller

Did a big commercial job many years ago and all the 5/8" rock was out of square by about 1/4".

Kiwiman

In my experience factory fault delaminating doesn't cause it to crumble but I've seen a sheet crushed while on the ground, it looks fine but has that squishy feel and delaminates from the crushed core.
If the drywall had delaminated before it went on the wall then the moisture from the paint should have made it swell and bubble so would have been obvious back then. Tell the home owner not to throw the kids against the wall in the future.

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