I would like to understand more of what is causing a problem for a friend and hopefully refer him to a local person who can fix it.
I have performed unrelated service work at this home quarterly for a few years now. There is a considerable GAP at the ceiling the FULL LENGTH OF THE HOUSE down the middle which seems to INCREASE or DECREASE relative to the season. Current pictures were taken this February with temperatures in the mid 40's.
Both past and current owner's have had two different foundation firm's inspect the foundation. I have also been in the crawlspace inspecting for termites and it doesn't look too bad. Not perfect, but not damp, and floor joists seem adequate, etc. According to the current owner, the latest firm, from Nashville, used lasers and stated the floor was out of level at most only an inch, and that subfloor work could not guarantee to fix the problem. They suggested truss uplift may be the problem.
I noted that the attic looks like it may have had a humidity or excess heat problem in years past. I suggested he have a ridge vent installed either now or at reroof. It probably wouldn't hurt for him to have an air leakage check as some ducts are in the ceiling and might be changing dewpoint, etc.
Brightest photos of the trusses are from in the garage. I did not go "into" the attic beyond peeking through the access door, but if future probing is sought I will and can provide more pictures.
I remember a thread on here where a guy had his walls falling out at the top and slowly used come-alongs to bring them back in before permanently adding additional bracing. Now the outside walls do not visually look out of plumb, I'm just thinking that maybe cable or all-thread tensioning of the trusses in the right places may be able to adjust this, and then additional plywood plates added to hold the position. If it is truss uplift, I'm thinking fastening the ceiling better to the wall top plates would tend to just cause more problems, like pulling loose at the floorline, more cracking, etc.
Another thought is the problem is causes by drywall technique when the home was built, but I tend to think not as the problem is the full length of the house.
If you can educate me about this, I'll pass it on to my friend and try to refer him to a good person locally to correct it.
I have performed unrelated service work at this home quarterly for a few years now. There is a considerable GAP at the ceiling the FULL LENGTH OF THE HOUSE down the middle which seems to INCREASE or DECREASE relative to the season. Current pictures were taken this February with temperatures in the mid 40's.
Both past and current owner's have had two different foundation firm's inspect the foundation. I have also been in the crawlspace inspecting for termites and it doesn't look too bad. Not perfect, but not damp, and floor joists seem adequate, etc. According to the current owner, the latest firm, from Nashville, used lasers and stated the floor was out of level at most only an inch, and that subfloor work could not guarantee to fix the problem. They suggested truss uplift may be the problem.
I noted that the attic looks like it may have had a humidity or excess heat problem in years past. I suggested he have a ridge vent installed either now or at reroof. It probably wouldn't hurt for him to have an air leakage check as some ducts are in the ceiling and might be changing dewpoint, etc.
Brightest photos of the trusses are from in the garage. I did not go "into" the attic beyond peeking through the access door, but if future probing is sought I will and can provide more pictures.
I remember a thread on here where a guy had his walls falling out at the top and slowly used come-alongs to bring them back in before permanently adding additional bracing. Now the outside walls do not visually look out of plumb, I'm just thinking that maybe cable or all-thread tensioning of the trusses in the right places may be able to adjust this, and then additional plywood plates added to hold the position. If it is truss uplift, I'm thinking fastening the ceiling better to the wall top plates would tend to just cause more problems, like pulling loose at the floorline, more cracking, etc.
Another thought is the problem is causes by drywall technique when the home was built, but I tend to think not as the problem is the full length of the house.
If you can educate me about this, I'll pass it on to my friend and try to refer him to a good person locally to correct it.
