# nail pop



## bob sacamano (Jan 24, 2012)

im not sure where to post this but my house is 45 or so years old and im getting nail pop. 
i never even heard of this phenomena until i experienced it. 
im getting it in the living room ceiling and living room wall. the wall is in the center of the house on a load bearing wall. the ceiling has nothing but the heater/ac units above it. and theyre on the load bearing side of the ceiling. the nailpop is in the dead center of the ceiling.

the house is on a slab. whats going on to cause this ? thanks guys !


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## jharris (Jan 8, 2011)

Bob, nothing wrong with asking the question here but you might also try here:

http://www.contractortalk.com/

Jeff


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## SteveEl (Sep 7, 2010)

In my last house, it was a combination of settling foundation and in some walls with a humidity problem, a combo of swell-shrink cycles combined with deteriorating fasteners. 

The ceiling had another problem... two heavy texturing jobs and blown insulation had added more weight than the wallboard/fastener design combo could handle.

Solution, as you've probably read, is to solve any moisture issues, then press the panel tight, and screw just above and below the pop, being sure not to break the paper. Easiest usually to drive the nails deep with a ballpeen, then mud with tape as needed. 

For the ceiling, you could look at the load for your situation and compare that to whatever is recommended these days. Its possible you'd have troubles just refastening depending what it is and what its holding up.


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## GeorgeC (Jul 30, 2008)

What is nail pop?

George


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## Woodworkingkid (Jan 8, 2011)

A nail pop is when the nail holding up the drywall comes out a little and you can see the nail head. What I do when I am painting a house and find those is I just put a couple screws in around it hammer the nail back in make a divert around the nail fill it with mud then let it sit for a couple hours sand it down and put some spray primer over the spot let it dry and then paint over it.


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## mike1950 (Aug 29, 2010)

Has anybody been in attic???


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## Fishbucket (Aug 18, 2010)

The main reason for it's cause is because the framing was wet when the drywall was installed and when the wood shrunk it allows the drywall to float, another is opening and closing the front door will cause the air pressure to slap the drywall back and forth causing the nail to pull out in time and the head to stick thru. 

I had a weird one in one of my 12 story buildings... Newer building steel stud framing.. Screwed Drywall to perimeter wall below the windows. The screws were actually unscrewing right out of the wall. you could go and flik the screw and it would drop right to the floor.
Weirdest thing I ever seen. We figured it's some kind of viberation. I dont have the building now... dont really know what caused it.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

Woodworkingkid said:


> A nail pop is when the nail holding up the drywall comes out a little and you can see the nail head. What I do when I am painting a house and find those is I just put a couple screws in around it hammer the nail back in make a divert around the nail fill it with mud then let it sit for a couple hours sand it down and put some spray primer over the spot let it dry and then paint over it.


I never knew there was a name for that. I've never painted a old house that didn't have a dozen or so nail pops to fix. I usually pull them and replace them with a drywall screw.


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## dat (Nov 11, 2010)

Steve Neul said:


> I never knew there was a name for that. I've never painted a old house that didn't have a dozen or so nail pops to fix. I usually pull them and replace them with a drywall screw.


 
same here, pull it and put a screw in it


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## Al B Thayer (Dec 10, 2011)

Nail pop can and is usually due to not getting the drywall completely against the stud or joist. Where insulation holds the drywall away from the wood. Over time the drywall seats against the wood and the nail or the screw then "pops". Which the nail or screw is not moving but the drywall is. It pops the drywall mud and looks as if the screw or nail has popped but it's really just the drywall moving.

Al

Friends don't let friends use stamped metal tools sold at clothing stores.


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## tcleve4911 (Dec 16, 2006)

The house is forty five years old.
I am 60.
I pop.
Especially in the morning after the temp as dropped and the new day gets warmer.....
oh yeah.....
fireup the wood stove if you really want to hear nail pop.

Point is...There are framing details in your house that move throughout the seasonal changes. 
Metal nails against fibrous wood = friction and release = nail pop.

ps I live in Maine.....we know nail pops.....:yes:


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## rrich (Jun 24, 2009)

GeorgeC said:


> What is nail pop?
> 
> George


DUNNO, I thought it was little Brad's daddy. :laughing:


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## bob sacamano (Jan 24, 2012)

tcleve4911 said:


> ps I live in Maine.....we know nail pops.....:yes:


but im in los angeles !


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## bob sacamano (Jan 24, 2012)

mike1950 said:


> Has anybody been in attic???


 
mike- 
ive been in the attic--lots. 
if movement of me walking up there is the culprit , how does nail-pop happen on an inside wall ? unless mild earthquakes on a continious basis ? it didnt happen after a big quake. i can sometimes hear creaking in an adjoining wall-- is that normal or part of the problem ?


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## tcleve4911 (Dec 16, 2006)

The creaking is just another indication of movement.

No big deal. The actual movement is almost microscopic but the sound it makes as it rubs and shifts, telegraphs so you think it's a huge movement and the house is falling.
It's not..it's just relocating itself with the changes in temp and humidity....relax.


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## SteveEl (Sep 7, 2010)

Before you worry about fixing nail pops, if it were me, I'd complete all of my external repairs and landscaping near the house, and foundation/attic work... in other words, do all the stuff to control humidity/temp swings, and whatever might shake the walls or load the ceilings. Then do the finish details like nail pops.


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## tito5 (Apr 5, 2011)

outside factors can contribute also....my backyard butts up to a highway. trucks and cars constantly flying passed and hitting brakes. planes flying over is another cause of this. the house instector told me all of this when I was looking at the house. he said basically there is nothing you can do to to stop it where I live. constant ground movement from the highway that you don't really feel, but affects it over time.


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## Al B Thayer (Dec 10, 2011)

tito5 said:


> outside factors can contribute also....my backyard butts up to a highway. trucks and cars constantly flying passed and hitting brakes. planes flying over is another cause of this. the house instector told me all of this when I was looking at the house. he said basically there is nothing you can do to to stop it where I live. constant ground movement from the highway that you don't really feel, but affects it over time.


You don't really believe that do you? If drywall is properly installed you will never have nail pop. If the above fore mentioned were true drywall would be banned.

Al

Friends don't let friends use stamped metal tools sold at clothing stores.


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## junedh (Jul 8, 2012)

*What happens if you don't repair nail pops?*

I am sooo glad this site is here as I'm freaking out, due to 2 new nailpops with associated cracks around them. We just had that huge heat wave with temps up to 104 degrees here in Michigan, and being someone who dusts my condo corners every 3 months, I know what is up there. This is a very small ceiling of a half bath, at the free end of the 2 story condo from 1995, on the ground floor. Due to the ceiling being small, these 2 nail pops occupy much (about 50%) of that side of the ceiling. I cannot get up there to even attempt to repair them and cannot afford to have someone come in and repair them...........What happens if I leave them there, unrepaired??? Will the drywall ceiling come down??? I have many of these elsewhere but over a wider surface area and they have been there since 1995. How worried should I be? I'm rather worried right now? Can the ceiling come down????? Thanks.............


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## Dave Paine (May 30, 2012)

I cannot quite picture the ceiling.

I would expect the drywall in the ceiling to sag over time. I would not expect catastrophic failure. If the sag was close to a joint, you could see cracks in the joint. Not an emergency, but adds to the bad appearance.

It would be recommended to get the pops repaired at some point.

My house has its share of nail pops in the walls. So far not in the ceiling. When I drywall, I use drywall screws. Not as fast, but no pops.


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## jschaben (Apr 1, 2010)

junedh said:


> I am sooo glad this site is here as I'm freaking out, due to 2 new nailpops with associated cracks around them. We just had that huge heat wave with temps up to 104 degrees here in Michigan, and being someone who dusts my condo corners every 3 months, I know what is up there. This is a very small ceiling of a half bath, at the free end of the 2 story condo from 1995, on the ground floor. Due to the ceiling being small, these 2 nail pops occupy much (about 50%) of that side of the ceiling. I cannot get up there to even attempt to repair them and cannot afford to have someone come in and repair them...........What happens if I leave them there, unrepaired??? Will the drywall ceiling come down??? I have many of these elsewhere but over a wider surface area and they have been there since 1995. How worried should I be? I'm rather worried right now? Can the ceiling come down????? Thanks.............


Hi June - highly unlikely the ceiling will be coming down, at least not anytime soon. A picture would be nice to help with some ideas on repairing them but the issue is mostly cosmetic. I usually fix those things by putting a drywall screw in an inch or two away from it, use a hammer to set the nail below the surface of the drywall and patch both with a fast setting, non-shrinking spackle compound. My sons house in Louisville, Kentucky was built around 2004 or 05 and has a couple in the 3" or so space between the kitchen wall cabinets and ceiling. He decided that they were a "character defect" and could accept them.:yes:


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## junedh (Jul 8, 2012)

Dave Paine said:


> I cannot quite picture the ceiling.
> 
> I would expect the drywall in the ceiling to sag over time. I would not expect catastrophic failure. If the sag was close to a joint, you could see cracks in the joint. Not an emergency, but adds to the bad appearance.
> 
> ...


Thanks for answering Dave!!! On a Sunday too. Will the nail pops make the ceiling sag or is it just sagging over time??? As to the ceiling, I just measured with a ruler and it's 4.5 feet long on that side, and probably square. It's a flat ceiling, so nothing much to picture. The nail pops are really not involving 1/2 of the ceiling but say over 1/3. I don't see any "joints" but the paint is cracked in those 2 areas of the nail pops. The nail heads aren't sticking out of the ceiling, but you know they are there. I figure I have maybe 5 nails along that length of the ceiling. If the others pop out, will the ceiling come down? Or anything else bad?? I don't care too much about the cosmetics this week, although it does bother me. I'm just worried that something worse will happen. Thank you. June


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## mike1950 (Aug 29, 2010)

I was in plaster and drywall biz for 40 years. Bob- If you are in the attic your weight can move the studs- if you happen to misplace foot and it or other weight gets directly on drywall=popped nail. The walls- we look at houses as perfectly stable structures- in reality though they have a life of their own- moving-reasons-ground movement, humidity and temperature changes. When we build furniture out of wood we expect and compensate for movement. When we build houses we assume it is not going to move and then start filling the house with piano's and waterbeds. Nail pops are just part of wall maintenance.
Junedh- Probably just movement- ceiling or? won't come down unless it is a water intrusion issue-should be water stains if that is problem. Popped nails in corner is usually just natural movement at weak point.


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## bob sacamano (Jan 24, 2012)

to mike1950 and all the others who responded......

i got on a ladder and sure enough the nalsl were right at the plane of the sheetrock. a few i had to use a screwdriver to get them out. screwdriver to bring them down a bit and then a claw hammer or pliers to get them out. 

i used screws a few inches away from the hole to support the sheetrock. a dab of filler and it was all good again. 

it did inspire us to give the room a new paint job. then 'we' decided the room needed shutters on the windows. and as long as the shutter guy was there 'we' decided the upstairs needs shutters too.

cost of repairing the nail-pop = $0.
cost of painting the room and ceiling = $50 of paint and supplies.
cost of shutters $2800 !!!!!!!


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## Quickstep (Apr 10, 2012)

My understanding is the same as fishbucket's in that if the framing lumber had a high moisture content when the house was built, when it shrank, some of the nails pop out. Since the paper around the nail was dented by the hammer head when the nail was driven, the screw that replaces the nail needs to be a couple of inches away. I usually drive one to either side of the nail; probably overkill, but if I'm going to climb the ladder, I don't want anything popping again. I recently read an account saying that screws will pop if the screw is too long. I believe 1-1/4" is the right length for 1/2" drywall. Here's a link with some info.

http://www.buyezrip.com/Drywall-Basics.htm


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## mike1950 (Aug 29, 2010)

Not that it matters but most drywall on ceilings since early 80's probably will be 5/8's-1 1/4" screws are not long enough- 1 1/2" to be safe. 
Bob- sounds to me like you must be very married-the voice of experience-says............


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## mike1950 (Aug 29, 2010)

Also in the future Put a screw on each side 2" from nail and just tap nail back in -lot easier and less chance of damaging the drywall. Also I hope you don't need new windows :thumbdown::thumbdown::thumbdown: now to go with those beautiful shutters-I will shutup now.:yes::yes::yes:


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## bob sacamano (Jan 24, 2012)

the house is from late 1960's and its 1/2 sheetrock. i used 1 1/4 screw on each side of the popped nail.

and new windows were put in a few years ago. glad you mentioned the windows.....

the living room window is about 9 feet long. its sagged a bit on 1 end. coincidently its the same room as the nail pop. not far from the nail-pop. as soon as you mentioned the windows the light bulb went on.


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## junedh (Jul 8, 2012)

Hi. I posted a photo of this nailpop which looks much larger with a zoom lens than in real life, and the bathroom is white. The description of the thing is with the photo. Thanks.


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## junedh (Jul 8, 2012)

jschaben said:


> Hi June - highly unlikely the ceiling will be coming down, at least not anytime soon. A picture would be nice to help with some ideas on repairing them but the issue is mostly cosmetic. I usually fix those things by putting a drywall screw in an inch or two away from it, use a hammer to set the nail below the surface of the drywall and patch both with a fast setting, non-shrinking spackle compound. My sons house in Louisville, Kentucky was built around 2004 or 05 and has a couple in the 3" or so space between the kitchen wall cabinets and ceiling. He decided that they were a "character defect" and could accept them.:yes:


Thanks, JS. Your son is smart as I am having such anxiety over this. There are multiple nail pops in the living room ceiling too, but they've been there for years, plus the ceiling in the living room has a larger surface area than this bathroom. I have no repairing skills at all except for minimal drywall/spackle and some really bad painting and would have to hire a painter for these. So my concern is what happens if you leave it alone?? Could the ceiling bend?? And fall down later? I put a very close-up photo of this in an album under my name. Read the description though as it's not that huge in real life. If it is cosmetic, then I could handle it but not if it's going to worsen and crack the whole ceiling. Also, the toilet is in the way and my 6-foot ladder could not be put in that area as it wouldn't open. Ugh....how I ruined Sunday..........Thanks.


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## junedh (Jul 8, 2012)

Thanks Mike! I do not see water stains even though a bathroom is above this one, but the shower is on the other side of the room. One nail pop is in the corner but then the other one is several inches away from it, still against the wall pretty much, in the same line. I have 4 of these in my living room too but they are very old plus the living room ceiling has more surface area than this little bathroom.


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## mike1950 (Aug 29, 2010)

Junedh-My advice is go have a nice glass of Ice tea and enjoy what you have left of weekend. Ceiling is going nowhere and nail pop is cosmetic-if it bothers you wear darker glasses.:laughing::laughing::laughing: kidding of course--enjoy


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## junedh (Jul 8, 2012)

Hi Mike! Feel free to tell me the truth anytime. You and the other guys have been a supreme help to my sanity, since I cannot afford to get these repaired and can't even reach them, which is probably a good thing. If it's just cosmetic, then that's do-able, but my fear was of some future serious structural thing happening if I don't fix them. I'm trying to chill out but all this started last night and I freak with this house stuff, being all alone and unskilled in the home repair dept. I will try the ice tea but not on the nail pops!!! Thanks so much and to the rest of the guys too. I'll bookmark this site and read the threads going on here..........


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## junedh (Jul 8, 2012)

*Nail pops in the bathroom*

Hello! Thank you to you guys who helped me out with the nail pop issue for most of Sunday. The ceiling did not fall during the night and things look to be about the same. After work, I ran the shower in the bathroom upstairs for about 20 minutes, cold water, and do not see any ceiling leaks. Thank goodness!! But I cannot thank you guys enough for being here. 
June


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