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I recently noticed a large amount of nail pops on the 2nd floor in my 10 year old home. The nail pops seem to be isolated to the ceiling and closely to the walls. I have several questions on this topic which, I hope someone can answer. Here goes…
Is this normal in a 10 year old home?
Why would this occur on the 2nd floor only? (I have a couple on the first floor but that’s about it)
What is the best way to correct the nail pops?
Should I call an expert?
Thank you
dabull

Anybody ?

Is your roof constructed with trusses instead of rafters and joists? Trusses are typically made up of 2x4's with intersecting triangles, where rafters and joists are made with larger 2x8, 2x10 or 2x12 lumber depending upon the span and pitch of the roof.

If it is trusses and the nail pops are happening mainly on the edges it could be caused by TRUSS LIFT. Scroll down a page on the link for a detailed explanation of truss lift.

Truss lift typically occurs on roof pitches 5/12 and lower, remember I said typically. The article made a good point about the pops are typically close to interior walls, you rarely see it in open areas. What's the pitch of your roof?

I had a truss lift problem with a cathedral ceiling, not nail pops but the seam between the walls and the ceiling kept cracking. Caulking seemed to be the best fix for my problem. The OP did say the problems are near the walls not in the field.

quote:

Posted 01 June 2007 07:05 PM
Forum
I recently noticed a large amount of nail pops on the 2nd floor in my 10 year old home. The nail pops seem to be isolated to the ceiling and closely to the walls. I have several questions on this topic which, I hope someone can answer. Here goes…
Is this normal in a 10 year old home?
Why would this occur on the 2nd floor only? (I have a couple on the first floor but that’s about it)
What is the best way to correct the nail pops?
Should I call an expert?
Thank you
dabull

dabull,
With the info provided by Sparky617 and JayinMinnesota and a little more explanation you may be able to determine what you nail pop problem is..........or at least why.
Pre engineered roof trusses normally bear on the exterior walls and should not be nailed to the top plate of interior partitions because of the affore mentioned "up lift" deal.

The up lift happens when outside tempertures change quickly. The truss top chord is up next to the roof in cool air and the bottom chord is buried in attic insulation next to the warm ceiling so when the temps change quickly the expansion rate of the top and bottom chords are different and the bottom chord can bow upwards in the center of the span causing it to rise and try to seperate from the interior wall partitions......(I've seen it move away from the wall almost an inch) pulling and stressing the nails in the ceiling close to the partitions.

For new construcion there is a proper installation that will prevent this from being a problem. I don't really know of a good fix after the fact..........so sorry.
jwd in nc

The only fix we've tried and succeeded is to go up in the attic and manually pop the sheetrock off the screws around the interior walls in the areas affected (typically about 18" from the wall). This will allow the ceiling sheetrock edge to rest on the wall sheetrock at the interior wall locations. This will allow the sheetrock to freely move up and down as uplift occurs. I doubt it would effective in something as extreme as an inch of movement, but it has been effective in the cases we have had.

Another "fix" for joint separation between the walls and ceiling caused by truss uplift is to install crown molding around the perimeter, nailing it to the ceiling only, so that the up-lift allows the crown to ride the ceiling upward and downward, effectively sliding vertically up and down the walls, hiding the separation at the wall/ceiling joint.

Also could be due to lack of insulation above.