How To Repair Nail Pops In Sheetrock

• Walls & Ceilings

Solved! How to Repair Popped Nails

Banish the bulges caused by nail pops before yous paint to achieve flawlessly smoothen wall surfaces.

Photograph: istockphoto.com

Q: I just bought a house and am planning to paint over its existing green interior walls with a fresh coat of country white. I'thou concerned, however, that the scattering of small circular bulges I've spotted on the walls will notwithstanding be noticeable after I repaint. My neighbor told me the bulges are popped nails—spots where nails have worked loose. What I can do to get rid of them?

A: Congrats on your new abode! Yous're correct virtually those bulges: Left unrepaired, they'll be visible later on yous repaint. Fortunately, popped nails (also known equally "nail pops") aren't too tough to set up and typically aren't serious—although there are a few exceptions. Keep reading to understand the causes of nail pops, the issues they could represent, and how you tin reach perfectly shine walls.

RELATED: The Dos and Don'ts of Drywall Repair

Nail pops are largely due to woods or drywall motility and oft appear within a twelvemonth of construction.

Lumber used to build houses may contain moisture, which is often absorbed from humidity in the air while lumber is stored in open up-air warehouses. After construction, as the wood slowly dries, the studs may shift or twist slightly. This can cause individual nails to move, and when a nail holding drywall moves, information technology loosens the joint chemical compound covering the blast. The result is a tiny bulge on the wall surface or, in some cases, a visible nail head if the drywall compound comes loose and falls away. This is the nigh mutual cause of smash pops and it's completely cosmetic. There are no structural issues to worry virtually, and repair is fairly unproblematic.

Photo: istockphoto.com

Repair popped nails with screws.

Only tapping the blast back down with a hammer will solve the firsthand problem, simply eventually, the nail will probably work its way back out. A better solution is to tap the nail dorsum down and then insert two drywall screws in the stud, one near an inch above the nail, and one about an inch below the nail. The screws volition attach the drywall console securely to the stud.

Photograph: istockphoto.com

Choose the right length of screw to reinforce a popped boom.

Brusk screws that barely penetrate the stud beneath the drywall panel may pull loose in the future, leaving you lot with more pops on the wall surface. The general rule is to use screws that will penetrate the stud past a minimum ¾ of an inch. For example, with ½-inch thick drywall, y'all'll need a screw at least 1¼-inch long.

Add more screws if yous suspect skimping.

If the installer failed to employ plenty fasteners, the drywall panel might not exist securely attached to the studs, resulting in movement and popped nails. When hanging drywall, a fastener (preferably a screw) should exist inserted every viii inches forth the edges of the drywall, and every 12 to xvi inches in the center of the panel over every stud. If you doubtable that this happened when your dwelling was built, you may wish to insert boosted screws (ane every 10 to xvi inches) over the studs to reduce the risk of future pops.

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Photo: istockphoto.com

Fill indentions with drywall joint compound.

Drywall screws are designed with trumpet-shaped heads, which allows you to insert them just beneath the surface of the drywall, but they will leave a small indentation. Smooth over indentations with a piddling joint compound—a quarter-sized glob should fill near nail and spiral indentions. Apply with a putty knife, then smooth away any backlog. Allow the chemical compound dry at to the lowest degree 24 hours, and so apply one more thin coat of joint compound with the putty pocketknife. When that dries, sand over the compound with a drywall sanding sponge, and then curlicue on a new coat of paint.

Inspect trusses, where uplift tin cause nail pops.

If you noticed popped nails in the walls of your home, you may wish to practice a bit of investigating for like bulges on the ceiling—which can point a more serious problem. Today's homebuilders often utilise manufactured trusses to construct a roof rather than edifice the roof with rafters. Some wood members in a set of trusses are designed to movement slightly with attic humidity and temperature fluctuations, then many modern drywall installers use a special attachment technique when hanging drywall on a ceiling made from trusses. If they attach the drywall directly to the underside of the trusses, however, when the trusses elevator, smash pops can occur in the ceiling drywall. Depending on how much the truss moves, in addition to nail pops, y'all might besides find a horizontal crack betwixt the ceiling and the wall. In order to gear up this issue, a contractor should remove the drywall panels and install news ones attached to clips or blocks, simply not to the trusses themselves.

Popped nails in combination with other issues point a bigger problem.

Normal house settling tin cause framing lumber to move a bit, resulting in popped nails. If the house continues to settle, over time, boosted boom pops could appear. Foundation problems can likewise crusade motility that leads to nail pops, but in both cases, they will be accompanied past additional problems, including:

• Doors that stick or won't shut properly.
• Cracks in the drywall around windows and doors.
• Cracks in the corners of the ceiling.
• Visible cracks in the foundation.

If your house has i or more of these issues, it's a good idea to accept a contractor or a structural engineer take a look. Structural problems should exist addressed before repairing popped nails.

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Source: https://www.bobvila.com/articles/popped-nails/

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