Irvinecommuter
New member
qwerty said:
It depends on the crack. Settling is a real thing but it shouldn't create wide cracks in the stucco.
Drywall nail pops on new construction homes
- Thread starter akirvine79
- Start date
NEW -> Contingent Buyer Assistance Program
It depends on the crack. Settling is a real thing but it shouldn't create wide cracks in the stucco.
"Common and expected"? "Construction defect" is more like it, according to the video below. See the 2 min. 45 second mark where nail pops are specifically mentioned and pictured. In this case, it's a Lennar home. They give 2 reasons why this occurs - being built on expansive clay soil and/or poor construction. Hint: We do not have expansive clay soil in the Irvine area. That leaves you with one other thing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfL2vIziLPI
It depends on the crack. Settling is a real thing but it shouldn't create wide cracks in the stucco.
socal78
Well-known member
akirvine79 said:
"Common and expected"? "Construction defect" is more like it, according to the video below. See the 2 min. 45 second mark where nail pops are specifically mentioned and pictured. In this case, it's a Lennar home. They give 2 reasons why this occurs - being built on expansive clay soil and/or poor construction. Hint: We do not have expansive clay soil in the Irvine area. That leaves you with one other thing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfL2vIziLPI
socal78
Well-known member
Okay then that opens up a Pandora's box. We don't get the kind of precipitation here that would be needed for the expansive clay soil to swell like the problems they have in Texas unlike our arid climate. So, I doubt the soil is really as much of an issue. But let's pretend that we did and it is. Why would anybody choose to knowingly buy a home after reading that disclosure? It's bad enough that the builder would put a home there, putting the buyer at risk of foundation issues and a myriad of other things going wrong with the house. But to go into it with eyes wide open is a bit weird to me. It's inviting trouble. I would have little sympathy for the buyer in that case when they complain about it later. However, I do not know where the original poster lives. Either way -- building on unstable soil and/or poor workmanship -- sucks that a builder would allow it. Sucks even more that a buyer would know it and consent to it. 
"Under-built. Overpriced. Oversold." - quote from the video
"Under-built. Overpriced. Oversold." - quote from the video
akirvine79
Member
I just looked at the video and, it doesn't seem that the video tells expansive soil is the direct cause of drywall nail pops. It's more like home owners are addressing various symptoms first and the guy is explaining the expansive soil is one of the issues. To me, expansive soil is more relevant to driveway cracks, roofing issues and slabs etc...
Since I'm the one has several drywall nail pops, I did some researches and concluded myself that drywall nail pops could happen on new constructions. If you google drywall nail pops, there are a lot of the same questions from many new home owners and cause of symptoms from experts/painters are all similar. Here is one of them:
" the wood studs and joists delivered to construction sites typically have a fair bit of moisture in them, usually about 19% moisture content (MC). The equilibrium moisture content of these framing materials in a heated home is around 10 %, averaged for the year. The reduction in moisture content causes shrinkage in the wood member: the average "green" two-by-four, with approximately 19% MC, is approximately 1-5/8" by 3-5/8" in size, and will shrink to approximately 1-1/2" by 3-1/2" at about 10% MC.
Because most houses are erected quite rapidly, and the drywall is applied to the studs before they have had any time to stabilize and dry out, these studs will dry out within the wall space and will actually dry away from the drywall, causing a gap between the back surface of the drywall and the face of the stud. If pressure is applied to the face of the drywall by a person leaning on it or setting a ladder against it, the nail or screw can pop or push its head through the face of the drywall."
http://www.paintsource.net/pages/solutions/new construction/drywall_imperfections.htm
Since we're living in sunny and dry area, the chances of getting moistured wood stud is relatively small compared to other states. Unfortunately, when my house was built up, my house had 3 days of consecutive heavy rain before the drywall. So I'm suspecting that my lumbers got wet and contained more MC than California average. If moving soil is strong enough to pop nails then I could have seen at least some stucco cracks outside but I can't find them. Or it could be caused by iPac's poor worksmanship.
Since I'm the one has several drywall nail pops, I did some researches and concluded myself that drywall nail pops could happen on new constructions. If you google drywall nail pops, there are a lot of the same questions from many new home owners and cause of symptoms from experts/painters are all similar. Here is one of them:
" the wood studs and joists delivered to construction sites typically have a fair bit of moisture in them, usually about 19% moisture content (MC). The equilibrium moisture content of these framing materials in a heated home is around 10 %, averaged for the year. The reduction in moisture content causes shrinkage in the wood member: the average "green" two-by-four, with approximately 19% MC, is approximately 1-5/8" by 3-5/8" in size, and will shrink to approximately 1-1/2" by 3-1/2" at about 10% MC.
Because most houses are erected quite rapidly, and the drywall is applied to the studs before they have had any time to stabilize and dry out, these studs will dry out within the wall space and will actually dry away from the drywall, causing a gap between the back surface of the drywall and the face of the stud. If pressure is applied to the face of the drywall by a person leaning on it or setting a ladder against it, the nail or screw can pop or push its head through the face of the drywall."
http://www.paintsource.net/pages/solutions/new construction/drywall_imperfections.htm
Since we're living in sunny and dry area, the chances of getting moistured wood stud is relatively small compared to other states. Unfortunately, when my house was built up, my house had 3 days of consecutive heavy rain before the drywall. So I'm suspecting that my lumbers got wet and contained more MC than California average. If moving soil is strong enough to pop nails then I could have seen at least some stucco cracks outside but I can't find them. Or it could be caused by iPac's poor worksmanship.
changm55
New member
been living in a new IP property for the past year n half... i think i only noticed 1 very very minor nail pop (if u dont really look at it, u wont notice it)... my unit got rained on for 2-3 days during construction so i was pretty worried, but luckily, so far the only issues are minor hairline cracks in the yard + garage concrete floor once the foundation settled and a few stucco cracks that are small enough i can live with...
was in a new los angeles condo unit b4 moving here, no nail pops at all there... but it also had minor hairline floor cracks and a few moulding + stucco cracks after an earthquake...
might wanna document location + photograph each one before IP fixes them... then photograph again after fix... and if manifests again, document + photograph again for more ammo, just in case this is a symptom of a much major problem... dunno :-\
was in a new los angeles condo unit b4 moving here, no nail pops at all there... but it also had minor hairline floor cracks and a few moulding + stucco cracks after an earthquake...
might wanna document location + photograph each one before IP fixes them... then photograph again after fix... and if manifests again, document + photograph again for more ammo, just in case this is a symptom of a much major problem... dunno :-\