How not to build a house

[Tom Cancelleri]

So my parent's house was built in 1981. The other day the ceiling of the guest room just decided to completely fall in and dump 16 contractor bags of rockwool insulation all over.

The cause? These nails, only 1 every 24 inches. They also used a bit of adhesives on the rafters between the Sheetrock and rafters. The Sheetrock pulled the nails out with it. What a freaking mess! Spent my day cleaning it up.

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[Gixxerjoe04]

Wow, hopefully the saying they don't build them like they use to is true

[JosephThomas]

That sucks. I hate these kind of problems because they're impossible to know about and fix before it's too late.  Glad no one was hurt.

[Chet]

Man, what a mess.  Contractors take short cuts like that and are long gone by the time you want to choke the living crap out of them.  

[Tom King]

Check the other ceilings.  They're probably nailed up with roofing tacks too.  Find the nails with a magnet, and see if they are the same spacing.

[Chestnut]

I don't know if words can describe the frustration of that situation. If you can secure the rest of the house like tom said at least you saved some headaches later.

[andrew-in-austin]

I think it was quite common to hang drywall with nails like that. In fact I think you can still find those types of nails for drywall at the big box stores. Maybe they are used because it's cheaper to have a day labor person use a $2 hammer than a drill. 

[wdwerker]

Some idiot confused drywall nails(ring shanked ) with roofing nails (smooth shanked ). If they had used plenty of adhesive it might have held . Rock wool is very heavy and even worse if it gets wet. Wet or even damp insulation can bring down even a well screwed or nailed ceiling.

 I wonder if his homeowners insurance will figure out a way to deny the claim ?

[Woodenskye]

Damn Tom that really sucks and quite a mess.  Glad nobody was hurt.

[Tpt life]

Steve nailed it. Those are roofing nails. Do your self a favor. Walk through the whole house with screws and a drywall gun. Screws and compound are cheap by comparison. Take nothing for granted. 

[Chet]

I guess you now know why you have been working so hard perfecting your taping and mudding skills in your shop redo.

[Cliff]

I read that as 1891.. and thought.. well I'd consider it a success if a house lasted 100+ years. Then I reread  Bummer.

[Tom Cancelleri]

My dad and I are going to go through the entire house and put screws in every 12". My sister said the woman across the street from them (same street as my parents) had the ceiling fall on her bed next to her while she was sleeping.

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Homeowners insurance is covering everything, including materials and labor cost to reinforce the existing ceilings to avoid possible cave in.

There is no water or wet on the insulation. I'm attributing in to expansion and contraction and the nails walking their way out of the wood over time, combined with the weight of the insulation and Sheetrock.

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[Coop]

Tom, Glad your family is safe and insurance coverage is a good secondary.

[Brendon_t]

That's just crazy man.  Also knowing that at least out here, one company may put up 2 blocks of houses at one time, and knowing that nails come in buckets, that scares me. 

[pkinneb]

Whoa what a mess! Almost unbelievable if it weren't true. Glad to hear the ins co is going to help take care of it.

[Tom King]

It's a good thing no one was sleeping under it!   Back before they starting using construction adhesive, nailing patterns on ceilings were typically one nail in each joist on the edges, one every 8" on the ends, and two pairs of nails about 3" apart for the pairs and 16" in from each side in between the edges on the face.

I don't remember when I first started seeing adhesive and screws because after my first house, I started doing everything myself, and didn't pay attention to what others were doing.

Those roofing tacks were not only smooth shanked, but too short as well, not even to mention not enough of them.  It kind of surprises me that it stayed up that long.  I guess it took the last clap of thunder, ground tremor, or big truck on a road to finally shake it loose.

I like the purple Gold Bond sheets for everything.  The box stores carry 8' sheets, but you can find 12' sheets in real building supply stores, or maybe check National Gypsum online to find a supplier. It's a few bucks a sheet more than the regular stuff, but stiffer, stronger, and better all the way around.

[Tom King]

Another detail I thought I should mention:    Don't use the "8x" construction adhesive for sheetrock.  It swells up a little as it cures.  I like it for some things, but wouldn't use it for sheetrock.

I use PowerGrab on walls, and with the XP sheetrock, no face fasteners-just along the edges.  On ceilings, which I try to avoid at almost all costs with sheetrock, I use the large tubes of regular stuff.