My house is only 3 years old, but I am starting to see nail heads popping out on my walls. I did a little research on the web, and apparently they are called "nail pops" and they are coming out from my drywall. My walls really look gross! I could not find a good fix for these pops, however. I can't get a good hold of them to pull them out and I'm a little afraid to hammer them back in. What do you recommend?
Mr.E
on the two or three i found in my house i used some needle nose pliers to pull them out and then put a sheet rock screw into the same hole and then put some spacking on it.....
Is your house still under warranty? Was it built by a reputable builder? Can you still find the builder?
If the drywall was not installed properly, this may be the start of an ongoing problem.
If you are having that many, it sounds like a construction issue. Maybe green lumber, use of non-ring-shanked nails, or poor drywall work.
There are several methods of fix. I would consider removal of the popped nails as a first step, although some just reset them and add additional nails/screws above and below them. Next use ring-shanked nails or screws to replace or reinforce problem areas. Finally spackle and paint. Not really too hard. However, if they did a really poor job, you might be in for some more each year as the seasons change for some years to come.
Do you have a warrantee on the home?
First put in a screw an inch or 2 from the nail pop. Then pound in the nail a bit, and put 3 coats of joint compound over each one.
That is a very bad idea. The whole point of a nail pop is that the drywall structure has failed at that exact spot. You are screwing into a "rotten" hole.
Some pros use two screws, one above and one below. Might be overkill, but it may also mitigate an ongoing problem so consider it cheap insurance.
Pound the nail down through the panel so if there is some movement later it won't push up the filler. The nail is useless anyway and the mud needs the full hole length for best anchoring. HTH
Joe
After addign one screw above and one below the nail pop, what is the best solution for the nail pop mark
Do I have to dig out the drywall and pull out the nail head with plyers? Can I just pound that spot flat again?
C_Kubie
------------------------- If it was me (and into doing it 'right') I'd remove the nail after setting the screws, and simply do a multi-pass mud filling and sanding until all was smooth.
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I had the same thing happen and found a kit/tool online that tells you how to fix them and gives you the screws, plugs, etc.
This looks like a nice tool but I don't understand why bother driving the poped nail into the stud? I just remove poped nail (careful not to damage the drywall too much) and spackle the hole and drive a screw above or below the pop.
Tom Silva in This Old House Magazine also gives out the same advice.
I would contact your contractor and have him fix it, if he is not willing to, you have certain rights under the law. In most states you have 5 years to file a claim for "poor workmanship" against the party who was contracted to perform a particular job and failed to do it adequately.The problem is that the defendent has a "right to cure" in many states, that is, attempt to remedy the problem, sometimes you can end up with a worst mess when this is done by an incompetent contractor to begin with.
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