I recently built my cottage and have yet to finish the interior. The exterior walls are built with 2×6 with fiberglass batt inbetween and 1 inch styrofoam and siding on the outside. I was planning on covering the interior with pine and some drywall here and there. The building will be heated only on the weekends in the winter months while we are there. Is using drywall a mistake for these temperature swings? Has anyone experienced problems with this?
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I have seen hallways crack from expansion and contraction in an unheated building. Also nail pops which are apparently from the same thing.
Even if you used KD framing stock, there will still be some shrinkage and movement of the frame for the first 6-months or a year after you dry the place in and finish it. If you used green studs, it'll be more serious and last longer.
By turning off all the heating for five days out of seven, you're going to aggravate things. I would suggest that once you tape and finish your gyprock, you lower the thermostats to about 10º (50F) when you're not there, instead of shutting them down altogether.
Or, wait till summer to finish the gyprock. It shouldn't be too much longer before you won't need heat except to aid in drying the mud.
Dinosaur
How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not brought
low by this? For thine evil pales before that which
foolish men call Justice....
sorry i wasn't clearer. The place has been framed and dried in for over a year now, and i want to board and tape it this summer. I was thinking more about the on/off heating cycle next winter when the board has long been taped and painted. I am curios to know if the finished drywall would be damaged. Thanks
What is your climate????If it only gets down to 40°F, no problem.but if your temp swings down below freezing, you are likely to see a lot of condensation making the sheetrock damp. I've seen houses here at certain times with water running down the walls in rivulets
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I won't guarantee you won't have trouble with your gyprock under those conditions, but that is really the least of the problems you could be creating for yourself.
Many people from Montréal and Ottawa keep cottages up here that they only use on weekends in the winter; no one shuts the heat down completely during the week when they're not here. The insurance company wouldn't stand for it, for one thing, and the extra work of draining the pipes and filling all the traps with anti-freeze every Sunday night and then reversing the process each following Friday night upon arrival would drive anyone nuts after a month.
Not to mention canned or bottled food would freeze and burst.
If you plan to use a weekend cottage in the winter, you must plan to heat it to a minimum of 40ºF when you're not there. That is part of the cost of owning such a place.
Dinosaur
How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not broughtlow by this? For thine evil pales before that whichfoolish men call Justice....