Glued Drywall failure after 22 years
I saw this question posted in a legal forum.
“My home is 22 years old and has always been well maintained. Recently my kitchen and living room ceilings began to sag almost overnight.It was absolutely necessary to replace both ceilings immediately.In mentioning to neighbors what had happened , we have found at least 7 other families that this has happened to in our small neighborhood. Our home owners insurance would not pay because they said this did not come under the “perils” of our policy.If I can get the other 7 families together , can we file a class action suit against the builder even though it has been 22 years?? Please understand that we were all given the same reason for the ceilings falling and that was they came “unglued”. No drywall screws were used 22 years ago , only a few one inch nails. Also be aware that none of these ceilings fell because of water damage . Thank You !”
Replies
I'm curious as to what responses they got in theother forum........
Five days a week my body is a temple. The other two, it's an amusement park.
That they did not have any cause for action.
One did bring of that in some cases the statue of limiations starts after the discover of a "concealed defect". But other pointed out that it was not a concealed defect as it was apparently done correctly to standards at the time.
WE warrant material and workmanship for one year after completion. That is the law also in the courts. Many houses are nailed or screwed today and it is "still" an accepted practice. Glued drywall is the ultimate in drywall construction. Since that is the case that it is glued , the best practices were used especially that long ago.
Sounds like glue failure , but it could have been application at the time letting the glue set up before nailing it off. I remember responding to a post just like this in a new job that was done. Here is what they did;
They glued and nailed perimeters of drywall. They completed the house and went back the next day to screw it off . It was too late then to seat the glue. Thus the job was only held by nails . It would be up for discussion if the glue would be set to to much to stick after one hour.
Further inspection of the drywall removed may indicate the glue was never stuck in all areas of the paper , only applied to the lumber.
These two reasons would be my theory of failure as forementioned. I would choose the latter as the prime suspect until proven other wise . Many times the one addition will have the same hangers if not the same builder.
Tim Mooney
Edited 1/17/2003 10:46:45 AM ET by Tim Mooney
Here in CA, the statute of limitations is five years on construction defects.
-- J.S.
John warranty and statute of limitations are two different critters.
Example of child support . You cannot sue on back child support after statute of limitations has ran out . There was never a question that the child support was owed . Thus statute of limitations.
Tim Mooney
It sounds to me like people trying to pass the buck down the line, further abusing our already back logged legal system
Just one of the joys of home ownership. Fix it and move on.
My house when purchased needed a new water line. Plumber told me all the houses built in this area at that time were having the same problem. Bad batch of galvanized pipe installed then. Failed much earlier then it should have. Wasn't obvious for decades. Not the builders fault. Stuff happens. Could be they got a bad batch of glue. But, how many glues warrenty for this long anyway?
No person, practice, or manufacturer is perfect. Lawyers who pretend otherwise to make a buck are just bottom feeders.