I am new to the Board. Hope you can help. I ran into a problem today I could use some advice on. Keep in mind the job is in Ohio. The ceiling (drywall) is separating from the wall. (Also drywall) I am told it goes back down in the spring/summer. This tells me the drywallers attached the board on the truss cord. This also tells me the framers didn’t read the instructions stapled to the banded trusses!!! In the cold, it is contracting thus pulling up. I know a nailer should have been used to catch the board thus……..no problem. Too late now. What kind of suggestions do you folks have? Can I brace the cord from the attic with good results? Now or wait for summer? It is a trussed hip roof. There is access. It is doing this in several rooms, inside walls only of course. Another thought would be to install a floating crown mold attached to the walls only. Seems like a bunch of work and expense. The house is in the 275-300k class.
All ideas are appreciated!!!!!!!!!
Mike L.
Edited 12/28/2004 8:35 pm ET by Larso
Edited 12/28/2004 8:43 pm ET by Larso
Replies
"Truss uplift" is what you have. I think it's more a humidity problem than a temperature one, but for whatever reason it happens.
Ideally the rockers should have left the edge of the ceiling drywall loose within about 10" of the wall, so it can flex there and not pull the ceiling joint apart.
You could in theory go up into the attic and attach nailers to the top plate of the wall, to hold the rock down. You'd also need to pull any nails/screws in the rock within several inches of the wall.
It's not a good idea to try to more tightly fasten the wall top plate to the trusses to solve this problem -- you can end up causing cracks in the wall.
Crown molding is often used in this situation. I wouldn't be surprised if it's done preemptively by some builders.
DanH
Thanks for the speedy reply. If humidly is an issue maybe I should be looking at ways to exhaust it. More attic ventilation? Power fan in the warmer months. Maybe that would help keep the humidity level more constant year round. Given all that I tend to think crown is the more sure remedy. One room (bedroom) has a tent ceiling. As luck would have it the others have corners other than 90 degrees. 60's etc. One last thing....there is a two story open entrance way to deal with too. Have any ideas or a source for some nice looking crown molding solutions (pictures) that won't cost a fortune or take forever to install? Maybe something two piece for the tent ceiling. Needs to be oak or maybe they would go with painted pine or poplar to blend with the ceiling.
Again...........all thoughts appreciated.
Agree with DanH humidity is the cause. Happens regardless of ventilation or humidity build up in the attic, have something to do with the temperature difference between the top and bottom of the truss.
The crown should be attached to the ceiling not the wall so any movement on the ceiling would slide the bottom of the cown along the wall.
Thanks for your thoughts. I get the attachment to the ceiling but as the crown moves up and down it will leave a paint/wallpaper line on the wall, right? What if I put some blocking/nailing on the wall..................attach the crown to that...............not the ceiling and during the "up" time of year (now) there would be a gap between the crown and the ceiling and during the down time it would fit tight. Would that be less noticed? Just looking for thoughts. Thanks again.
Mike L.
Most local applications of crown to cover truss lift are attached to the ceiling and then spaced away from the wall at least a 1/4" to allow for a reveal and concealed paint line.
Consider cutting the existing corner drywall tape and filling the gap with a "stretch caulk" and then apply the crown. This will close the crack that would allow conditioned air to escape into the attic and cause possible condensation in the cold months.
Closed cell weather strip attached to the back of the crown will also work. Especially if the amount of lift is greater than 1/2".
..............Iron Helix
attach the crown to that
That will work. It helps to have a crown that has a shadowline on one joint or the other--if it gaps, the shadow is still there, there's just a "real" reason for it.
As to pain/paper gapping, it helps to run either under, first (means a "surprise" for whoever paints or papers "next," but what's life without surprises?)
Welcome to BT, too.Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
"the framers didn't read the instructions stapled to the banded trusses!!!"
The first thing framers are trained to do is throw away all the paperwork that's shipped with trusses. (-:
I did a thread on Truss uplift a while back. Most of the links are dead now, as the pages have been moved. I need to update the thing.
The only way I know to "fix" it is difficult and time consuming. The fasteners in the ceiling drywall that are near interior walls have to be located. Then they have to be removed or driven on through the drywall.
Then you have to go up in the attic and add wood block on top of the interior partitions to hold the edge of the drywall down.
The WTCA has a PDF document on truss uplift at:
http://www.woodtruss.com/projects/woodtruss/images/publication_images/ttbpartsep.pdf
Increasing attic ventilation is also likely to help. What sort of ventilation do you have now?
How old is the house? A lot of houses only uplift once. I suspect this is due to the concrete curing and giving off moisture during the first winter.
She said . . . You wear pants don't you?
I want to thank you for that post on truss lift. I was in the process of building my first house when I read your post. I also put 1x3's across the truss's as they were very uneven and I had to shim the 1x3's as much as 1/2". This is a vacation place so the heat is down during the week and gets turned up when we're there. I have 16" of cellulose in the attic and so far no cracks. By the way, my brother-in-law built a place nearby a couple of years earlier and every inside wall has cracked at the ceiling. When all the builders in the family saw me fir out the ceiling and put nailers on all the inside walls they thought I was nuts. You should see my nice flat uncracked ceilings now. Thanks Much!!
Always happy to hear that something I posted was useful to someone. Thanks for letting me know.
Some people are like Slinkies . . not really good for anything, but you still can't help but smile when you see one tumble down the stairs.
Thanks to everyone who replied. Many good ideas emerged. Several options that I had not considered. Just as a follow-up.........the house is about 12 years old. It does the lift thing every winter and settles in the spring. (Ohio) The roof could use more ventilation IMO. Hip roof about 26 square (this section) with four top hat vent at the ridge line. Insulation is fiberglass R-30. I may try "relaxing" the drywall fasteners with a hack saw blade and see how that works. Gonna try one room as a test. I would like to be try the simple things first. Great site..........thanks again. I'll be back!!!!!!!!!
Mike L.
IMO framers have no control over truss uplift unless they did not supply dead wood (drywall nailers) where needed. The truss bottom chords will move if they need to, regardless of how they are (or not) attached. I have learned this the hard way. The problem is in drywall attachment. Excessive moisture could be a contributor too, but I've had it happen on well ventilated homes too. Is there a moisture problem in the crawl space or basement? Thinking outside the box a little, the floor could be sagging too although this would not be a seasonal occurance.
Please answer these questions when you have a minute, thanks.
How much is it lifting, how much wall is opening up, is the trusses nailed securely to the top plates and how much insulation is in the attic?