*
We started building our house about 3 years ago. We had a builder set the trusses, all seemed fine. I finally got around to doing some dry wall last year in the second story. I finished the stairway, walls and ceiling, during the spring/summer. All was well until winter then the truss(es) which run perpendicular to the stairwell lifted enough to cause about a 1/4 inch gap where the wall meets the ceiling. (OK here I must confess that when I finished the mud there were a couple of bubbles and I cut out the tape in a couple spots about an inch long-when it lifted up it was clear to see the gap) During the winter while this was raised up I thought it would stay that way and screwed a metal corner at the top of the stairwell to work on the hall. I didn’t get any further and during the summer the truss went back down and the metal corner buckled. Now that winter is here it raised back up. Why??? We have a vapor barrier, I believe that the trusses are nailed to the wall, there are 2×4 cross bracing tying the trusses together. There is another section that the trusses are a little narrower and we have dry walled the rooms and they seem fine. Help!!!
Thanks
Replies
*
You might as well start here.....Joe H
http://webx.taunton.com/WebX?128@@.ee8eeb3
http://webx.taunton.com/WebX?128@@.ee9d1eb
http://webx.taunton.com/WebX?128@@.ee96df5
http://webx.taunton.com/WebX?50@@.ee92cc4
http://webx.taunton.com/WebX?50@@.ee903fe
http://webx.taunton.com/WebX?128@@.ee903fe
*If you want to hide it, try installing a run of crown molding...attached to the ceiling only, not the wall.
*Well, I guess now i have a name for it and once again am so happy to be able to fit into the small percentage of people that can experience such a phenomena, of course I am never quite so lucky with the lottery. I will find out if the walls are nailed to trusses. I do know that we went over board on ventilation and insulation, exceeded the norm in both. If it seems to be tied to ventilation???! Maybe I will just leave the ceilings in the rest of the upstairs with the drywall unfinished... I do not believe it is practice in our area to fur out the ceilings either.Thank you very much for the links.Gdog
*Gdog, around here they simply float the drywall (no nails or glue) for 18" . The small aount of lift is unnoticeable when spread over 18".I had a house that would raise up at least 1/2" every winter. It was so bad that I couldn't determine the crease to paint in the winter! blue
*We let the board float near the partitions as well around here. Seems to be an alright fix. I've always thought of truss upheaval as a moisture problem (or lack thereof). Depending on your climate it could translate into a ventilation problem. I've often wondered if a power vent tied to a humidistat wouldn't help solve the problem of the trusses moving back down. Just a thought.
*Am building a house w/ floor trusses for the ceiling of first story - floor of second story. In north GA. I've read all the discussion on truss separation and it seems to be restricted to the arctic areas (like New England, upper midwest) and to roof trusses. Am I going to face this challenge? Have no intersecting non-load bearing intermediate walls that the trusses cross. Clear span 24 ft. Only insulation will be unfaced fiberglass for sound deadening.Don Reinhard
*I've never heard of a case of truss uplift using floor trusses. If you search the archives for truss uplift, you'll find descriptions of what causes it.
*I've seen this happen before when a basement froze and the columns lifted the steel beam which in turn lifted the partition walls which lifted the trusses right off the exterior walls. Also, they were spiked in but it pulled them right out. As far as a moisture problem I would have to disagree. As wood gets moist it swells width wise not length wise. I think your problem starts in the basement.
*
We started building our house about 3 years ago. We had a builder set the trusses, all seemed fine. I finally got around to doing some dry wall last year in the second story. I finished the stairway, walls and ceiling, during the spring/summer. All was well until winter then the truss(es) which run perpendicular to the stairwell lifted enough to cause about a 1/4 inch gap where the wall meets the ceiling. (OK here I must confess that when I finished the mud there were a couple of bubbles and I cut out the tape in a couple spots about an inch long-when it lifted up it was clear to see the gap) During the winter while this was raised up I thought it would stay that way and screwed a metal corner at the top of the stairwell to work on the hall. I didn't get any further and during the summer the truss went back down and the metal corner buckled. Now that winter is here it raised back up. Why??? We have a vapor barrier, I believe that the trusses are nailed to the wall, there are 2x4 cross bracing tying the trusses together. There is another section that the trusses are a little narrower and we have dry walled the rooms and they seem fine. Help!!!
Thanks