Drywall Bubble Ceiling


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Old 04-14-13, 09:31 AM
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Drywall Bubble Ceiling

Hi,

I have been posting more recently... and I probably will. Living in my house for 6 months i've seen more and more things happen so before I call in a contractor I would like to get some advice from you fine people. Our house was built in 1947 and was foreclosed on by a bank who had a team of people remodel the house. From talking to the neighbors they gutted this house and redid everything. Drywall was not their strong suit as we noticed some vertical drywall cracks elsewhere in the house. Every surface has knockdown texture as well which is probably to cover up some things.

The first picture links will show a picture of a drywall ceiling (or plaster?) on the second floor of my house below the attic. The attic seems dry except for one patch where the wood has water stains. Our inspector told us that the wood was dry and that those stains are most likely fairly old. The picture shows bubbles in the ceiling that are very mild. When pressed they crack a bit so i have not pressed had.

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There is also two links (1232, 1234) in there from the 1st floor ceiling in the room below the second floor ceiling's room. We are investigating because while we have not had water drips in that room we thing there might be a leak somewhere. Especially the spot near the lights concerns me. The corner spots might be because they just cut in and didn't care to do a good paint job.

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In image 1234, is it possible they just put knockdown on the old ceiling and did a ****ty job of painting over it so previous stains are showing through... or should i just call a roofer?

Thanks a lot guys.
 
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Old 04-14-13, 10:55 AM
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It is hard to decipher anything from the pictures, my computer must be on the fritz. If it is a plaster ceiling, previous moisture could have caused the finish layer to delaminate from the scratch coat. If this is the case, rapping with your knuckle on the bubble and then the surrounding area will tell you if it is hollow or not. Solid ceiling will thud, hollow ceiling will be a higher pitch and sound very different.

Water stains can be tough buggers in some cases. Depends on how much tannin leached out of the wood. Oil based stain blockers have a better success rate than latex ones. Another coat of paint (if you have some) over the stain will tell you if you have one of the stubborn stain varieties. If that is the case, I shellac, poly or whatever over the troubled area to lock in the stain and then top coat.
 

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Old 04-14-13, 11:19 AM
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Knocking on the patches sounds hollow for sure.

The company definitely used HD latex paint.
 
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Old 04-14-13, 05:44 PM
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Does anyone else have any insight?
 
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Old 04-14-13, 06:01 PM
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I can't tell how big the bubbles are from the pics. Is it possible they are starved drywall tape bubbles?
 
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Old 04-14-13, 06:38 PM
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I really hope so. The bubbles are not very big but are located parallel to each other making me think it cannot be tape as the tapes would not be this close together. Additionally, on the floor below this room is the ceiling with the stain.
 
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Old 04-15-13, 04:45 AM
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I also had a hard time coming from any definite conclusions from the pics

My first thought is along the lines of a poor paint job. The 2nd pic almost looks like a coverage issue. If the bubbles are from moisture, you'd be able to pop and/or scrape off the bubble. To me it looks more like a bulge in the drywall where it go damaged somewhere along the line.

As czizzi mentioned, latex primers aren't very effective for sealing water stains! Even when they do work, it's often short term. Oil base primers are very effective at sealing water stains. It takes a severe stain for oil primer not to work but a pigmented shellac like Zinnser's BIN will - it's the ultimate stain hiding primer with great adhesion properties ...... but it's also the stinkiest
 
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Old 04-15-13, 05:26 AM
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Ok, thanks guys.

Maybe I should ask the builder to see if they had replaced the drywall ceiling or just painted over it. Painting over it might show why this is happening.

I will assume the bulges on top are from ****ty dry walling and keep my eyes open. There seem to be cracks in the drywall in various locations throughout the house... most often along the tape line so no surprises there.

Do you think it would be wise to wait and see if the stain gets worse or to get contractors in there to look for a leak? I've asked some roofers in the past to come take a look but they all wanted money to do an 'inspection'. I have always been told that an estimate or proposal should be free.
 
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Old 04-15-13, 11:26 AM
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Sometimes when they have a lot of work, some contractors will charge for an estimate or inspection

Can you get in the attic with a bright flashlight? There won't be any stains on the wood if there hasn't been any leaks. It does take a little experience to tell the difference between an old stain and a current one but hopefully we can help you figure it out.

Talking to the contractor that did the work for the bank could be helpful, especially if he's no longer obligated to stand behind the work since he would be less likely to cover up or hide any corners he had to cut to satisfy the bank's pricing..... not saying he did cut corners, but it's nice to get as many facts as you can.
 
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Old 04-16-13, 06:36 AM
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there is a large water stain on the attic wall above the two rooms. However, the inspector said that stain was an old stain, not a new one.

I asked the inspector why he had not mentioned this in the report and he said that since he felt it was an old stain and the roof looked in good condition he did not want to write it down. He then stated that if he had to write every single small thing down no one would ever buy a house. In his opinion it was an old stain.
 
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Old 04-16-13, 04:15 PM
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It may be an old stain, I can't say. You will need to use a solvent based primer to coat the stain to keep if from bleeding thru the latex paint. If there is no leak, that will be the end of the issue.

Inspections vary greatly. A lot depends on who is paying [or hiring] the inspector and how much he's being paid. A well paid inspector hired by the buyer is obligated to do a comprehensive job. One paid by the seller or real estate agent [maybe just recommended by them] is more there to facilitate the sale than to look out for your best interests. Some locales will highly regulate inspectors while in other locales it's anyone's game
 
 

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