How to Prevent Nail Pops

When nails pop, you’ll see it on walls and you’ll see it on ceilings. It starts out as a slight bulge. As time passes, it gets larger and larger. And then one day, when nobody is looking, the bulge turns into a perfect little disk that literally pops out at you. It’s a problem called ”nail popping” and it’s one of the most common drywall defects in the home.

Why does it happen? To find out, let’s take a trip back in time to when the house was being built. The two-by-stuff that became your wall studs and ceiling joists were no doubt stored outside, exposed to the weather and soaking up rain. As a result, the lumber expanded. The builder framed your home with these boards, closed the house in, and then nailed up your gypsum (drywall) board. Now that the lumber is indoors and out of the weather, it slowly begins to dry out and as it does so, it shrinks. But the nails securing your drywall don’t shrink. They stay the same length and diameter. Result? They are slowly pushed out a fraction of an inch. This movement is small, but it’s also cumulative. Winter comes and your house dries out even more. The framing shrinks another tiny bit, and the nails get pushed out even farther. The seasons change again. Summer humidity penetrates both studs and joists and they begin to swell. Winter returns and they shrink again. And with every little movement, the nails are nudged farther out of the framing. Eventually the strain is too much and the nails begin to rear their ugly heads.

OK, how do you prevent the problem, and how do you cure it? The best way to prevent the problem is to install drywall with screws instead of nails. More and more builders are doing just that. Short of that, you should use quality ring-shanked drywall nails. These usually grip the wood well enough to stay in place. If you already have popped nails, an example of the most effective fix is shown in the sketch. Press the drywall firmly against the stud and refasten it with two drywall screws. These have special bugle heads and are sold at any building supply outlet. Position these screws about 2 inches to either side of the popped nail (as shown), and drive them so their heads set just slightly below the surface of the wall. Once these screws are in, pull out the old nail. Don’t try to drive it back in. If you do this, it may work its way back out again. After the old nail is out, apply a thin coat of wallboard compound over your repair with a 6-inch putty knife. If a screw head shows through the compound, you didn’t drive the screw deep enough. Give it another half turn or so, reapply the compound and let it dry overnight. Then trowel on a second coat. After that dries, you can spot-paint the repair. If you have repaired several popped nails, you may want to repaint the entire wall or or ceiling, even the whole room. Once you have the repair puttied, you’ll have to cover over it with a torn patch.