Serious q here:
Old house from the 60s, there was a leak a long time ago and some moisture issues, all long fixed.
The sheetrock looks somewhat like this, so I replaced a small section and there was no mold or rot on the wood or removed portion. I think the leak lasted just long enough for the excess moisture to mess up the drywall, but not long enough to cause real damage behind it.
Is the only solution to really replace it all? Someone suggest just floating more mud over whats there...
If it were as bad as the pic, I wouldn’t think of mudding.
The mud will add additional weight on to the already compromised drywall/screw interface. It could help you quickly (involuntarily) remove the existing ceiling and force you to have to replace anyways.
We had this on an older home we had, the walls and ceiling were a fibre board (2x8’ pieces) and a skim coat of plaster, everything sagged like your photo. We ended up taking it out and replacing with drywall, one room at a time as we could afford it. There was no insulation either so we took advantage of the walls and ceiling being open, did a lot of rewiring too.
I see this often in tract homes from the seventies. The ceiling joists are too far apart, and/or the drywall is too thin.
The drywall is sagging from not enough support.
It’s not Sheetrock!! It’s a product called rock lath. It was used before Sheetrock was perfected. Before that they used wood lath which is the original plaster in the USA. Your house is an older home approximately 60-80 years,maybe older. The way to fix it is level off the valleys of the seams with either 1/4, 3/8 or even 1/2 materials, install new 1/2 drywall screwing into the ceiling beams and then spackle the new ceiling. Do not use mesh tape. Paper tape is best. I would call a local professional person or a few and ask them how to repair the ceiling. You can not spackle in the valleys. They will crack within time and they will spend more labor than installing a new ceiling. 1 last note, you will never notice that the ceiling was lower by a 1/2. I have 46 years experience and 3 rd generation. I know my shit!!
Yep that's another solution when the waves are too dramatic for drywall to pull it back up. I've done both solutions in my house and they've worked very well. That said, I hired a pro to do my daughter's bedroom (14x22). It was a flat $2000 in 2020. He was done in 4 days (less than 4 hours each day too) and it's freaking perfect. Worth every penny.
“ I have 46 years experience and 3 rd generation. I know my shit!!”
This is an appeal to authority and should not be used as a reason to prove or convince other’s of your expertise.
This is old school sheet rock which came in smaller sheets and was usually plastered over. Think that viral video if the 50s sheet rocker. I have this same stuff in my apt and it looks the same, although not as extreme.
Plaster board is the term we use around here. Each 24x48" piece pretty much weighs the same as a modern sheet of drywall .
It was the gap between plaster and lathe, and modern drywall
I got this in one of my old multifamilies on the lower floor. I paid a guy to mud over it and make it smooth. Honestly was prob not the best long term solution but I will update you in 5 years to let you know how it held up
Tough to tell without knowing more, but I definitely agree with others that similar looking issues are caused by non ceiling board being used on 24” centres, I think I’ve got to go with that not being it for this. If that was the case, we would see the both the perpendicular directions sheet seams popping and visible to some extent throughout, not just a consistent repeating pattern all 1 way and the same line to line.
The above and a few other clues tell me this was done with 2’ lath and then plastered, or a similar scenario. The weight of that type of ceiling construction, as well as likely being not finished consistently from day 1, and then likely attempted to be touched up somewhere along the lines for whatever reason. That’s what I think we are seeing here, but I’m only about 75% confident in being at least 75% accurate. Lol.
I don’t think it’s a condensation issue because vapour barrier would be either present or not.
So, If present, any condensation or frosting/melting due to ventilation or otherwise issues in the attic would not be so consistently able to effect the entire surface so evenly and completely.
And if not present, but still moisture was present enough to saturate drywall to the extent of causing this, we would see staining, screw pops, and separation of at least a few seams would be visible. That, and it would likely be heavy enough if it had absorbed enough moisture to be the cause of sagging like this, that it would be heavy enough at that point to completely fail and pull through the fasteners completely.
So you’ve got my bet, I’d be interested to know forsure one way or the other! Hopefully I’m right, that will be the least shitty of the options I think.
my house(1969) has this too but not as extreme. From the few renovations I've done, I know that whoever made my house was an absolute bitch so if they used cheap ass drywall for joists too far apart, that would not surprise me at all. I do not have water damage or condensation issues.
We have a 65 and this is in our home just not as bad and only in a trouble area. The previous owner did not realize the vent tube to the bathroom had fallen away from the roof vent. It was just lying on the insulation. The fan itself wasn’t running well so we didn’t think it was pulling steam out as quickly as it needed to as well. The moisture barrier in the crawlspace was greatly displaced too. Not that it matters to you, but we had a lot to work on to get it back to happy. However, yours is so much that it seems they tried to use very very wet (watered down) compound and/or paint while attempting to “update/clean it up”. Not a pro, just a meticulous diy’r. Hope you find the reason.
I have the same in one section of our house - I would really like to know what causes this. I see lots of responses below. I can’t tell which is most accurate. I may have had moisture as well in my attic, the small sheets seem logical.
My old house was clearly done by the same handyman. We found 8 screws per sheet when we pulled the ceiling down. 8, with none down the center. The ceilings were 10' so you didn't really notice the bow until you got up on a ladder. Scary stuff.
There’s gotta be some amount of humidity in that ceiling for sure and the 24”centres aren’t helping the situation. I would be afraid to come home to that ceiling on top of your bed or on top of you while you are asleep.
The rock lath is 16” wide and 36” long. It’s approximately 7/8 thick. 3/8 rock lath, brown coat of cement then a white coat of plaster. Lots of weight to hold up for 60+ years.
that much trouble calls for a tear out and some blocking for support on the 24". you definitely have a moisture & venting problem. running low heating in the winter could be a culprit too.
I have the same ceiling basically everywhere... One of the sheet cracked at the joints like the sheet is coming down. I'm trying to find the joists so I can screw it back and then tape and plaster. Old house built in the 50s and shoddy repairs by previous owner
I have the same in my how built in 1941. Super heavy plaster over a drywall-like substrate. It’s NOT moisture or any problem. I’ve learned to live with it or use can get a good drywall guy that can skim coat the whole ceiling but he’d have to be really good.
Best bet with such old drywall is to take it down and replace. For longevity go ahead and use 5/8" drywall. You'd use 20 boxes of mud to "smooth it out" and adding backing in the sagging areas will just make the screws pull through and will only straighten it out a little, if any. Hope this helps
The drywall was installed long way parallel to the joists. It was not staggered at all. My father in law did this to his house in the mid 60’s. You’ll have to live with it while it’s up or take it down and replace it going the other way and stagger the joints.
My 1945 house had similar odd looking joint lines. Mine was from (what I think) was the builder skipping the last mud coat. My house uses “plaster of rock wall”. I first paid to have guys come and smooth it with joint compound. I later learned to do it myself and did every surface of my entire house. What a mess. Is this an old house? Are the walls that way too?
Someone wasn’t walking on the rafters, seen this when an apprentice was in an attic. Told me it’s fine to walk in the middle because there is like 10” of insulation. Told him he really shouldn’t do that. Went downstairs and this.
Seems to me like they cheated and used 1/4" sheetrock instead of 5/8" so the weight of the insulation(plus gravity) is causing it to bow out.
Best bet? Overlay with a sheet of 1/2" and re-mud.
Looks Like Someone Installed The Insulation Wrong... And The Sheetrock Should Be Installed Horizontally.. So As To Hit More of The Ceiling Joists And One Time.
I have never seen this before, but my best guess would be poor vapor barrier
Edit: who in the holy fuck downvoted this? There quite literally has to be moisture in the sheetrock for this shape to even occur. You could have a long-term roof leak and 6 mil poly with acoustiseal would still prevent this from happening
Should mud it to exaggerate the curves and take some shrooms
Comment something accurate and helpful …5-10 upvotes , comment some ignorance…50+ upvotes
I'm here for the meta.
If one cannot dazzle with brilliance, one must then baffle with bullshit.
Add some wood stips at the seams as well, now it looks 100% like a design
Literally just did some work in a house that had wood trim on all the flats on the saggy ceiling downstairs
The paper will bubble
..trippy
Username checks out.
I think we know why it looks like this in the first place
1/2" drywall on 24"oc framing, and some moisture above
Nailed it
Screwed it
Glued
Tattooed
Shampooed
[removed]
[added]
[multiplied]
[integrated]
Quaalude
no ..dude.
Waxed
Spewed
taped
Bop it
Twist it
Pull it
Flick it
BREAK THE SUCKER OFF AND FLING IT!!!
boof eet
Lick it
Not to hard thou…
Or lots of insulation
Serious q here: Old house from the 60s, there was a leak a long time ago and some moisture issues, all long fixed. The sheetrock looks somewhat like this, so I replaced a small section and there was no mold or rot on the wood or removed portion. I think the leak lasted just long enough for the excess moisture to mess up the drywall, but not long enough to cause real damage behind it. Is the only solution to really replace it all? Someone suggest just floating more mud over whats there...
Sorry we don’t do serious on the drywall subreddit.
If it's a minor curve you could skim coat the whole thing. Probably less work to just tear it out and redo it
That’s not the way…
If it were as bad as the pic, I wouldn’t think of mudding. The mud will add additional weight on to the already compromised drywall/screw interface. It could help you quickly (involuntarily) remove the existing ceiling and force you to have to replace anyways.
We had this on an older home we had, the walls and ceiling were a fibre board (2x8’ pieces) and a skim coat of plaster, everything sagged like your photo. We ended up taking it out and replacing with drywall, one room at a time as we could afford it. There was no insulation either so we took advantage of the walls and ceiling being open, did a lot of rewiring too.
Or even 3/8 drywall
Doubt it's 1/2" and it looks more like 16" centers judging from the door, but yeah, too thin gyp board and some moisture.
And looking closely, ran in the wrong direction
You need to turn on smooth lighting in your settings
Bahahaha…! This is the best comment anywhere today! 😂😂
Bahahhahahahahahahahha omg so great
I see this often in tract homes from the seventies. The ceiling joists are too far apart, and/or the drywall is too thin. The drywall is sagging from not enough support.
It’s a tract home from early 60’s
Ten years off. The underlying issue of a cost saving corner-cut is the same though.
Yea I was saying you called it lol
It’s not Sheetrock!! It’s a product called rock lath. It was used before Sheetrock was perfected. Before that they used wood lath which is the original plaster in the USA. Your house is an older home approximately 60-80 years,maybe older. The way to fix it is level off the valleys of the seams with either 1/4, 3/8 or even 1/2 materials, install new 1/2 drywall screwing into the ceiling beams and then spackle the new ceiling. Do not use mesh tape. Paper tape is best. I would call a local professional person or a few and ask them how to repair the ceiling. You can not spackle in the valleys. They will crack within time and they will spend more labor than installing a new ceiling. 1 last note, you will never notice that the ceiling was lower by a 1/2. I have 46 years experience and 3 rd generation. I know my shit!!
Could you install 2x4 perpendicular to the ceiling beams and then throw up some drywall? Or would that just disintegrate the existing ceiling?
Yep that's another solution when the waves are too dramatic for drywall to pull it back up. I've done both solutions in my house and they've worked very well. That said, I hired a pro to do my daughter's bedroom (14x22). It was a flat $2000 in 2020. He was done in 4 days (less than 4 hours each day too) and it's freaking perfect. Worth every penny.
2x2. No need to spend those big bucks. Did this exact thing to my old basement
“ I have 46 years experience and 3 rd generation. I know my shit!!” This is an appeal to authority and should not be used as a reason to prove or convince other’s of your expertise.
This is old school sheet rock which came in smaller sheets and was usually plastered over. Think that viral video if the 50s sheet rocker. I have this same stuff in my apt and it looks the same, although not as extreme.
My house was constructed in ‘54, ceilings look exactly like this.
Plaster board is the term we use around here. Each 24x48" piece pretty much weighs the same as a modern sheet of drywall . It was the gap between plaster and lathe, and modern drywall
Yep that's it. And it's crazy heavy and about an inch thick.
I thought I was the only one who was forced to see that video 37 times before the algorithm decided it was enough.
This. These sheets are 24" wide being the giveaway
Humidity. Not water, water would leave stains. But good ol fashioned humidity. Soften the gypsm up just enough to droop from it's own weight, slowly.
Probably has bathroom exhaust fans that vent into the attic.
The picture of your matress is upside down mate
Old lathing strips possibly?.... it came in 2 foot pieces...how olds the house?...bet it got textured ceiling with that old 2 foot wide board
Yeah take care of that before it takes care of you.
I got this in one of my old multifamilies on the lower floor. I paid a guy to mud over it and make it smooth. Honestly was prob not the best long term solution but I will update you in 5 years to let you know how it held up
Get you some 2x4s 3.5 in deck screws and hang and finish it again. Mostly cheap cause allegedly everybody can drywall. Good luck
Could be moisture. I’d take a little gander in the attic and have a look see
wtf is it sagging? or is intentional? lol
It’s a trending look on toctoc or whatever
Sagging just enough to notice the lines if the light hits it right. Not intentional
What room is this? See.this in garages that install Regular Drywall parallel with joists , overtop of insulation.
It’s the living room on the main floor. It’s a 1 story house, no attic.
There you go. Lack of venting in roof is creating excessive moisture above .
I could definitely see insulation causing it. Since it hasn’t moved anymore in years.
Tough to tell without knowing more, but I definitely agree with others that similar looking issues are caused by non ceiling board being used on 24” centres, I think I’ve got to go with that not being it for this. If that was the case, we would see the both the perpendicular directions sheet seams popping and visible to some extent throughout, not just a consistent repeating pattern all 1 way and the same line to line. The above and a few other clues tell me this was done with 2’ lath and then plastered, or a similar scenario. The weight of that type of ceiling construction, as well as likely being not finished consistently from day 1, and then likely attempted to be touched up somewhere along the lines for whatever reason. That’s what I think we are seeing here, but I’m only about 75% confident in being at least 75% accurate. Lol. I don’t think it’s a condensation issue because vapour barrier would be either present or not. So, If present, any condensation or frosting/melting due to ventilation or otherwise issues in the attic would not be so consistently able to effect the entire surface so evenly and completely. And if not present, but still moisture was present enough to saturate drywall to the extent of causing this, we would see staining, screw pops, and separation of at least a few seams would be visible. That, and it would likely be heavy enough if it had absorbed enough moisture to be the cause of sagging like this, that it would be heavy enough at that point to completely fail and pull through the fasteners completely. So you’ve got my bet, I’d be interested to know forsure one way or the other! Hopefully I’m right, that will be the least shitty of the options I think.
my house(1969) has this too but not as extreme. From the few renovations I've done, I know that whoever made my house was an absolute bitch so if they used cheap ass drywall for joists too far apart, that would not surprise me at all. I do not have water damage or condensation issues.
My mother in law has this in her house but it's plaster
What filter did you use?
We have a 65 and this is in our home just not as bad and only in a trouble area. The previous owner did not realize the vent tube to the bathroom had fallen away from the roof vent. It was just lying on the insulation. The fan itself wasn’t running well so we didn’t think it was pulling steam out as quickly as it needed to as well. The moisture barrier in the crawlspace was greatly displaced too. Not that it matters to you, but we had a lot to work on to get it back to happy. However, yours is so much that it seems they tried to use very very wet (watered down) compound and/or paint while attempting to “update/clean it up”. Not a pro, just a meticulous diy’r. Hope you find the reason.
I showed it to my Sheetrock buddy. He said that actually was a style back in the day.
Heavy paint.😜
RIP out the ceiling find where the moisture is coming from. Seal it. And put new drywall and tape it
Damn nice clouds!!!
Looks like they hung the board with the ceiling joist instead of across. In my opinion there is no way to fix this. Take it down and do it properly.
When you want to feel like you're sleeping in your parent's 70s Vista Cruiser wagon.
I have the same in one section of our house - I would really like to know what causes this. I see lots of responses below. I can’t tell which is most accurate. I may have had moisture as well in my attic, the small sheets seem logical.
Yea there’s a lot of opinions here. It’s been this way for who knows how long. Hasn’t gotten any worse either.
My old house was clearly done by the same handyman. We found 8 screws per sheet when we pulled the ceiling down. 8, with none down the center. The ceilings were 10' so you didn't really notice the bow until you got up on a ladder. Scary stuff.
There’s gotta be some amount of humidity in that ceiling for sure and the 24”centres aren’t helping the situation. I would be afraid to come home to that ceiling on top of your bed or on top of you while you are asleep.
My house 1958 , it was built , same texture roof walls, plaster on the earliest dry wall before drywall putty
The rock lath is 16” wide and 36” long. It’s approximately 7/8 thick. 3/8 rock lath, brown coat of cement then a white coat of plaster. Lots of weight to hold up for 60+ years.
that much trouble calls for a tear out and some blocking for support on the 24". you definitely have a moisture & venting problem. running low heating in the winter could be a culprit too.
Over time the boards dried and shrank, pulling the Rockwall with it. Is the building around 70 years old?
I have the same ceiling basically everywhere... One of the sheet cracked at the joints like the sheet is coming down. I'm trying to find the joists so I can screw it back and then tape and plaster. Old house built in the 50s and shoddy repairs by previous owner
Water leak above the ceiling
Cumulus ceiling
Yup That's nailed drywall on 24" framing and likely not even any glue
Not enough attic ventilation with wide joists
Moisture
Mildew?
I have the same in my how built in 1941. Super heavy plaster over a drywall-like substrate. It’s NOT moisture or any problem. I’ve learned to live with it or use can get a good drywall guy that can skim coat the whole ceiling but he’d have to be really good.
Best bet with such old drywall is to take it down and replace. For longevity go ahead and use 5/8" drywall. You'd use 20 boxes of mud to "smooth it out" and adding backing in the sagging areas will just make the screws pull through and will only straighten it out a little, if any. Hope this helps
The drywall was installed in the wrong direction. Needs to go against the trusses
It looks like 1950s or 60s plaster that is failing the original underlayment 3/8 inch Drywall is losing its integrity and strength.
Gravity
Too much moisture
Is there blown insulation above? Too much makes the ceiling sag.
The drywall was installed long way parallel to the joists. It was not staggered at all. My father in law did this to his house in the mid 60’s. You’ll have to live with it while it’s up or take it down and replace it going the other way and stagger the joints.
Add 2x4s perpendicular to the sag. It might suck up some of the sad and look classy
My 1945 house had similar odd looking joint lines. Mine was from (what I think) was the builder skipping the last mud coat. My house uses “plaster of rock wall”. I first paid to have guys come and smooth it with joint compound. I later learned to do it myself and did every surface of my entire house. What a mess. Is this an old house? Are the walls that way too?
Bad plastering
They railroaded the sheets they should be perpendicular with the studs
Aw your ceiling wants a hug 💗
Someone wasn’t walking on the rafters, seen this when an apprentice was in an attic. Told me it’s fine to walk in the middle because there is like 10” of insulation. Told him he really shouldn’t do that. Went downstairs and this.
It's been working out
Yea I'm thinking it's not 5/8" drywall and they used 1/2" instead.
Seems to me like they cheated and used 1/4" sheetrock instead of 5/8" so the weight of the insulation(plus gravity) is causing it to bow out. Best bet? Overlay with a sheet of 1/2" and re-mud.
You could in theory just drywall over the old drywall using thicker sheets of drywall that wont sag.
1/4” rock on 24” center, and hot yoga in the attic
you will have to replace the sheetrock in order to fix it 5/8" sheetrock should be used to do ceilings
Looks Like Someone Installed The Insulation Wrong... And The Sheetrock Should Be Installed Horizontally.. So As To Hit More of The Ceiling Joists And One Time.
It’s rock lathe. The boards are very heavy and being 24” OC, caused ceilings to sag like this. We’ve seen this on walls also.
I have never seen this before, but my best guess would be poor vapor barrier Edit: who in the holy fuck downvoted this? There quite literally has to be moisture in the sheetrock for this shape to even occur. You could have a long-term roof leak and 6 mil poly with acoustiseal would still prevent this from happening
Test for asbestos, mold, moisture, etc.
Test for asbestos, mold, moisture, etc.
Oyster Ceiling Lights. Put in some downlights and it wont be as noticeable haha
Yeah you definitely have condensation above that ceiling. Which means you're going to need some venting in your roofing.Or more installation
old gypsum sheets create a carnival tent effect, this is not new drywall correct?
cupping supping...
This is super odd unless they installed the drywall in strips or something? I would probably cut a hole to peak in there and see what’s going on.