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jaw2000

Ceiling Failure HELP

jaw2000
21 years ago

Hello, I'll try to keep this short.

Basically our home is about 27 years old. The ceiling in our master bedroom just came within hours of catastrophic collapse, a week ago. We had a contractor shore it up, took some pics etc. Today the Ins co adjuster said sorry not covered. He gave at cursory look and said not evidence of water damage therefore not covered. He thinks it is a result of either settling or poor builder work.

My contractor says that the sheets all failed, and evidently did so at basically the same time. There are no serious nail pops because the nails are all in the joists, they all worked their way or pulled their way through the wall board.

My contractor says that there must have been water damage, to cause this total failure, it is also no where else in the house, which may discount bad builder work.

He thinks that moisture, water, condensation (something), must have wet the insulation that in turn wicked into the boards and over time caused the total failure. He also says that this scenario would likely not have left any water damage marks. Which seem to be what the adjuster was looking for.

Anyway, if you have any thoughts or ideas or opinions please help.

The adjuster says the fix is around $400 - $500, to patch the really damaged split and re-install the rest of the 14x20 existing ceiling with more screws and mud.

My contractor says that if the old nails worked through the boards, that new screws would too, he says the whole of it must be removed and a new ceiling put in with new insulation and a vapor barrier to prevent any future re-occurances.

Thanks for your time and thoughts.

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