Atreyou40

Unfortunately, these problems didn't crop up until a year or so after the 2 year move in warranty. How do they time that so well? Basically in every single corner of my house that leads to the raised ceiling, some nail heads have rusted, and caused the spackling and paint above the nail to fall off. I painted one of the rooms this was happening in, and tried to solve it by doing:

1) remove all paint and spackle surrounding nail head.
2) Wire wheel the nail head to remove rust
3) Spray nail head with rustoleum
4) Spackle smooth and paint

Didn't work, within a month, the paint had bubbled up again, it looks tacky and is ready to fall off. See here. Unfortunately, the quality of the pic isn't that great... but HERE is a pic of an identically constructed shower corner that shows what it looks like after the paint falls off. It's a very irritating problem. My Dad - the closest thing I know to a home improvement guru - says to dig the nails out and ram some deck screws into the holes, THEN spackle and paint... I have a lot of concerns about that especially if the nails don't wanna come out easy. I don't want to have to do any major drywall repair like I think I might have to here:

Master Bathroom wall to ceiling

I really don't understand what all of the "dust" is under that - or how to properly fix this joint to prevent moisture from the shower humidity getting in and ruining even more stuff - causing mold, etc... I've got a similar problem in my guest bathroom only this one's by the floor, up against the tub. But the symptoms are identical - the paint just bubbled up and flaked off, and when I started peeling it to check it out, a bunch of dust, which I assume is improperly mixed or applied drywall mud, came out. So now I'm really squeamish about how to fix THIS issue... Here's my plan, but I don't want to execute it and make things worse...

1) I am going to thoroughly remove every bit of loose mud/dust I can find
2) I'm going to use adhesive caulk to re-seal the tape to the drywall
3)after letting that dry - in the case of the guest bathroom, I'm going to apply some properly mixed mud/spackle to the space between the tub and the drywall (about 1/4" wide)
4) Retexture with some orange peel in a can and paint.

The part I'm really not sure about is getting that tape to stick again using caulk - is there some other adhesive? Should I remove that section of tape and apply new tape? I just don't know these answers, and don't want to do something that will cause me even more work in the future.

I linked to all the pictures because I didn't want this post to be a mile long (even though it pretty much is).

Basically I have 2 issues - the issue with the nails, and the issue with the bathroom seams. Thanks for reading and have a good one.

thekctermite

The nail issue appears to be a pretty standard drywall "nail pop" problem. It is very common and is normally caused by structural movement or wood shrinkage. The remedy is to use a drywall hammer to drive the nail home and then mud over it. Not all, but many if not most homes have this issue...Normally within a couple years of construction.

As for the tape issue, I'm not sure. Strange...Better pics would probably help. I'd say with 100% certainty that you shouldn't attempt to re-stick the tape that is there now. It needs to be replaced. Tape failure is often indicitave of a moisture problem or a generally poor tape job.

A hint: Post your pictures on this site instead of using links. Many people will not follow links to unknown sites, and having the pics right here makes your thread easier to follow. Nothing wrong with lots of pics, it helps.

__________________
The building code is a minimum standard, and merely meeting it instead of exceeding it equates to building your project to the worst standard that the law will allow.

Snav

We had that problem in our entire house - every inch - moreso in the kitchen and bathroom where the humidity is higher.

Basicly, your nail-heads aren't treated with a primer to allow full adhesion to the paint.

To solve it in the rooms we aren't doing a full remodel, yet, we removed all the unwanted nails (it's a pain but after trial and error repairs we realized it might be the only want to really fix the issue) and then replaced them with drywall screws ... using a insta-stop drywall bit that'll set it to the proper depth each time.

This keeps popping from being a problem - and then we primed the screwheads so it would take to the mud/paint.

thekctermite

There is absolutely no reason that you should ever need to paint a drywall screw or nail, period. Nor should the nail be even in contact with any paint. Doing so would be in conflict with the way drywall is hung and finished throughout the world, and would be nothing short of a complete waste of time.

Nails and screws that are driven to the proper depth around which the drywall is properly dimpled can be easily filled, or "spotted", with drywall mud...No paint of any kind necessary. After spotting each nail or screw at least two (preferrably three) times with lightweight drywall compound the compound is sanded and then the entire wall is primed. When all is said and done you'll have about 1/16" of drywall compound between the screw and the paint, and slightly more with nails in dimples properly nailed with a drywall hammer.

__________________
The building code is a minimum standard, and merely meeting it instead of exceeding it equates to building your project to the worst standard that the law will allow.

oldrivers

you can try pulling the nails "best" or take a punch and drive them home maybe not a good idea if you have stucco on the otherside of the wall. then put a few drywall screws next to it spackle with setting compound first coat. then finish ....

HOMEY

" SNAVs" reply is right on the money ,i beleive something else is going on ....where's the compound covering the nails ???they only nail on the perimeters of a sheet ! screws in the field,,,3 & 3 on outside walls on 16 inch centers, interior walls 3 every other center stud ,moisture problem or the nails were wet when used ,seen that before ..............