# 10 month old house: Settling or absolute botch job?



## davian45 (11 mo ago)

Hey guys,

Wife and i just moved into a brand new house 10 months ago and as the house settles etc, a ton of cracks/separations have developed. I know some are to be expected in areas but i feel this is above what is normal. Just thought I'd post and get some opinions. Besides an absolute terrible job overall with mudding and taping, is what i'm seeing to be expected or is this just a shitty drywall job? Wrong mud? Not enough coats? Tape wasn't pushed into the corners well enough and is pulling away? Thanks for replies.


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## Shelwyn (Apr 10, 2015)

I'd hate to say it but it sounds like a cheap drywall job. Poorly done? It's what was paid for and both the supervisor and the subcontractor found the job acceptable for the time given and the amount of money paid. I'll admit it's particularly trashy but it's still acceptable for a cheap and quick drywall finish. A quick level 3 with orange peel sprayed on top to cover any defects. 

Anyway it might be a bit of both to answer your question. Cheap and poorly done but acceptable for the price and timeline.

Don't worry too much these are very easy fixes.

If you want try and contact the builder but I doubt you'll get anything done if it was a cheap job. 

You're better off either hiring someone to fix it or doing it yourself. 

I can tell you how to fix it if you don't have any experience doing it yourself. Not sure how valuable your time is it might be better hiring someone to fix the problems.


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## picks drywall (Apr 13, 2021)

a lot of builders around here have a 1yr run through. they touch up things that have moved. like he said they arent too bad of fixes at least.


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## Tonydif (May 8, 2021)

Are.those pics the upstairs ceiling angle? If so , google "truss lift". It's very common , especially with roofs designed for snow fall..


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## ftcdwp (11 mo ago)

I've found locally in colorado, especially northern colorado that the ground settles and shifts constantly, Thanks rockies! But that means a lot of walls and adjustments need to happen often. It's probably salvageable honestly


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## hendrix417 (Aug 9, 2018)

this is not a botch job... can't blame drywall man for any type of movement... if nothing moves, job will always be as the day it was painted. wet lumber, ground movement, and truss lift are your enemies.. simple fixes, if not for the texture, but will probably return with time. sorry


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## kwik (Oct 21, 2021)

This looks to me like truss lift. We see this problem here in WI quite a lot. You can fix it, but it will likely come back. We used to notice it sometimes more for 1 builder as compared to others, we deducted this as to where they were getting their trusses from. About 25 years ago, when hanging the ceilings we eliminated any fasteners around the perimeter of the rooms, trying to have the closest ones at least 16" away if possible. When doing the walls, push the top sheet tight & fasten. This way when you get truss lift the ceiling will float in the corners. Works great, very few callbacks.


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## cliokounte (4 mo ago)

It looks like it might happen because the soil is moving. It happens to almost all houses eventually, I’m afraid. Very hard to avoid it. I would also like to buy a new house with my wife, but I am not sure whether now’s the right time since the US real estate market is in pretty bad shape now. There are too many simultaneous processes that are difficult to follow. Thanks to https://timthomas.co/signs-of-a-housing-market-crash/, I can at least gauge that the market is probably going to crash soon. Sad, but we still need to make a quick decision in the near future.


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