# Drywall Temperature stability



## ralphbeagle (May 24, 2006)

I am in the process of finishing my cabin in southern Houghton County in the UP. I would like to cover the walls with drywall. However the cabin will generally be unheated in the winter (since I'm 30 miles from the lake, -20 F is not unusual) and I'm concerned about expansion / contraction of the drywall and mud used on the seams leading to chronic cracking. Does anyone know how likely this is?


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## FREEPOP (Apr 11, 2002)

Moisture will be your worst enemy.


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## PLUMMER47 (Dec 9, 2006)

With today's high quality sheetrock, it will always crack. It only has to see a 50 degree swing. Even if you had steel studs. 30-40% moisture change. You should see alot of these foreclosed homes, the worst thing to do is leave a building unoccupied.


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## ralphbeagle (May 24, 2006)

Will the sheets themselves crack, or will it more likely be the seems that crack?


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## Steve (Jan 15, 2000)

So why don't I see this problem in my garage which has drywall and has been taped and mudded, where the temperature goes from 0 - 100 degrees?


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## WoW (Oct 26, 2010)

Steve said:


> So why don't I see this problem in my garage which has drywall and has been taped and mudded, where the temperature goes from 0 - 100 degrees?


Some places suffer more from expansion and contraction than others.

If a drywalled home is left unheated (like the repo example) there is an increased liklihood of cracks. It won't happen every time but, more often than not. 

There are other variables to consider and the fact that your garage is probably opening and closing on a regular basis goes a long way toward preventing that from happening.


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## WoW (Oct 26, 2010)

ralphbeagle said:


> Will the sheets themselves crack, or will it more likely be the seems that crack?


 
All the cracks I have seen are at joints or other places where there is mud.


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## Rumajz (Dec 29, 2005)

Some type of wood tongue and groove surface would work much better.


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## ralphbeagle (May 24, 2006)

I agree T&G wood would likely result in better looking walls - but since I'll be heating with wood I'm trying to avoid flammable materials. What I'm thinkng I might do is put up sheetrock but use some kind of trim over the joints rather than tapind and mudding them.


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## Big Reds (Oct 14, 2007)

Depending on the look you are going for, you would need some pretty wide trim to completely cover the tapered seams.
T-111 would be a good choice and install a heat shield behind the wood burner.
Wood does shrink and swell with fluctuating humidity levels. Acclimate the wood before installing (if you go that route).


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## Threefish (Jan 20, 2009)

You could go ahead and drywall it and see how it does. If it cracks than you could still make your changes later. It might not be as bad as you think but I would put a quality sealer and paint on it.


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## WoW (Oct 26, 2010)

Threefish said:


> You could go ahead and drywall it and see how it does. If it cracks than you could still make your changes later. It might not be as bad as you think but I would put a quality sealer and paint on it.


The best primer in the world won't make a difference.

And, once he sets his electrical boxes and trims it out, putting T111 or worse yet, T&G over it it will be a major PITA.


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## Mark S (Nov 4, 2009)

I could burn up 10 pages on this one but will try to keep it simple. Letting a house sit pulling moisture and then heating with a dry heat like a wood burner is going to give you issue's , drywall will crack , T&G will open up ,cabinet doors will crack the list goes on. Below are some things you can do to control and eliminate a lot of the issues you are going to have.
First deal with moisture.
A- If its on a crawl space condition it , if you do a Google on it you will find lots of good idea's if it's a basement install a dehumidifier and drain it to the crock.
B- Gutters install them.
C- when doing finish grade make sure you have at least 1" per foot slope for at least 10ft.
It sounds like the cabin is built so hopefully a good house wrap was used and all doors and windows are caulked and taped and sealing properly.
Now preparation.
Dry the house out before installing interior finishings. Rent, buy or borrow a good dehumidifier and get the humidity down in the 30's , let that acclimate for 3 days and control this through out the project.
Now installation.
Glue and screw . On the ceilings I do not allow the installer to put a fastener within 18" of a wall , they make clips for this. In the winter when heating , the ceiling joist or bottom truss chord is going to see the most heat/drying resulting in the most shrinkage. The clips allow for the shrinking letting the drywall move instead of cracking. In talking with Steve owner/engineer at Letherer truss we were discussing drywall cracks at the wall to ceiling joints and on how most of the time it is blamed on truss uplift. His response to me was this 99.9% of the time it is shrinking and improper drywall installation not truss lift. I have not had a call back since changing to these clips.
Now maintenance
When you fire up your wood burner make sure you run a good humidifier and maintain between 40-49% humidity.
Use Steve's garage as an example. His garage has no cracks and see's constant temperature changes, but the facts are it also see's constant humidity. Concrete wicks moisture and every time a door is opened it lets moisture in keeping the framing materials stable. Now lets go to Steve's and install a wood burner , fire it up and dry the garage to a 20% level for lets say 2 weeks. Steve's not gonna be happy anymore!

It is my opinion that settleing, shrinkage and improper installation that accounts for 95% of all drywall cracks .
I see too many seasonal homes that do not suffer from drywall cracks and If it were mine I wouldn't hesitate to drywall it using the precautions above.


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## The_Don (Apr 28, 2008)

Dont have a crack in my drywall, and i have been using a wood stove for 8 years and only turn on the humidifier when the skin gets itchy.


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## Mark S (Nov 4, 2009)

Itchy skin happens at below 40% depending on the person.
Nose bleeds and sinus infections at 20%.
Trying to warm up a cold cabin pouring the wood to the wood burner is going to dry the air quick. Most of the newer humidifiers I've seen come pre-set with a comfort setting turning on and off automatically , No more need to wait for itchy skin. I have ben heating with wood for 12 years with no issues either but like you I maintain my home.


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