how can I avoid nail pops?

[nereo]

Appreciate any advice -
I live in a newly renovated house built in 1915.  Most of the walls are you typical constructions (16" studs covered in drywall), but the interior walls on two sides are gypsum boards over lathe plaster. 

Recently I've mounted some floating shelves onto one wall.  Each time I mounted a shelf, the drywall bulged in some spots a few inches above or below the shelf where a nail was popping up.   
It's easy enough to fix - I just punched the nail back down, used some mud and smoothed it back out.  But it's a pain because now I have all these patches I have to repaint.

My question: is there anyway of avoiding this?  Maybe I screwed the screws down a bit tight, but I didn't want the shelf to wobble and fall down.

[Beridian]

I am not a professional, but I have done a number of drywall projects over the years.  One thing that I learned (the hard way) is to screw AND GLUE the drywall to the studs.   I run a bead of Liquid Nails construction adhesive down the stud before placing the drywall.  I did this for the entire second story of my bungalow including the ceiling and the underside of the sloping roof and I have not had a single screw or nail pop.  I have heard that this is how the pros do it to avoid trouble in the future.   Sadly some of my earlier pre-glue efforts have screw-pops. 

Best suggestion I can make to repair screw-pops is to make sure the drywall is seated tightly against the stud, if the drywall is even slightly loose and you press against it, bingo you will have screw pops.   Press it tight against the stud, add a few more screws, and use mud+tape over the screws.

Good luck!

[nereo]

Best suggestion I can make to repair screw-pops is to make sure the drywall is seated tightly against the stud, if the drywall is even slightly loose and you press against it, bingo you will have screw pops.   Press it tight against the stud, add a few more screws, and use mud+tape over the screws.

Ok - but currently I have all my walls painted, and we've been slowly adding things to them (shelves, art, sconces, etc).  So if I understand what you are saying, my best bet is to add more nails/screws to the drywall to make sure its more firmly attached (and then mud and repaint)?
oy.

[Willbrewer]

Locate the studs under the lathe strips and use those for the anchor points for the screws. To find the studs you could use a studfinder (get one at Lowes or Home Depot) or try tapping on the wall with your knuckle and listen for the change in tone.

[luigi49]

Screwing the drywall to the stud might be enough. 

[nereo]

thanks.  I know how to find the studs - my question was more along the lines of "is there any way of preventing nail-pops from happening without having to redo the entire wall (screw, tape, mud, prime and paint)."  Sounds like the answer is no.
Guess I know what I'll be doing this weekend!

[luigi49]

I am not an expert or professional with drywall.  I have done a lot of drywally at home.  I used drywall screw and it hasnt pop on me yet.  This is 19 years ago and drywall is still there.  Of course I had to screw it to stud and if you are not comfortable with that you can try liquid nail like the other poster suggested. 

[jba302]

If I'm thinking of this as the correct problem, use screws not nails. There isn't enough sheer stress to necessitate nails.

[Greg]

thanks.  I know how to find the studs - my question was more along the lines of "is there any way of preventing nail-pops from happening without having to redo the entire wall (screw, tape, mud, prime and paint)."  Sounds like the answer is no.
Guess I know what I'll be doing this weekend!

The answer is indeed no.  The reason this happens is because the studs shrink slightly as they age.  The distance between the underside of the nail or screw increases as a result.  Then when you screw something to the stud it draws the drywall tight again.

[el Katz]

Easiest way to fix a nail pop is to wrap a drywall broad knife with a paper towel, place the wrapped knife over the nail, and firmly tap it with a hammer. Look at it and, if it's still proud, repeat. If the paper isn't broken, it should be fixed. The paper towel keeps the knife from marking the wall with metal marks. I've been doing this for 20 plus years.

If you are digging out nails, pull the nail out and replace it with a drywall screw. It will prevent it from working out again.

[paddedhat]

In this specific case, no, you probably can't prevent this from happening. Assuming a best case when laminating drywall to existing lath and plaster, it is screwed in place and all screws penetrate into studs. Bottom line is that it's a tough thing to do, and a lot of fasteners end up just biting into wood lath. Nails are not only not the best idea for this application, but they can do some damage since any banging on old lath and plaster walls tends to knock "keys" off the back side of the lath. Keys are just the portion of the first coat of plaster that oozes through the gaps in the lath and forms a "hook" that holds the whole assembly together. Once you bust enough keys, plaster comes off in big sheets, and sometimes a layer of drywall is the only thing holding the whole mess in place, LOL.  When you are screwing your new shelves in, you a literally compressing the whole assembly (lath, three layers of plaster, and the drywall) Since the nailed drywall failed to really get the "sandwich" compressed tight, your screw causes the nail to pop. A full blown body slam on that wall would do the same thing. Bottom line, it's like floor squeaks, and other charms of old homes, just one of those things. Have fun.