Rive said:
Temperature changes does the same as humidity changes. Wood contracts then expands, and the (far too old, thick and rigid) paint sandwich develops cracks, then peels off.
It is often enough to paint over, but at some point you will have to get rid of all the previous layers first.
Not as if the new layer won't develop cracks too, but at least it is not so visible if it is just one layer ---
I can attest to the fact of temperature change problems you've mentioned also.
This type question may be particularly perused by homeowners searching for answers to fractures (cracks) and adhesion failures well into the future, so if no one minds, I'll add more info on moisture too because it goes hand-in-hand with temperature and climate. In a way this post may better fit under a landscaping and/or foundation thread prefix.
Regarding temperature, in some cases home developers in my area decided to try saving time or money by building soffits formed with only particle board to hide exposed ductwork, in some types of basements. Their plans were usually to have a company like mine use paper drywall tape to cover the joints and then finish directly over the wood product like what would be done over a wall/ceiling. There were two major downsides to this and I highly recommended against doing this. One downside is that
paraffin wax is added to the oatmeal-like board mix during manufacture, possibly to semi-resist water. Consequently, the low adhesion of water-based mud compound (plaster) used to apply the tape, did not stick well to the wood because of the wax. The other downside is that these boards expand in all directions (since the fiber is random and the resin is a type of plastic) and apparently expand more than the paper tape (also wood fiber), a common characteristic of most plastics.
The installed paper tape seemed to pop off the wood surface after the first heating season similar to a flake. Since the tape didn't appear to blister, the loss of adhesion seems uniform, a shear. Still, there is also the very real possibility that humidity caused some pressure, driven from the hot core, presenting another case of moisture expansion lifting the weak, waxed, adhesive point; the plane of wood to compound. The paraffin itself can also have gassed or a multiple combination of volatiles ensued. Under the dry, protected temperate conditions where the paper tape works as intended, I have read it will hold about 25 pounds of tension per lineal inch of joint, still not much considering all the possible forces of defeat.
Further Comments:
FYI, plywood worked a little better, but I usually encouraged the use of proper framed gypsum sheet anyway. Gypsum (otherwise known as plaster of Paris) is the standard self-hardener for all interior plasters, with portland cement being preferred outdoors. The gypsum sheet is safer than wood products because it is fire resistant, unlike wood which is fuel. Also note that all the water used in mixing gypsum, is released when gypsum is heated to the boiling temperature (This boiling-off must be done to the raw mined product to prep it for consumer use). Then just like a kettle of water, the outer sheet surface can therefore get no hotter than about 212⁰ F (100⁰ C) even if a much hotter flame is right behind the inner surface... that is until it runs out of water. So this suspended transition state is true of a boiling kettle or gypsum wall. The resulting retarding effect then suppresses flashover, slows home and industrial fires and has made a world of difference in saving lives, especially when it was finally also applied to mobile homes. Gypsum should therefore always be applied behind wood decorated walls just to slow fire from blowing through the entire building, room-to-room. Gypsum is a dry built-in sprinkler system.
In my experience of a variety of home troubles, I have grown to believe a main culprit is the vague action of water molecules, hidden behaviors that are not so obvious. To give him credit, jim mcnamara had earlier mentioned (post #27) the migration problem and I mostly agree with him.
One other point to add: Tyvek is not really a general moisture barrier... it is a specific barrier to condensed, wet water... but not dry water vapor. This outer-house-wrap serves the identical purpose that GoreTex does, only for home "socks", not foot socks for people. The Tyvek resists water leaks that may occur around windows, doors and other breaches on the outside. Just as importantly it resists wind-pressure air movements that tend to make the walls breathe too much and defeat loose fill insulations. But any humidity that accidently gets past the low permeable interior moisture barrier (generally polyethylene sheet,
Visqueen brand for example, NEVER
Tyvek) can migrate outside through the Tyvek with ease and continue to dissipate without creating wall cavity moisture build-up. The Tyvek "perspires" the vapor away... just as Gore-Tex does for sweaty human feet. Yet like Gore-Tex, Tyvek keeps wet water out. The common trick of both is tiny perforations, big enough for single vapor molecules, too small for condensed water droplets.
Story:
Yesterday I watched an OR video in an adjacent room as my wife underwent cataract surgery. In the room was an attendent, an elderly (more elderly than me) lady who, when I responded to her questions on what types of work I have done, immediately mentioned she recently had developed a mysterious cracking problem with her home.
Since the lady mentioned it seemed random throughout her house and included interior walls, I suggested the home foundation was probably moving, which has given me many headaches over the years. Her eyes lit up and she then offered that, to repair the floor covering, her husband had already ground parts of the old basement floor back to level after it recently bulged.
Have any here ever wondered and thought about why their basement floor not only bulges (aha, the old blister effect) and occasionally even leaks water?
In her case there is a possibility that her newly installed sprinkler system is contributing to the issue. One has to understand the home history to know the likely cause.
After a foundation is dug, first the footings and later the concrete walls are poured. Any foundation must be at least four feet deep in cold country, hopefully below the frost line. Because there is a real fear of the yet unsupported open-top soft green walls caving in, the hurried landscaper oh-so gingerly pushes the clay back around the outside edge so that framers can conveniently work and add a sturdy flooring deck across the top... which then helps support the center top of the walls from caving in from soil pressure. Even then, sometimes an untimely rainstorm will be too much for the not-fully-cured cement..
Cave-in is a traumatic thing. Unfortunately, because of the cave-in fear and the hurry, the clay fill near the foundation is often never packed well, so it naturally settles later. If this flaw is not specifically corrected, it can become a major problem later. This scenario would mean that the newly established landscape "clay pan", the natural barrier to water which acts as the yard sub-drain system, now funnels water toward the foundation. Of course to compound this case, when the sandy, loamy topsoil is added, the dip near the foundation is often hurridly leveled with this more porous black soil -- not good. Problems from this arise during rainy seasons and sometimes from new sprinkler systems. The cure is to correct the entire base angle of drainfield away from the home. Hard work and quite pricy if not DIY.
BillTre hit the nail on the head in post #3. Water can be nefarious. As the climate changes, water tables also change over the years and homes nearly a century old can start moving because the clay layers that the foundation sits on, may slowly absorb water and swell. Unfortunately the lady I met is alone now and, if this condition is true, this type fix is to laboriously install drain tile near the footings and then install a sump pump in a collector... which can also be rather expensive if one cannot DIY.
Wes
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