Had to redo a whole ceiling after the builder insisted on 1/4 inch over 5/8

Told him it would sag like crazy but he wanted to save $12 a sheet and sure enough 3 weeks later I was back cutting out 16 feet of bowed drywall in that new subdivision outside Phoenix, anybody else deal with builders who ignore the span ratings?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_sage4d agoMost Upvoted

Twelve bucks a sheet is nothing when you're eating a whole redo plus materials and labor. Span ratings exist for a reason, they didn't just make them up for fun. Hopefully that builder learned his lesson but knowing those types he'll find some other corner to cut next time.

faith274d ago

Wait, isn't the span rating actually part of what the manufacturer prints right on the plywood though? Like I'm pretty sure the span rating tells you the max distance between joists or rafters it can safely cover, not just some random number they made up. The whole point is you match the span rating to your actual framing layout, so if you use something with a 24 inch span rating on 32 inch centers, that's just asking for a saggy bouncy floor or a roof that flexes. It kind of sounds like the builder either ignored the stamp or didn't bother to check what he was buying, which is honestly worse than just being cheap. Twelve bucks extra per sheet is a steal compared to tearing out a whole subfloor or dealing with callbacks later on. I feel like a lot of folks don't realize that rating is basically a safety and performance spec, not a suggestion.

margaretc424d ago

Didn't the span rating literally get printed on every sheet of drywall since the 90s? Some builders treat that like a suggestion and then act surprised when physics wins. Twelve bucks a sheet is nothing compared to that redo plus all the wasted time hauling out the old board. I've seen guys do this with subfloor plywood too, trying to stretch 7/16 across 24 inch centers in a basement. Always ends the same way with a belly in the floor you could park a truck in. Cheap upfront hurts twice as bad on the back end.