[Wiotte]

Originally Posted by DangeloInspections

Thank you Wiotte,



No offense taken. Every Lanai configuration is different. Sometimes it depends weather the trusses are parallel or perpendicular to the direction of the drywall. To answer your question, yes, I have discussed this with some of the builders and with warranty.



My opinion may not hold as much weight when compared to the engineers, Architects and the county building inspector. Of course, the answer to all this is somewhat subjective.



This could be caused by many contributing factors. For instance, I hardly never see these cracks in a courtyard villa Lanai. Perhaps because they are generally smaller? I see less of these cracks when the lanai is insulated....BUT, typically a lanai is insulated because it is enclosed....thus it may be because the temperatures on both sides of the drywall would be in that case close to the same.



So....is it strictly a framing issue? Perhaps not, as the rest of your home is framed the same way, and while we DO find SOME cracks inside the home, not nearly as much. SO...if it were strictly a framing issue, one might think you would see the same cracks all over the inside, which we do not.



Would we perhaps see less Lanai cracks if the framing were different...? Probably. It only makes sense that the more nailing area one has and the more points of attachment, the less movement you may have. But that is NOT the same as saying the current framing is deficient. That is like saying, in a car crash, would my car crunch less if I had big steel I beams welded to frame....sure it would. That does not mean that my car, without the big I beams was built wrong.



I think the cause of these Lanai cracks is a combination of many issues....more screws may help, different drywall mud may help, insulation may help, bridging may help, stiffeners may help, different paint may help, etc, etc.



Is it a attic temperature issue? Perhaps. Can the drywall mud they use take the temperature extremes? Would using Durabond 90 be a better choice? Does the color of the roof matter? They are now finding that a light roof uses 5% less energy to condition the home than a dark roof.



Would a elastomeric paint bridge and hide any cracks the drywall mud may show?



So it could be any of these or a combination of them. Sometimes it is the framing. There is one model where we almost ALWAYS find a crack in a certain specific area in a specific room. That particular crack is most likely a framing issue. Every model has different things we KNOW we will find. When you do over 500 warranty inspections a year in The Villages you know what to look for in the different homes. And while The Villages builds a good home, nothing this side of Heaven is perfect.



Personally, I think the lanai ceiling issue is a combination of all of these things.



As I said before, when you think of the cost of the drywall, the texture finishing, the labor, etc, compared to using a vinyl beadboard soffit product, I would think the latter would be less costly and I KNOW less problematic. But that is only my opinion....I am not a builder, or an engineer, or a developer, or the AHJ.



As a home inspector, this is the stuff we think about all the time. We go to seminars that teach on this stuff. We study about every aspect of home building everyday. This kind of stuff is basically our life.



I've actually had homeowners think that because the Lanai ceiling looks alot like the stucco, they can power wash it. They think it is cement stucco and are shocked to find out it is regular interior drywall. Note to all....do not power wash it. It is the same materials as the ceilings inside your home. It will not take power washing.



Hope that helps!



Frank D'Angelo ACI

Good summation. Now, if only the various builders will do the right thing and fix the existing issues and change the way they construct going forward. At that point, our houses would be close to perfect. After all, these homes are what we all worked for all those years.


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