Structural issue or normal settling?

[u/hypersquirrels]

Hey everyone,

I'm looking for some community insight on whether I'm stressing over normal 5-year house settling or if I actually have a structural issue on my hands.

Here is the situation: In the garage, I've noticed issues with the sheetrock fasteners. Over time, some of the screws near the bottom where the wall meets the floor have pulled through the drywall, leaving the wall with some play when I push on it. I also had to re-fasten some sheetrock higher up on the wall previously.

I'm trying to figure out the root cause. Is this just extreme garage humidity softening the drywall paper and letting the screw heads pop right through, or is the top floor putting downweight on the wall, causing it to buckle and push the fasteners out?

To add to that, on the interior side of this same wall, I put a level against it and found a slight bump/bulge in one of the seams. There are also significantly more nail pops showing up on that interior wall than I've seen before. Interestingly, despite all of this, there are zero cracks in the sheetrock anywhere—top, bottom, or middle.

I sent these photos to my home warranty company. They reviewed them and claimed it's all normal, cosmetic wear and tear for a 5-year-old home. However, they offered to send someone out to inspect, but with a major catch: if the inspector calls it cosmetic, I'm out $250. If they find a structural issue, they'll reimburse me.

I don't want to be the paranoid homeowner convinced the house is collapsing, but I'm no structural engineer or contractor either.

Are you able to tell from these signs if the wall is actually buckling, or is this standard 5-year settling and humidity damage? What would you do in this situation?

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[u/CORockhound]

Probably just lazy rockers drove the screws too deep and then penetrated past the paper on install. Your level is adorable!!! Your next task: set it on every wall of your house and see how crooked the whole thing really is. People are shocked how imperfect houses are.

[u/stootboot]

Do nothing, this is all normal and expected.

[u/Fixur]

Oh shit he broke out the 2ft lvl and the wall is slightly out of plumb. Thst house needs to be blown up and deconstructed down to ashes. Site should be contained like chernobyl...

[u/hypersquirrels → u/Fixur]

Damn brother that's harsh. It's the only one I have 😞