Hi there! I was hoping someone could help me with a problem we are having with a wall in our new home (less than 3 years old). (I would go back to the builder, but they went belly-up...so I digress.)
So here's the situation...the wall is an exterior wall. It extends the height of our 2-story entry/staircase. It is not load bearing. We started noticing that it was "bowing" in the middle of the staircase last winter. At it's widest point you could see a 3/4 inch gap along the baseboard. The baseboard and drywall bowed away from the stringer. (I hope I'm making sense here...I posted photos below). We called out a structural engineer to see if it was built incorrectly and he confirmed that it was indeed built correctly. Once spring came around the wall moved back into place. We decided not to caulk or trim it because we wanted to see what happened when it got cold again. Low and behold, it got cold this week and it is starting to move again. Argh...I'm so frustrated!
We don't know what to do. The structural engineer assured us that it is safe, but it looks hideous. Any ideas how to fix this? Would insulation help? Can we trim it in a manner that allows for fluctuations? Thoughts?
(Also, if you think I should be posting to a different board please let me know.)
Thank you!!!!
So here's the situation...the wall is an exterior wall. It extends the height of our 2-story entry/staircase. It is not load bearing. We started noticing that it was "bowing" in the middle of the staircase last winter. At it's widest point you could see a 3/4 inch gap along the baseboard. The baseboard and drywall bowed away from the stringer. (I hope I'm making sense here...I posted photos below). We called out a structural engineer to see if it was built incorrectly and he confirmed that it was indeed built correctly. Once spring came around the wall moved back into place. We decided not to caulk or trim it because we wanted to see what happened when it got cold again. Low and behold, it got cold this week and it is starting to move again. Argh...I'm so frustrated!
We don't know what to do. The structural engineer assured us that it is safe, but it looks hideous. Any ideas how to fix this? Would insulation help? Can we trim it in a manner that allows for fluctuations? Thoughts?
(Also, if you think I should be posting to a different board please let me know.)
Thank you!!!!
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