How do I fix nail pops in a plasterboard ceiling or wall?

A nail pop is the head of a fixing pushing through the surface because the board has moved away from the timber behind it. The timber shrank, or the board was never pulled fully tight, and the nail stayed where it was.

What you'll need

• A stud or joist detector
• 35–40mm plasterboard screws
• A screwdriver or driver with a depth stop
• A nail punch and pincers
• Fine filler and a filling knife
• Abrasive paper

Step by step

1. Understand what you are looking at.A small circular bump or a flaked disc of filler, often in a line following a joist. The nail has not moved outwards; the board has moved away from the timber.
2. Find the joist or stud.The pops themselves mark it, and a detector confirms the line. Everything you do next has to go into that timber.
3. Fix the board back first.Drive a plasterboard screw about 40mm above and 40mm below the pop, into the joist, pulling the board firmly against the timber. This is the actual repair.
4. Set the screws just below the surface.Dimpled into the paper without tearing it. A screw driven through the paper face holds nothing, and one left proud is a new pop.
5. Deal with the original nail.Either punch it below the surface with a nail punch, or pull it out with pincers if it comes willingly. Leaving it proud guarantees it reappears.
6. Do not simply refill the old hole and hope.If the board is still loose at that point, the same nail will push the filler off again within a season.
7. Fill all three holes.Two screws and the nail. Fine filler, slightly proud, in two thin coats rather than one thick one.
8. Sand flush and feather.Beyond the filler in every direction. On a ceiling in raking light, the feathering matters more than the filling.
9. Look for the pattern.Pops in a long line along one joist usually mean that joist has moved or the board was not fixed tightly there. Pops all over a new ceiling usually mean the timber was too wet when it was fixed.
10. Prime the repairs.Filler is more absorbent than the surrounding paint and will flash without it.
11. Paint the whole surface.Especially on a ceiling. Touched-in spots on a ceiling always show.

Tips

• Screws hold plasterboard far better than nails, which is why modern practice uses them throughout. Every nail pop you fix is a chance to convert that point to a screw.
• A driver with an adjustable depth stop sets every screw to exactly the right dimple. It costs very little and stops the two failure modes of too deep and too proud.
• Nail pops in a house's first two winters are normal as the structural timber dries. Repair them all at once rather than one at a time.

Common mistakes

• Filling the pop without adding screws — The board is still not held against the timber at that point. The next seasonal movement pushes the nail forward again, the filler flakes off, and the repair has achieved nothing.
• Driving the screw so hard it breaks the paper face — The paper is what carries the load in plasterboard. A screw that has torn through it holds almost nothing, which means a new pop at the location of your repair.

If it doesn't work

Questions people ask