For all (including Ernie).


This IS true. It can even happen on a stick built structure.

In my main house I added some large crown molding. In the fall as the temps begin dropping, I have gaps open up between the molding and the ceiling. In the spring as the temps rise, those gaps close up.

Happens on the non bearing exterior walls as well (those do follow the trusses).


Many homes with no crown molding will never display this issue, as there's enough give in the drywall at the intersection of wall and ceiling. Although there may be some cracking of the joint if the movement is too much.


My out, since there;s no way to retrofit something, is to use this:

[Link: amazon.com]

Below is part of an email from one builders I've working with. This builder is one of the stricted and tedious builder I've ever ran into.
_______________________________________________________________

Can't say if the particular methods will become standard, but that would be an ultimate goal of "green building". Also can't say that there isn't some profit incentive in the method(s) for the particular builder mentioned. But some folks in the more recent comments of the thread got around to the "real" basis of the practices which are resource and energy efficiency:

1) Traditional 2x4 residential construction is significantly over engineered (i.e. Primarily with redundant components) for the forces being conquered, so while 24" centers & single top plates require, IMHO, a little more precision on the part of the framers, the reduction in strength or durability in common residential construction is insignificant.

2) Wood structures move with temperature & humidty much more than most people realize which can wreak havoc on drywall joints sometimes in short order and almost always over time. Less wood = less movement = less (cosmetic) cracking = less maintenance. As an added benefit, & what building science found as a more compelling reason to use 24" techniques, is that less wood = less thermal bridging & more insulation, with less gaps or breaks in the insulation continuity which = better energy performance.

3) Drywall clips require less blocking, which is good for trees, but more significantly, they also reduce pesky drywall cracking, and provide similar insulation efficiency improvements because hard to insulate corners and intersections can now be reached and addressed.

As far as eliminating the smart box, my guess is that the industry has still not settled on what is a sufficient standard, and the builder got tired of hearing that the boxes were too small, or finding that regardless of box size, installers were still hanging stuff outside the provided enclosures. With a builder like Horton, 'smart wiring' is undoubtedly an upgrade, so they pulled completely back to a case by case basis.

Roland. lets grab a couple of beers soon.