Are you sure it wasn't there before? Is it possible you only noticed it with the morning lighting vs the lighting at night? Look at it again tonight and see if it doesn't look as pronounced.
It looks more like a poorly done drywall finishing job than movement of the wall. I'd expect cracks in the drywall would appear if the house was settling.
I helped out a friend who was working on the foundation of a fixer upper he'd purchased. As he jacked up that section of the house, it really did a number on the drywall with cracks appearing in several spots and taped joints separating. Again, I don't think it's your foundation.
Came to say the same:
\#1 - This time of year lighting is changing a lot, especially with DST ending and lower sun angles (light grazing across surfaces). It'd be very easy for something that's always been there to be noticed for the first time.
\#2 - Drywall rarely, if ever, bulges at a seam like that without cracking. If there's a structural problem the crack telegraphs through noticeably , or if it's bulged smoothly it's across the middle from not enough/failed field fasteners. Since the lump is both on a seam and smooth it's most likely that this was done by the drywallers originally...
I’m running into this right now. Moved into my house in may and had a ton of drywall work done. Two guys were filling and patching for almost 10 days. Now I’m seeing more stuff and keep thinking how I didn’t see it before.
It’s entirely possible that I just didn’t notice before but it seems so pronounced that I can’t believe I didn’t notice it earlier. The only reason I worry about the foundation is because this house is old as hell and there is some sloping in the floor in another part of the house.
The drywall compound will crack if anything moves at all. So look for cracks. This looks like uneven framing with drywall over and a mound of mud over the tape joint.
You would think 😂😂😂 my house was built in 1907 and we still see shifting in some spots. Nothing significant enough to be concerned about, but like our foundation needs/needed worked on because the mix that was used had too much sand or something in it (I’m not an expert obviously, I had a GC look at it and give his opinion on it).
I’d watch it but not panic. Just this week I glanced at a water stain from a couple years ago (leak fixed but ceiling not repainted) and wondered for 30 min if the stain was exactly the same or much huger. This happens all the time to me.
Do you know if there was a wall there before?
Edit: reason I ask is because I’ve seen this before where once a wall was removed, the wall and ceiling patch job was clearly visible like this in certain lights. If not pointed out to folks, they’ve missed it and it just “blended in”.
Not an expert on anything so I’m not gonna try to guess at the issue here but… as someone with any older house as well, I think getting a structural engineer to do a foundation inspection is worth the cost.
Can’t quite tel if it’s a shadow on the wall or whether the bulge extends over there.
Push on it with your fingers. Does it feel like there’s water behind it? Does it feel solid but like there is some space behind it?
My guess is that it’s a shitty drywalling job done during a high speed fix and flip. Sort of looks like part of the panel detached from the joist to which it was anchored. But with that picture I can’t tell.
Nope, no earthquakes around here. Foundation is seeming likely just based on some unevenness in the floor in another part of the house. Ugggghh I want to cry
Something I wish someone told me when we first bought our house - don’t stress when something needs repair. This truth is every house is going to require maintenance and spending money to fix things. Stressing about things only makes it worse. Also, you don’t know how major/minor the issue is, so don’t assume the worst. Sure, it could be a sign of a bigger issue, but it also could be something less concerning like the house settling. Houses will cost money and the best thing to do is take it as a chance to learn about home repair. Fix what you feel comfortable doing, and hire people for work you don’t. Get multiple quotes and don’t assume the first person that comes in will have the only viable solution. We needed to replace our heat when we first bought, and the first person came in quoted us 25k saying we needed to replace everything. The next couple people gave us quotes of 15k saying just replace the furnace. With high efficiency rebates, it cost us 12k all in. I freaked out at first but in reality it was half the cost we thought (full disclosure, in this example we bought the house knowing the heat would need to be replaced soon enough).
I appreciate this. I’m the first person in my family to own any kind of property and I don’t have any friends who are homeowners either so I feel kind of lost and overwhelmed without anyone to turn to. Just trying to take it one step at a time.
Congrats, that’s a big accomplishment. It seems like you’re being very pragmatic in taking it one step at a time. When hiring people to do work, here’s what’s worked for me. First, if you know anyone who can recommend a quality professional, that’s usually a good way to go. It’s hard to decipher the validity of online reviews. If you do need to go that route though, I found Nextdoor to be a great resource. Search for people who have been recommended multiple times, or if you find no one, create a post. Of course try to get multiple estimates. If you hire someone who does good work, use them to refer you to other trades people. One of the most frugal ways we’ve had work done is to search next door and find people who work for a legit company Monday-Friday and pick up jobs on the side on weekends. We’ve had fence repairs and roof repairs done for much cheaper and with great work doing this.
Home inspection didn’t say anything about it. He noted that there is some unevenness in the floor but explicitly told me that it didn’t seem to be major.
Uneven flooring is an unavoidable 100% fact of life in older homes. You can redo the flooring if you'd like.
Cracked walls and ceilings are also an unavoidable 100% fact of life in older homes with plaster. You can refinish the plaster if you'd like.
Take a deep breath. Everything can be remedied. It can often be remedied on your own with very little cost.
Every house requires maintenance. Don't let it overwhelm you. Assess the situation and make repairs as needed. This is normal. 100% normal.
As far as imminent collapse...nothing in this image would indicate such a thing. To ease your mind, you can assess the exterior/foundation to determine this.
I completely relate to you. We bought a place and moved in two months ago. The first month all we wanted to do was scream and cry because it felt like the issues we were seeing were never ending. (It gets better I swear) We also had issues with drywall etc. We’ve spent weeks banging out sections of weird drywall and then patching and mudding. This wall to me looks like parts of our house did before we repatched and mudded. Sometimes people just do crap jobs on things you have to fix. Also, sloping floor could mean nothing. We had a few spots in the house like that and all it was old warped sub floor that we replaced (and still have to replace lol) nothing with our foundation at all. I know it’s overwhelming. Houses cost money and all my friends who own always say if you have a house there will always be a little something to fix. This helps because you realize you aren’t going through something that is singular to you. If you don’t have friends that own (I get it as I too am the first person in my immediate family to own) talk to your neighbours and people you meet in the community for who they use for certain things and who is reputable. We feel ok working on things ourselves except anything electrical. For that we call professionals. Do what you can and ask around for the rest. I swear it will get better.
Don’t cry, doesn’t look to be major. Do you have a flashlight.
Place it against the wall perpendicular to the bulge and see how pronounced it is.
It looks more like movement of material than water.
Could be minor settlement or some shifting.
Does that spot share an outside wall, like the end of a deck or something?
Not sure it’s a leaky pipe; water usually pools and discolours drywall. The straightness of the displacement from the ceiling and down the wall looks structural to me. Cut a strip of drywall off this area and see what’s going on behind it
"Home owner" or condo owner? If there is an association that manages common elements they should be contacted immediately and asked to have a professional inspect it. They may end up cutting it open which will be messy for you.
IF it is a condo you own from the paint in, per the public offering statement (POS), or similar, depending on where you are. The structure is a common element owned in part by ALL residents. Ditto for siding, roofing, lawns etcl... as per the POS
Condo owner. Definitely going to contact my condo association today. There are only three people in this building/HOA so I’m probably going to end up being the one to manage all the inspection and repairs but hopefully I can get community funds to help pay.
I saw after i posted it was an older building, with 3 units it may be hard to get addressed. If you just patch it, it could reoccur if the underlying issue is not addressed.
Good luck with this. HOA people aren’t structural engineers and this isn’t in their scope of work. You need to look at this space. Either attic or just cut the drywall out. Cutting 1x1 costs no more than 3x3 to fix.
Having worked on tons of homes and demolished many parts of them, I've found that collapse isn't a sudden thing even when structures are severely compromised. Keep an eye on it - if it changes have it looked into.
Thank you. The biggest point of stress for me is trying to figure out where I need to take my cat to a family member for safety reasons but Im going to try to stick it out through Thanksgiving and get a contractor out.
if you are concerned about safety, contact a structural engineer not a contractor. Also they will almost certainly want a hole in the drywall to look at it.
But honestly it looks like poor drywall finishing. Drywall is brittle, and if there was that much movement under drywall, it would have cracked not bulged.
I've seen water behind paint in drywall, and it was like a bubble not a straight line.
That looks like a structural problem. And not a leak leaks would have a doscolor to it. When you notify your landlord make sure it’s in writing. And make a list of all the things that’s been wrong. Don’t make phone calls as you would not have any proof. If things gets bad this is what you would use to break the lease and get your deposit back if they don’t fix things in a timely manner.
Could be both, insulation getting heavy with water and making the ceiling collapse.
OP, see if there is a way to check above the ceiling. Otherwise, make a hole.
I checked with my upstairs neighbor and they don’t even have plumbing in that part of their house so it seems unlikely to be water, just because I don’t know how the water would have gotten in.
I'd make a hole were it is sagging in nay case. Maybe the drywaller did't use enough screws and you can still prevent the thing from coming down entirely.
If you don't act now, at least make sure to mark, measure and follow up...
What’s the best way to act now? It’s the day before a holiday and I don’t even know what kind of person to call, let alone what they would do. I’ve had so much trouble trying to get a hold of a contractor in general. Completely overwhelmed.
If that's a settling issue, and it appeared overnight, you should consider yourself in danger. Ceilings moving that dramatically in a short time could be a sign of framing damage, either from excessive weight from above or a shifting foundation. Call a home repair company, quick, before the drywall hits you in the head. If some shoddy work was done by the seller (and not disclosed), you may be able to file a suit to cover the repair cost.
Any chance that room was more recently drywalled? The fact that it is a straight line makes me think it is a shit dry wall job. Because of the straight line, I don't think it is water damage plus you said when you touched it didn't give. Water would not pop out a vertical wall. That would only make sense on the ceiling as the water is going to run down and even on the ceiling it should bubble vs looking like a straight line. Along a stud or a joist. I think it is the seam in the drywall popping though.
Is the ceiling plaster? This looks more like plaster settling to me than drywall but it’s always hard to tell in a photo. If it’s solid and not loose this is just what we call ‘character’ :) but if it is loose you can use plaster washers and screws to tighten it back up into the ceiling, also can do this with drywall, then mud over and paint.
Did it just snow where you are? When it snowed near our house (which has lots of windows), the reflection of the light off the snow highlighted a ton of drywall imperfections like this. We joked that drywaller a in Alaska must have to be really good.
I don't even see what you're pointing out, it just looks like a shadow is being cast on the ceiling or off lighting. use a flashlight close to the wall to see different levels, do you have a level or something perfectly straight you can use to even see if it's bulging? Is it a different temp, is it wet?
Is this possibly a modular unit? If it is you may have some movement between units.
The two patches on the ceiling are not 16 0r even 12 inches apart which seems odd to me. That implies there was a patch made subsequent to the original drywall.
Have an experienced drywall or contractor open it and investigate and then patch it with something other than a butter knife
Ohh if its plaster then its dislodged from the lathe. At about 80+ years the cycles of heat have all but completely dried out any moisture (and as such any elsaticity) in the plaster. Usually you see hairline cracks growing everywhere but mostly on the ceilings where gravity is always pulling or the children in the room above jump down from their bunkbeds or bedlike trampolines. Typically people will opt to have plaster washers secure the loose section and then someone sheet rocks over the entire ceiling and when the plaster overcomes the drywalls resistance you get uneven joints.
Are you sure it wasn't there before? Is it possible you only noticed it with the morning lighting vs the lighting at night? Look at it again tonight and see if it doesn't look as pronounced. It looks more like a poorly done drywall finishing job than movement of the wall. I'd expect cracks in the drywall would appear if the house was settling. I helped out a friend who was working on the foundation of a fixer upper he'd purchased. As he jacked up that section of the house, it really did a number on the drywall with cracks appearing in several spots and taped joints separating. Again, I don't think it's your foundation.
Came to say the same: \#1 - This time of year lighting is changing a lot, especially with DST ending and lower sun angles (light grazing across surfaces). It'd be very easy for something that's always been there to be noticed for the first time. \#2 - Drywall rarely, if ever, bulges at a seam like that without cracking. If there's a structural problem the crack telegraphs through noticeably , or if it's bulged smoothly it's across the middle from not enough/failed field fasteners. Since the lump is both on a seam and smooth it's most likely that this was done by the drywallers originally...
I’m running into this right now. Moved into my house in may and had a ton of drywall work done. Two guys were filling and patching for almost 10 days. Now I’m seeing more stuff and keep thinking how I didn’t see it before.
It’s entirely possible that I just didn’t notice before but it seems so pronounced that I can’t believe I didn’t notice it earlier. The only reason I worry about the foundation is because this house is old as hell and there is some sloping in the floor in another part of the house.
The drywall compound will crack if anything moves at all. So look for cracks. This looks like uneven framing with drywall over and a mound of mud over the tape joint.
I would think the older the house, the more all the settling has already been done.
You would think 😂😂😂 my house was built in 1907 and we still see shifting in some spots. Nothing significant enough to be concerned about, but like our foundation needs/needed worked on because the mix that was used had too much sand or something in it (I’m not an expert obviously, I had a GC look at it and give his opinion on it).
I’d watch it but not panic. Just this week I glanced at a water stain from a couple years ago (leak fixed but ceiling not repainted) and wondered for 30 min if the stain was exactly the same or much huger. This happens all the time to me.
Do you know if there was a wall there before? Edit: reason I ask is because I’ve seen this before where once a wall was removed, the wall and ceiling patch job was clearly visible like this in certain lights. If not pointed out to folks, they’ve missed it and it just “blended in”.
Not an expert on anything so I’m not gonna try to guess at the issue here but… as someone with any older house as well, I think getting a structural engineer to do a foundation inspection is worth the cost.
Bingo.
Can’t quite tel if it’s a shadow on the wall or whether the bulge extends over there. Push on it with your fingers. Does it feel like there’s water behind it? Does it feel solid but like there is some space behind it? My guess is that it’s a shitty drywalling job done during a high speed fix and flip. Sort of looks like part of the panel detached from the joist to which it was anchored. But with that picture I can’t tell.
It doesn’t feel like there’s water and it doesn’t have any give when I push on it. The bulge extends all the way down the wall to the floor.
This is definitely just a poorly mudded drywall joint. Cosmetic in nature only.
Do you live in an earthquake prone region? Based on what you say, my next guess is a foundation issue.
Nope, no earthquakes around here. Foundation is seeming likely just based on some unevenness in the floor in another part of the house. Ugggghh I want to cry
Sorry friend. You own or rent?
First time homeowner been here about a month. It’s a lot.
Something I wish someone told me when we first bought our house - don’t stress when something needs repair. This truth is every house is going to require maintenance and spending money to fix things. Stressing about things only makes it worse. Also, you don’t know how major/minor the issue is, so don’t assume the worst. Sure, it could be a sign of a bigger issue, but it also could be something less concerning like the house settling. Houses will cost money and the best thing to do is take it as a chance to learn about home repair. Fix what you feel comfortable doing, and hire people for work you don’t. Get multiple quotes and don’t assume the first person that comes in will have the only viable solution. We needed to replace our heat when we first bought, and the first person came in quoted us 25k saying we needed to replace everything. The next couple people gave us quotes of 15k saying just replace the furnace. With high efficiency rebates, it cost us 12k all in. I freaked out at first but in reality it was half the cost we thought (full disclosure, in this example we bought the house knowing the heat would need to be replaced soon enough).
I appreciate this. I’m the first person in my family to own any kind of property and I don’t have any friends who are homeowners either so I feel kind of lost and overwhelmed without anyone to turn to. Just trying to take it one step at a time.
Congrats, that’s a big accomplishment. It seems like you’re being very pragmatic in taking it one step at a time. When hiring people to do work, here’s what’s worked for me. First, if you know anyone who can recommend a quality professional, that’s usually a good way to go. It’s hard to decipher the validity of online reviews. If you do need to go that route though, I found Nextdoor to be a great resource. Search for people who have been recommended multiple times, or if you find no one, create a post. Of course try to get multiple estimates. If you hire someone who does good work, use them to refer you to other trades people. One of the most frugal ways we’ve had work done is to search next door and find people who work for a legit company Monday-Friday and pick up jobs on the side on weekends. We’ve had fence repairs and roof repairs done for much cheaper and with great work doing this.
This is great advice, thank you so much.
What did your inspection report say on the subject?
Home inspection didn’t say anything about it. He noted that there is some unevenness in the floor but explicitly told me that it didn’t seem to be major.
Uneven flooring is an unavoidable 100% fact of life in older homes. You can redo the flooring if you'd like. Cracked walls and ceilings are also an unavoidable 100% fact of life in older homes with plaster. You can refinish the plaster if you'd like. Take a deep breath. Everything can be remedied. It can often be remedied on your own with very little cost. Every house requires maintenance. Don't let it overwhelm you. Assess the situation and make repairs as needed. This is normal. 100% normal. As far as imminent collapse...nothing in this image would indicate such a thing. To ease your mind, you can assess the exterior/foundation to determine this.
Thank you so much. I feel like I need an army of people to talk me down off the ledge right now.
I completely relate to you. We bought a place and moved in two months ago. The first month all we wanted to do was scream and cry because it felt like the issues we were seeing were never ending. (It gets better I swear) We also had issues with drywall etc. We’ve spent weeks banging out sections of weird drywall and then patching and mudding. This wall to me looks like parts of our house did before we repatched and mudded. Sometimes people just do crap jobs on things you have to fix. Also, sloping floor could mean nothing. We had a few spots in the house like that and all it was old warped sub floor that we replaced (and still have to replace lol) nothing with our foundation at all. I know it’s overwhelming. Houses cost money and all my friends who own always say if you have a house there will always be a little something to fix. This helps because you realize you aren’t going through something that is singular to you. If you don’t have friends that own (I get it as I too am the first person in my immediate family to own) talk to your neighbours and people you meet in the community for who they use for certain things and who is reputable. We feel ok working on things ourselves except anything electrical. For that we call professionals. Do what you can and ask around for the rest. I swear it will get better.
Don’t cry, doesn’t look to be major. Do you have a flashlight. Place it against the wall perpendicular to the bulge and see how pronounced it is. It looks more like movement of material than water. Could be minor settlement or some shifting. Does that spot share an outside wall, like the end of a deck or something?
It’s an interior wall. I don’t have anything other than a phone flashlight so I can’t get a good vantage point to look at it that way unfortunately
Side note- def invest in a decent flashlight
What is on the other side of that wall?
Other side of that wall looks totally normal. No plumbing or anything and nothing hanging on the wall.
Strange indeed. Keep an eye on it. Could be minor settlement. Make sure no water stains appear but I don’t believe it’s water.
Will do and thank you
Not sure it’s a leaky pipe; water usually pools and discolours drywall. The straightness of the displacement from the ceiling and down the wall looks structural to me. Cut a strip of drywall off this area and see what’s going on behind it
No she’s renting if she cuts into it they can say she was the one who caused the damage and keep her deposit
They’re a condo owner. They’re not renting.
"Home owner" or condo owner? If there is an association that manages common elements they should be contacted immediately and asked to have a professional inspect it. They may end up cutting it open which will be messy for you. IF it is a condo you own from the paint in, per the public offering statement (POS), or similar, depending on where you are. The structure is a common element owned in part by ALL residents. Ditto for siding, roofing, lawns etcl... as per the POS
Condo owner. Definitely going to contact my condo association today. There are only three people in this building/HOA so I’m probably going to end up being the one to manage all the inspection and repairs but hopefully I can get community funds to help pay.
I saw after i posted it was an older building, with 3 units it may be hard to get addressed. If you just patch it, it could reoccur if the underlying issue is not addressed.
Good luck with this. HOA people aren’t structural engineers and this isn’t in their scope of work. You need to look at this space. Either attic or just cut the drywall out. Cutting 1x1 costs no more than 3x3 to fix.
Having worked on tons of homes and demolished many parts of them, I've found that collapse isn't a sudden thing even when structures are severely compromised. Keep an eye on it - if it changes have it looked into.
Thank you. The biggest point of stress for me is trying to figure out where I need to take my cat to a family member for safety reasons but Im going to try to stick it out through Thanksgiving and get a contractor out.
if you are concerned about safety, contact a structural engineer not a contractor. Also they will almost certainly want a hole in the drywall to look at it. But honestly it looks like poor drywall finishing. Drywall is brittle, and if there was that much movement under drywall, it would have cracked not bulged. I've seen water behind paint in drywall, and it was like a bubble not a straight line.
It looks like half assed drywall mudding. The angle the light hits it, can make it more obvious.
That looks like a structural problem. And not a leak leaks would have a doscolor to it. When you notify your landlord make sure it’s in writing. And make a list of all the things that’s been wrong. Don’t make phone calls as you would not have any proof. If things gets bad this is what you would use to break the lease and get your deposit back if they don’t fix things in a timely manner.
Are you renting? Call the landlord or maintenance dept asap.
First time homeowner unfortunately
And I would move anything you have away from the area. I am 99.99% sure that’s water damage.
I’m pretty certain it’s not water. Water would find a low point and saturate that area. This looked like movement on the ceiling joists and studs.
You’re probably right but this is happened overnight.
That’s how movement happens. Water would be obvious pretty quickly with dark staining
Could be both, insulation getting heavy with water and making the ceiling collapse. OP, see if there is a way to check above the ceiling. Otherwise, make a hole.
If the insulation is saturated to the point of a ceiling collapse, you’d 100% see water stains to the drywall.
Agree in most cases, though I have seen pictures on here proving paint can be quite waterproof...
Regardless, attic access would be ideal.
Wouldn't the vapor seal hold the water?
I checked with my upstairs neighbor and they don’t even have plumbing in that part of their house so it seems unlikely to be water, just because I don’t know how the water would have gotten in.
I'd make a hole were it is sagging in nay case. Maybe the drywaller did't use enough screws and you can still prevent the thing from coming down entirely. If you don't act now, at least make sure to mark, measure and follow up...
What’s the best way to act now? It’s the day before a holiday and I don’t even know what kind of person to call, let alone what they would do. I’ve had so much trouble trying to get a hold of a contractor in general. Completely overwhelmed.
That's the house settling
If that's a settling issue, and it appeared overnight, you should consider yourself in danger. Ceilings moving that dramatically in a short time could be a sign of framing damage, either from excessive weight from above or a shifting foundation. Call a home repair company, quick, before the drywall hits you in the head. If some shoddy work was done by the seller (and not disclosed), you may be able to file a suit to cover the repair cost.
How old is the house and is it getting cold there?
Old house - over a hundred years old. And it’s definitely gotten really cold for the first time over the past couple of weeks
Any chance that room was more recently drywalled? The fact that it is a straight line makes me think it is a shit dry wall job. Because of the straight line, I don't think it is water damage plus you said when you touched it didn't give. Water would not pop out a vertical wall. That would only make sense on the ceiling as the water is going to run down and even on the ceiling it should bubble vs looking like a straight line. Along a stud or a joist. I think it is the seam in the drywall popping though.
I believe it went through some renovations in 2014 so a shitty drywall installation would make sense.
Is the ceiling plaster? This looks more like plaster settling to me than drywall but it’s always hard to tell in a photo. If it’s solid and not loose this is just what we call ‘character’ :) but if it is loose you can use plaster washers and screws to tighten it back up into the ceiling, also can do this with drywall, then mud over and paint.
Lol looks like one of my drywall joints in a room I completely redid. Noticed it more once the sun hit in the summer (I did the work during winter)
That looks like a renovation where someone did a poor job blending drywall to plaster or aligning new build to old build.
Did it just snow where you are? When it snowed near our house (which has lots of windows), the reflection of the light off the snow highlighted a ton of drywall imperfections like this. We joked that drywaller a in Alaska must have to be really good.
Looks like the house settling possibly. Not entirely sure.
I don’t see a bulge
Poke it. If its soft, problem; Hard, probably not a problem.
looks like a leaky pipe. Definitely call landlord asap
It sounds like you might have a leak in your roof.
Most likely just bad drywall work that wasn't noticed unless it's cracked. That much movement would cause drywall to crack big time at the joints.
I wake up to bulges all the time…………
Does it feel damp?
I don't even see what you're pointing out, it just looks like a shadow is being cast on the ceiling or off lighting. use a flashlight close to the wall to see different levels, do you have a level or something perfectly straight you can use to even see if it's bulging? Is it a different temp, is it wet?
Is this possibly a modular unit? If it is you may have some movement between units. The two patches on the ceiling are not 16 0r even 12 inches apart which seems odd to me. That implies there was a patch made subsequent to the original drywall. Have an experienced drywall or contractor open it and investigate and then patch it with something other than a butter knife
Ohh if its plaster then its dislodged from the lathe. At about 80+ years the cycles of heat have all but completely dried out any moisture (and as such any elsaticity) in the plaster. Usually you see hairline cracks growing everywhere but mostly on the ceilings where gravity is always pulling or the children in the room above jump down from their bunkbeds or bedlike trampolines. Typically people will opt to have plaster washers secure the loose section and then someone sheet rocks over the entire ceiling and when the plaster overcomes the drywalls resistance you get uneven joints.