Dark Spots on the nail heads and studs?

[klc2000us]

Hey! thanks you guys!! I appreciate all the information! I live in privitized military housing. They are coming out on Monday to actually get into the attic crawlspace area to look at the roof. The second bedroom in my apartment smells musty all the time. When there is alot of moisture outside (Rain, snow........) the smell gets so bad, I have to keep the door closed to the bedroom. There is a spot in the bedroom that is doing the same thing as the other areas. It starts out with a little bit of the dark spots but you can see where the screws or whatever they used because there are orange rusty looking spots. In the other areas the spots turned black. I am looking into the ghosting because that is what they told me it was and even though I think they may be wrong in certain areas, I don't want to stick with just one thing, even if I am in the wrong. Hopefully we can figure out what it is on Monday.
Again, thank you so much for all your information!!!!

[klc2000us]

OK, head guy for our maintenance here and one of the maintenance guys came out and got in the attic crawlspace. They said they found nothing that would indicate a leak. The told me that the three (in a row) rust spots on the ceiling by the window is the result of this: when they were building this apartment, they were supposed to countersink the screws. They are telling me that they probably didn't do this and just slapped the mud over the screws. Well, the screws are coming out a bit or something like that and when the humidity is high in the room, the moisture cause them to rust. I asked him, OK, but this is just now happening after 25 years? And apparently the musty basement-like smell in that bedroom is the result of the heater vents being put right under the window. (I live up in northern NY and it gets cold here. We have those heater vents that are along the bottom of the walls by the baseboards) I told them, but it only smells the worst after we have moist weather outside, like rain. Of course, I had to tell them about the "physics" of the ghosting. I said you still haven't explained how the screws where the ghosting is were rust and then turned black. It takes moisture for that to happen. I told them I am not saying that the stuff isn't ghosting, I would just like these questions answered. As far as my neighbors garage, they went on the roof to look at it and didn't even say anything to either one of us about what the findings were. The musty smell is so bad in that bedroom, when my daughter is here, she sleeps in the living room half the time because the smell is so bad. I honestly don't know what to do now. I plan on calling everytime the smell is bad. The ghosting in the other rooms is not coming off the walls and ceilings. Even with the mild bleach solution they told me to use. OH, and I told them that since I don't smoke at all in my home and haven't burned any candles in about 2 years, the ghosting must be coming from someplace else. I really would like some answers, but they want to stick to one thing and not deviate from that. I told them that it could be in the heat vents from people before but they nixed that idea. I told them that I know of people who don't smoke at all and don't burn candles but get black stuff all up the walls from the vents. *sigh* Any ideas would be helpful. Thanks you all!!!!!

[jweinberg]

Ghosting?

The soot has adhered beneath the ceiling joists.....in a room where a lot of candles used to be burned.

[ekartal6]

Perhpas condensation stains where the cold attic flloor joists are in direct contact with warm ceiling. Especially the pic on the right. Stains are oc.

Erol Kartal
Pro Inspect

[Michael Larson]

They look to be 4 ft apart at the sheet rock seams to me.

[klc2000us]

Just an update..........they still haven't come out to try and see where the ghosting is coming from in my house. It isn't washing off the walls with the mild bleach solution they told me to use. Well, one of the maintenance guys came to the apartment one day saying he was coming to install the new fan for the bathroom. I asked him what bathroom fan? the one I have is new. He came in and looked at it anyway. He took the cover off of the fan and looked. The paint was peeling away and there was some mold. He asked me if the head maintenance had seen it. I told him yes. He asked me if E. (head maintenance guy) said anything. I told him the only thing he said was he would come in himself to install a single light switch instead of the dual one. So, when I turn on the light the fan comes on. The only problem with that is I usually shower when the baby is sleeping and I keep the door open so I can hear him. If the fan is on, I won't be able to. So, what B. (regular maintenance guy) told me was that instead of sucking the air up and out, it was sucking it up and to the side. They were going to ahve to replace my whole ceiling. They also replaces part of the wall on one side because of the light they had there (looks like a tray ceiling with a big florescent light that looks like the ones in my kitchen). So, he goes up there the next day and apparently we have the blown in insulation. When they were building these apartments, I guess they got lazy and didn't secure the plastic. LOL Lets say B. wasn't happy to get insulation rained down upon him. Some of the insulation was molded where the exhaust fan is. They ahve been doing that for a few days, replacing the ceiling, taping and mudding, letting it dry, sand, mud some more, sanding..........Tomorrow they are coming out to paint the bathroom. Then they are moving to the other bedroom where I have the musty smell. Apparently, my neighbor downstairs was having problems with her window. They came and replaced it but there was a rotton stud there. Funny how where I have the rust spots on the ceiling and the dip in the ceiling, that is the exact spot where the rotton stud was downstairs. So, they are cutting into the wall and are going to look and see. It may take a bit because they may have to come out and look when it is raining. We have balcolnies right outside the window. They are by the front of our apartments. The beam for the roof of the balcolny goes into the outside right where the rust spots and the dip are. *sigh* Anyway, I will keep you all posted on this if you want. Thanks!!!!!!!!!

[Kenton H. Shepard, CMI]

Originally Posted by klc2000us

Just an update..........they still haven't come out to try and see where the ghosting is coming from in my house. It isn't washing off the walls with the mild bleach solution they told me to use. Well, one of the maintenance guys came to the apartment one day saying he was coming to install the new fan for the bathroom. I asked him what bathroom fan? the one I have is new. He came in and looked at it anyway. He took the cover off of the fan and looked. The paint was peeling away and there was some mold. He asked me if the head maintenance had seen it. I told him yes. He asked me if E. (head maintenance guy) said anything. I told him the only thing he said was he would come in himself to install a single light switch instead of the dual one. So, when I turn on the light the fan comes on. The only problem with that is I usually shower when the baby is sleeping and I keep the door open so I can hear him. If the fan is on, I won't be able to. So, what B. (regular maintenance guy) told me was that instead of sucking the air up and out, it was sucking it up and to the side. They were going to ahve to replace my whole ceiling. They also replaces part of the wall on one side because of the light they had there (looks like a tray ceiling with a big florescent light that looks like the ones in my kitchen). So, he goes up there the next day and apparently we have the blown in insulation. When they were building these apartments, I guess they got lazy and didn't secure the plastic. LOL Lets say B. wasn't happy to get insulation rained down upon him. Some of the insulation was molded where the exhaust fan is. They ahve been doing that for a few days, replacing the ceiling, taping and mudding, letting it dry, sand, mud some more, sanding..........Tomorrow they are coming out to paint the bathroom. Then they are moving to the other bedroom where I have the musty smell. Apparently, my neighbor downstairs was having problems with her window. They came and replaced it but there was a rotton stud there. Funny how where I have the rust spots on the ceiling and the dip in the ceiling, that is the exact spot where the rotton stud was downstairs. So, they are cutting into the wall and are going to look and see. It may take a bit because they may have to come out and look when it is raining. We have balcolnies right outside the window. They are by the front of our apartments. The beam for the roof of the balcolny goes into the outside right where the rust spots and the dip are. *sigh* Anyway, I will keep you all posted on this if you want. Thanks!!!!!!!!!

Mild bleach solution is sometimes recommended for removing mold, but I don't think that's mold on the ceiling.

Because the dark spots outline the ceiling framing, they appear to have to do with thermal bridging of the ceiling joists... the drywall is colder at ceiling joists because heat flows up from the room through the joists more quickly than through the insulation. Since they move more slowly through cool air than through warm air, parfticulates are settling on the cooler surfaces faster than they settle on warm surface.

The source of the particulates might be a dirty furnace air filter, dust, smoke or soot.

The musty smell is probably related to your moisture issue. If they're opening things up, you'll probably know soon.

Twenty-five years ago they seldom used screws for drywall, it was mostly nails, which pop out under repeated wetting.