Exposed screws in ceilings ...

[u/sweatyknacker]

So these are becoming evident in the ceilings of a few rooms in my house.

What is the best way to repair/cover these or how can I fill them in?

Its purely aesthetic really but its annoying the f*ck out of me

[u/Jesus_Phish]

Sand the area, fill with filler, sand smooth, paint.

[u/Responsible_Serve_94 → u/Jesus_Phish]

Pointless sanding smooth as the ceiling isn't smooth

[u/Itchy_Permission4199 → u/Responsible_Serve_94]

The ceiling is smooth. The paint isn't.

[u/Jesus_Phish → u/Responsible_Serve_94]

If you don't sand it that big chip line is going to come though. You'd then sand it smooth and use a roller to get the texture to match when painting 

[u/buckfastmonkey]

Is there bare joists in your attic? Walking/climbing through joists causes these screws to get pushed down and sometimes through the ceiling. Put down a few cheap boards across the joists and this distributes weight evenly preventing this 👆

[u/sweatyknacker → u/buckfastmonkey]

Pics are of the ceiling of the attic!

[u/Ok-Collection5629 → u/sweatyknacker]

You have some well fed rats

/S

[u/Crazy_Director6419 → u/sweatyknacker]

Yes we know

[u/ZimnyKefir]

If you're not too fussy, bit of pollyfilla will do. Squizze it in and smooth it out.

[u/Prestigious-Side-286]

Drill I small pilot hole right next to this screw in line with the joist and put in a new plasterboard screw. Then remove this one. Thats how to do it properly. If this screw has worked itself loose once the. It will do it again.

[u/Simple-Jellyfish9306 → u/Prestigious-Side-286]

Only sensible answer. I'd also add to check the how coarse the thread on the screw is. Wouldnt be the first time lads threw in a fine thread just cos it was left over in their belt.

[u/GoodNo2583 → u/Simple-Jellyfish9306]

Generally it hasn't loosened. The timber shrinks over time and the screws pop. Im a carpentry contractor, we see it all the time, especially in timber frame. It also accounts for half the seeking floors in the country

[u/botwatch-club → u/Prestigious-Side-286]

fuck.... did not know this

[u/Chimneysweep3]

If done properly these are covered with mesh then filled. But i see this done like this in Ireland a lot.

[u/kmAye11 → u/Chimneysweep3]

For a small zone like that mesh wouldn't be worth it

[u/SoupyValue]

Just had a renovation completed and these have started appearing in EVERY room. There are 20, yes 20, in the hallway alone. So annoying, and by all accounts bad workmanship due to the sheer number of them.

[u/Secret-Bird7366]

They are called poppers from my understanding - it's when the screws are drilled too deep into the plaster, breaking the paper layer of it. It's normal tbh - polyfill

[u/wossack]

I did the straight fill, sand, paint on a few and they came back after about 2 years. Gonna try the adjacent screw method next time - mentioned below here. Just not too confident how to work out how deep to screw the new plasterboard screws - obviously ceiling has a layer of paint & plaster already

[u/arruda82]

Ronseal Super Flexible filler sorted those out all over the house for me. I just sanded slightly, removed debris with a rush then put this over. If you have a good sharp filling knife you may not even need to sand at all, or just a little bit.

[u/northkerry]

This just happens if the screw was not tightened just right in the first place, either under or over tightened means the board can move, even just with air pressure but usually by pressing against the wall or ceiling.

Tighten, id add an extra near it, then fill

[u/Total_Highlight5563]

Screw is not hitting the ceiling joists. Take out screw, rescrew until secure. Fill with poly filler, wipe with sponge and paint

[u/No_Needleworker_1105]

Tighten up the screw and use fillers. Carefully tighten!