Thanks paintguy,
The co we hired was responsible for patching all the pops and seams - and did so. I was home during the process and they didn't install additional screws. When we do our patching, we dimple the drywall, rescrew the screw, patch/sand, wait, reapply/sand and then paint. Not sure if this is the right way to do it or not, however we haven't had a pop reappear a month later. They were telling me something about the moisture of the paint causing the drywall to soften and thus allowing any marginal screws to pop through. While sounding plausible, my bs meter is going off as we amateurs have never had additional screw pops show up a month after painting - regardless of whether it was an area we patched or not. I'm also not pleased with the areas they did repair a pop as they are completely obvious in certain lighting situations.

I'm completely stumped. And dismayed that we paid a highly recommended and vetted company to perform a task that us DIY'ers have done better in the past on our own.

quote"They were telling me something about the moisture of the paint causing the drywall to soften and thus allowing any marginal screws to pop through."

I must say, in all my years doing this ,I have never heard that one! I think paintguy explained it best.

Wow!!! That IS a good one!!

Hmmmm....if paint REALLY DID soften drywall, I think paint-mfr.'s would be out of business!

What part of the country are you in?
Climate-cycling in different regions, humidity changes, wetness OR dryness of lumber used, etc., etc.....
These factors and more affect how screws/nails "move" in lumber. This is what causes "pops".

Vaulted ceilings can REALLY move at the edges!!! Our bi-level has vaulted ceilings. Along the outer wall, there's maybe a Here in Fargo, ND...we have huuuugge swings in temps & humidity! We've aleady had -20 this winter....aaannd mid-90's with high humidity in late summer.

I sometimes wonder how houses up here hold nails at all!

Faron

Nail/screw popping seems to be the thing this year. My house was built in 1968. I dont know if it ever had screw pops before, since it is only 5 yrs this coming spring, since we bought it. I do know that I havent had any in those almost 5 yrs, but, this year, there are some. I am pretty sure, it has to do with the unusual cold weather this winter. They started appearing, here and there, after Christmas.

Katrine822 could you contact me I having the same issue going on and would love to see how yours got resolved

My email is samantham325@aol.com

I had the EXACT same thing happen to me! Also with SW ceiling paint although not sure if that is related. I patched all the new pops and had it repainted and AGAIN more screw pops. I’m about losing my mind with this. I actually thought the same thing the painters said about moisture causing new pops.

I’m sure the paint itself has nothing to do with this.

I’m doubting the brand is the issue but I’m 100% sure the new paint is. I went over the ceiling with a magnifying glass each time before painting and immediately after there were numerous very obvious screw pops that couldn’t have been missed before. I believe the moisture in the paint encouraged their popping.