Drywall Installation and Repair in South Jordan, Utah

There is no charge for an estimate and no obligation. Call (801) 735-8491, or use the estimate form to send your name, phone, email, the service and what the job involves.

A city built mostly since 2000

South Jordan had 2,885 homes at the 1990 Census. The American Community Survey now puts it near 27,400. About 70 percent of those were built in 2000 or later, more than 4 in 10 since 2010, and close to 9 percent since 2020. Fewer than 1 in 10 were built before 1980.

Newer drywall rarely fails from age. In a young city the work comes from three places: the drying and settling of a new house in its first years, space the builder left unfinished, and changes owners make once they live there, like a basement bedroom, a widened doorway or a room over the garage.

Daybreak's townhomes, triplexes and single-family homes

Daybreak sits at the base of the Oquirrh Mountains on former Kennecott mining land. A National Association of Home Builders case study called it the largest master-planned community in Utah and put it at 36 percent of South Jordan's land area. The Salt Lake Tribune reported in 2024 that its 4,200 acres have room for 20,000 homes and that build-out was about halfway done.

The mix of attached and detached homes changes how a repair is done. Under the residential code Utah adopted, the wall separating townhouse units is a fire-resistance-rated assembly that runs unbroken from the foundation to the underside of the roof sheathing. A hole in that wall gets patched with the same type and thickness of board that came out, with taped joints and no openings left unsealed, so the rating holds.

In a detached Daybreak home with an unfinished basement, the finish follows the same South Jordan rules as any other house in the city.

Nail pops, ridged seams and ceiling cracks in a new house's first winters

The Gypsum Association's repair standard for screw and nail pops, GA-222, names shrinkage of newly built framing lumber as the most common cause, made worse by fasteners that are too long. It says pops found during finishing should be fixed right away, but pops that show up a month or more into the heating season should wait until that season ends.

Its companion standard, GA-221, covers joint ridging: fine raised lines along taped seams. It recommends waiting until a new building has been through at least one full heating and cooling cycle before repairing them. Fixing a new house too early often means fixing it twice.

A crack where the ceiling meets an inside wall, opening each winter and closing each summer, is often truss uplift. The bottom chords of the roof trusses sit in different temperature and moisture than the rest of the truss, so the trusses arch up and lift the ceiling off the wall. Walls & Ceilings magazine describes the fix as a floating corner: the ceiling board along that wall is held by clips or by the wall board and left unscrewed to the trusses, so they can move without tearing the tape.

South Jordan's basement finish requirements

South Jordan's building department publishes a basement finish sheet drawn from the 2021 International Residential Code, plus a checklist for the plans you upload as PDFs. The plans label every room, door and window, the ceiling height, each wall's materials and stud spacing, and which walls are new. The parts that shape the drywall:

• Ceilings of at least 7 feet over rooms, halls, bathrooms and laundry areas, and 6 feet 8 inches elsewhere in the basement. Beams and ducts may drop to 6 feet 4 inches.
• Basement wall insulation of R-15 continuous, R-20 in the stud cavity, or R-13 in the cavity plus R-5 continuous. The option sets the wall's depth, and with it the width of the drywall returns at each window.
• Fire stops at least every 10 feet, full height, in the gap between the foundation and the framed wall, and another between that wall's top plate and the plate carrying the floor joists.
• Sealed holes wherever wire, cable or pipe passes through a top plate.
• Engineering for a new outside walk-out door unless it goes where a foundation window opening already is, and for any widening of an original window opening.

Soil at the foot of the Oquirrhs and cracks that keep returning

In 2014 the Utah Geological Survey released hazard maps for western Salt Lake Valley that cover parts of South Jordan, West Jordan and Herriman, including collapsible and expansive soils. UGS describes collapsible soils as strong when dry but prone to settling when wetted, typically on young alluvial fans, and expansive soils as clay-rich ground that swells when wet and shrinks when dry.

Inside a house, ground movement shows as diagonal cracks from door and window corners, doors that start to stick, or one seam that splits again after each repair. Drywall work fixes the wall. When cracks are wide or growing, or doors are binding, have the foundation and drainage checked before the walls are patched.

Older South Jordan homes and sprayed ceilings

About 13 percent of South Jordan's homes were built before 1990. In those, a sprayed or painted-on ceiling texture has to be checked for asbestos before a contractor scrapes it, because Utah's Division of Air Quality requires an inspection before renovation in homes built before 1992. If the lab finds asbestos, removal goes to a company with Utah's asbestos certification, and the skim coat and new finish follow.

Getting a drywall estimate in South Jordan

Call (801) 735-8491 or send the estimate form. A useful message says whether the home is attached or detached, which rooms are involved and how big the area is. For cracks and pops in a new home, say when the house was finished.

What moves the price is the amount of board and finishing, ceiling height, the finish level and texture, access, and whether the work sits in a fire-rated wall. The estimate is free and carries no obligation.

Drywall questions from South Jordan homeowners

Do I need a permit to finish my basement in South Jordan?

Yes. South Jordan's building department reviews basement plans uploaded as PDFs, with each room labeled, door and window sizes, ceiling heights, outlets and lights, plumbing fixtures and the furnace location.

When should nail pops in a new house be repaired?

Wait until the heating season ends if they appeared during it. The Gypsum Association's GA-222 says pops that show up a month or more into heating season should be left until it's over, while pops found during the original finishing get fixed right away.

What causes the crack where my ceiling meets an inside wall?

Often it's truss uplift, especially if the gap opens in winter and closes in summer. The roof trusses arch upward in cold weather and lift the ceiling off the wall. A floating corner lets them move without tearing the joint.

Which insulation does South Jordan require on basement walls?

R-15 continuous, R-20 in the stud cavity, or R-13 in the cavity with R-5 continuous, per the city's basement finish sheet. Holes for wire and pipe through top plates also have to be sealed against air leaks.

Can a damaged townhome party wall be patched?

Yes, as long as the patch keeps the wall's fire rating: the same type and thickness of board, taped joints and no new openings left unsealed. Mention that it's a shared wall when you ask for the estimate.