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ceiling cracking and drywall separating

3 years ago

My daughters bedroom ceiling is failing, I think. We saw this last night.

It has been SUPER hot for here, in the high 90's with high umidity and I do not know if that is why, or if someone can give any insight.

Needless to say, I need to get it fixed. My husband wants to put in sheetrock screws and leave it at that. I don't know if that is such a good idea, or if that will work. This is an upper floor ceiling with an attic above.

The house was built in 2004, and we have always been able to see buckles in the ceiling of the living room where the joists are, but this is new.

darn it.

It is almost impossible to get help out where we live so we might have to try ourselves (myself) (husband is disabled) - I am NOT well versed in repairs like this.

Please, any information would be amazing. Thank you.

Is it from mudding/taping/painting wrong? Sheetrock too thin or?

1. I am wondering if putting up beams would make it worse or stabilize it?

2. Go over the ceiling with new drywall

3. or Can we put screws in,

4. or replace it!?

The picture with the fan is our living room ceiling fyi, not her bedroom.

The photos with the ceiling light are her room.

We have no water damage or termites

.

Featured Answer

puppy_kisses

3 years ago

Was closed cell spray foam insulation sprayed directly against the drywall?

We had a problem that looked similar and the cause was the closed cell spray foam insulation shrank. In our case the foam insulation shrinkage resulted in easily seeing the location of each joist (as in the last photo you posted) and the drywall was actually arching up between each joist rather than laying flat. Cracks developed. Best way to see if this is a possibility is to go to your attic and see what type of insulation is installed over your living room area.

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Comments (6)

krissie55
3 years ago
Is the crack a straight line where two sheets of sheetrock come together? If so, it was not taped, etc. correctly. House shifting could cause the separation. Do you water the foundation of the house, that is water about 2ft from foundation on regular basis, especially in hot weather. Clay soil tends to shift.
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Comments (5)
There is also another cause of ceiling cracks----truss shifting. Often during construction, trusses get wet before/during installation. If installed wet, and sheetrock is installed, the trusses can move as they dry and crack the rock. One way to tell if the cracks are truss rellated or foundation related is by location. Most foundation related cracks start at door/window corners and move up towards the ceiling or at bottom corners and move down towards the floor. Truss related cracks usually show up at wall/ceiling joints or at openings in the ceiling. In two story/split entry designs, floor joists can sometimes act the same way if wet when installed. If the crack seem to follow the seasons----showing up during spring or fall when the temps/humidity make the winter to summer/summer to winter transitions---it is a good indicator the cracks are wood movement related. Fixing them as outlined above by drywall guy more than once is sometimes necessary before the situation is resolved. Now and then, a stressed piece of wood will move regardless and fixing is impossible for the long term.
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The hallway is 3.5ft wide. It's hard to say which walls are load bearing. The attic is completely open, no interior bracing. Joists run across the house (across the hallway) and from one side to the other is exterior wall, hallway wall (x2), exterior wall so the joists are only touching walls at 4 points. The hallway opening has a bigger 2x6 over it. I tried to draw a picture of how I think it's built. This part of the attic is hard to get to (air duct return, gas lines, etc all run right there). When I first bought the house I ran cat6 all over and I drilled through that double 2x4, I guess it's possible it's actually three 2x4s. You can only see the top one, but I had to have a drill bit extension to get through all the way. I think its cracking down that 2x4 "sandwich".
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I would be concerned that the installation of the fireplace is pulling the drywall and causing the separation. Not an expert but the mortar sticking out the side of the stacked stone leads me to believe the proper support was not put in behind the stacked stone and at some point the drywall is going to pull from the framing all together.
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Comments (9)
The cracks in the first two photos may be because the seams between two sheets of drywall were placed too close to the openings. In the third photo...that is normal. Was always there. The texture is sprayed on & you have contrasting colors of paint so not even a paint bridge between the two planes. Subtract all cracks like photo #3 from the 100 crack total. The last photo with the level--also normal. Framing is not cabinetry. Framing lumber is not engineered material. Take a trip to a lumberyard and inspect the framing stud material. You will see that they are not all perfect flat, straight. Lastly, new build. Structure has not yet reached equilibrium. Drywall installed less than 1 year ago....freshly milled lumber & installed in what is typically the most humid time of year.
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Shawna Hays
3 years ago
That looks like a taping issue to me
PRO
Joseph Corlett, LLC
3 years ago
Meg:

The crack needs to be taped, mudded, feathered, then the ceiling finish matched and painted. It isn't all that technical, but even though this is a relatively small repair, it's going to be a lot of work.
graywings123
3 years ago
It doesn't appear to me that the ceilings are failing, in the sense that they are going to fall down. You could just ignore it.
mainenell
3 years ago
Drywall screws to remaster the Sheetrock. Then it is up to you how much repair to do. It is obvious that the Sheetrock has loosened. Is this under an attic? Has someone been up there recently?

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