Ceiling Drywall Crack

[bookman51]

I had the ceiling of my garaged finished last summer after several years of bare drywall. The fellow who did it retaped it and stomped it for a pattern. Then with cold weather (unheated garage) it developed a long crack along one seam. He came back and retaped it with fiberglass tape and quickset mud last week. Looks good.

Anyway, he recommended I insulate the attic above the garage. I told him the garage is unheated.

Talked with my nephew yesterday, and he has the same ceiling crack in the unheated garage of his new house and his garage attic is insulated.

Does not look like insulation did any good for him. Should there have been an expansion joint or something in a fairsized ceiling? The range of temperature can be quite a bit here in Nebraska. Or, will the fiberglass tape do the trick?

Bookman

 

[bannedleader]

Fill the crack w/ paintable caulk.

 

[TONE]

problem with filling it with paintable caulk is that yes the caulk will expand/contract but the paint might not.

I usually take the time to dig out the old tape, fill it with new tape and remud. Ive done it in a few spots and never had a problem with them coming back.

As for the temp I dont know if that makes a difference, maybe someone else can chime in on that.

My parents have a house in Michigan which is used only as a spring-fall house. They basically turn everything off and walk away. The house is set for heat to go just above freezing.

They dont have drywall crack issues at all and that house gets COLD!

 

[bookman51]

Thanks, No paint on the ceiling. For the walls I used an exterior semi-gloss. No cracking on the walls.

Had some cracking in the house when we had an ice storm a few years ago and electricity off...got down in the 40s. I figured temperature had to have something to do with it...expansion and contractions. Maybe not.

Bookman

 

[freebeer]

I'm convinced it's the temp change. I've seen a few buildings including my own that looked great after the rock was finished. One cold winter with no heat and most of the joints were visible. I learned that lesson the hard way.
Oh and mine was heavily insulated before the cold came.

 

[ddawg16]

Heat it up...it expands....cool it down....it contracts. Materials 101

Wood....will change apx .0000028" per inch per deg of temp change...
Translation....10' span = 120". 50 deg change = .0168"

I can't find the expansion coefficient for drywall....but if plaster is close it's about .000009" per inch per deg....or about 3 times that of wood....

In GJ terms......it will crack.....

 

[Identaltech]

the fix is..........


Heat your garage.
never let it freeze inside.

 

[BWS]

Or don't use sheetrock........as much money as some on here spend on their shops am suprised that none of ya'll have "coffered" ceilings...oh,and lattice don't count.HaHaBW