Drywall Crack

[mayday0017]

I have a crack in my ceiling I'm assuming it is just a normal settling crack. It runs from a corner on a wall in a straight line to a corner of a light fixture. I am trying to find someone to fix it and I would assume proper way is to sand texture down, tape, float, retexture, repaint. Is this correct? The one person who has provided a quote says he will just fill it with joint compound and blend it in with the current texture and repaint. Won't the crack just come back again if this is done? The crack isn't very wide but looks like previous owner might of made an attempt at fixing this once before. I want to make sure I only pay someone to do this once and never have to be bothered with it again in the future...

 

[Steevo]

If it is filled with joint compound, it will re-appear in very short order.
If it is filled with a more flexible caulk, it may not.
Even if it is scraped, mudded, taped, floated and textured, it may reappear if the stresses of the building shifting cause movement.

I have cracks running vertically in all four corner seams of my shop, which were all well taped and mudded when it was sheet rocked. I believe the building moves enough in high wind conditions that the corners flex.

 

[brownbagg]

that why you use plywood in the garage for walls and ceiling

 

[1948]

sounds more like you have plaster walls not drywall.......

 

[Steevo]

Mine is entirely sided with OSB on the exterior, under the building wrap and vinyl siding. There is just a certain amount of flex inherent in a building that has only exterior walls.

 

[Weekend_warrior]

I have one in a hallway in my house. I"ve retextured the ceilings in the whole house a room at atime (well the kitchen and master left of rooms left to go). I used tape and mud on the ceiling where it was cracked. It has come back in less than a year. Its a combination of the flex and where the seam and wall are located. I would go with the flexable caulk (thinking about this other day as I saw some at HD) and will blend and paint as I will have the texture gun out for the kitchen and master soon. I will be moving out of it to another room soon. I also have some patch work to do in the garage.

 

[geologist]

that why you use plywood in the garage for walls and ceiling

 

[mayday0017]

This is in my house, and the house is 100% brick 1 story on concrete foundation. The house is 13 years old as well (if that helps). I was thinking of using a calk so it would be flexible and could expand and contract if needed but I was advised against using it. I am sure there is a "correct" way of fixing it where it will never come back and I want to make sure this is the path I take. I really hate messing with drywall and even more so on ceilings, but maybe I'll have to research and do it the way I find best. If I pay someone to do it and it comes back I will not be a happy camper.... Filling it with joint compound wouldn't take any effort at all and would look great long enough to collect a paycheck which is why I believe the quote I was given was using this method of repair.

Anyone else have any suggestions?

So far this looks like best idea, I can see the logic here... others?
http://www.drywallschool.com/crack.htm

 

[Falcon67]

We had a few in this re-po we bought. The big cracks were over hall way transitions to the 10' living room ceiling I used a flexible latex caulk and a little matching paint. It's not invisible - hard to hide a 12' long crack along drywall edge - but they are not cracks.

 

[csp]

I was just going to look for that link on the drywallschool website. It worked for a crack in my parent's home when nothing else worked.

 

[gahrajmahal]

You are asking too much of your contractors to guarantee this work " forever". Unless the house is built on solid granite it will move over the years. I live in Ohio (where are you?) and we have clay soil. The last 8 or so years we have had drought conditions and our home has dropped a bit. (built in 68). My sons home was built in 1928 and plaster.
You are going to get cracks!
My home cracks the whole joint when it shifts buckling the original paper tape. I remove the old tape, clean the joint of loose bits. I re-mud the joint and have used paper tape, fiber mesh tape and reinforced tape. If the house is not finished shifting it will crack whatever I have used. I also have just caulked with flexible caulking and this will separate and pull apart too. I have a joint in the kitchen done this way and it opens in the winter and closes in the summer.
Not trying to discourage you, but just trying to get real about it. My son also wants the repairs to be permanent, but has taken solace that some repairs stay repaired and some just don't.
Right now I am sitting in an English flat in Bath that is probably 200+ years old (on vacation) and it's beautiful. But if I critique it closely some of the repairs are good and some are poor and some need to be done again.
Watch some you-tube videos and get it done yourself. You will be surprised how fast it goes and how cheap it will be.
Good luck.

 

[Gary S]

Drywall, like concrete is supposed to crack whenever something around it moves. Another reason to use OSB. It has strength.

 

[pattenp]

In your home? I'd like to see the interior of your house if you walled it with OSB.

Drywall, like concrete is supposed to crack whenever something around it moves. Another reason to use OSB. It has strength.

 

[Motofixxer]

Drywall is an aesthetic finishing product. Sure you gain a little bit of structural support from it. So if there is a crack it can be repaired by caulk or retaping. In the end the result desired is eliminating the aesthetically displeasing crack. If your really concerned about it, look into the cause of the crack. Remove the drywall and inspect the framing and insulation. Many times there is missing or poorly installed studs or missing insulation. Or cut out a larger area around the crack which moves the seams. Check the structure underneath and add additional blocking or supports. There is usually a cause of the cracks that can be fixed for a cost.

 

[mtwaterguy]

Drywall, like concrete is supposed to crack whenever something around it moves. Another reason to use OSB. It has strength.

If the structure is built correctly it shouldn't move and you would be able to use correct wall material, unlike osb. If your structure is depending on osb to keep it from moving, you have some real problems.

 

[mayday0017]

You are asking too much of your contractors to guarantee this work " forever". Unless the house is built on solid granite it will move over the years. I live in Ohio (where are you?) and we have clay soil. The last 8 or so years we have had drought conditions and our home has dropped a bit. (built in 68). My sons home was built in 1928 and plaster.
You are going to get cracks!
My home cracks the whole joint when it shifts buckling the original paper tape. I remove the old tape, clean the joint of loose bits. I re-mud the joint and have used paper tape, fiber mesh tape and reinforced tape. If the house is not finished shifting it will crack whatever I have used. I also have just caulked with flexible caulking and this will separate and pull apart too. I have a joint in the kitchen done this way and it opens in the winter and closes in the summer.
Not trying to discourage you, but just trying to get real about it. My son also wants the repairs to be permanent, but has taken solace that some repairs stay repaired and some just don't.
Right now I am sitting in an English flat in Bath that is probably 200+ years old (on vacation) and it's beautiful. But if I critique it closely some of the repairs are good and some are poor and some need to be done again.
Watch some you-tube videos and get it done yourself. You will be surprised how fast it goes and how cheap it will be.
Good luck.

Oh I didn't relize every house has cracks everywhere in their drywall and people mud and paint them daily to keep them hidden from me, thx for the input....

I don't want to be fixing this every day, week, or year... once every 8 or so years to fix something is normal, outside of that is bad workmanship...

 

[mayday0017]

Drywall is an aesthetic finishing product. Sure you gain a little bit of structural support from it. So if there is a crack it can be repaired by caulk or retaping. In the end the result desired is eliminating the aesthetically displeasing crack. If your really concerned about it, look into the cause of the crack. Remove the drywall and inspect the framing and insulation. Many times there is missing or poorly installed studs or missing insulation. Or cut out a larger area around the crack which moves the seams. Check the structure underneath and add additional blocking or supports. There is usually a cause of the cracks that can be fixed for a cost.

Very well said, that is exactly what I am looking for. Cracks always will happen from time to time in different places through out the life of a house, if you don't want to keep fixing the same one over and over you have to put a little effort into fixing it. Sometimes it can be as simple as adding a couple more nails/screws before taping and floating. Other times need to get to the back side of things and add a little more support to stiffen things and keep them from cracking again.