I drywalled a room about 6 months ago. 4 months ago, the customer called me to show me some small cracks that developed. They said to fix it at my leisure. Yesterday I took a look at it and the cracks had all but disappeared.
Here are some pertinent details: The cracks were at most 1/64″ along the tape seams. The joint itself looked sound, it seemed like basically the paint had cracked. It happened along 1 taper joint and 2 butt joints. The room is an old converted porch. The ceiling, which had the most noticeable crack is simply 2X6 rafters which the drywall is mounted to directly. I had cautioned the customer about seasonal movement (which is what I think is happening), but they had a framer who assured them that it would be ok.
Since I could hardly find the cracks to fix them (it took a powerful flashlight and careful scrutiny to find where they had probably been), the customer told me to let it go for now. I told them that I was more convinced than ever that they were seeing seasonal movement which no joint tape is going to prevent, but if it re-appeared when the weather got cold again (and the humidity dropped) that I would fill the cracks with flexible caulk and re-paint. I don’t think I want to re-tape because any movement may cause the tape to pucker.
It’s the first time I’ve seen this and the customer seems to have forgotten about my caution that the ceiling wasn’t really designed for drywall, but I still want to do the right thing. I’m just not quite sure what the right thing is yet.
-Don
Replies
I think that the right thing in this situation is to diplomatically convince the owners that these small cracks are just going to happen with this sort of structure. About the only permanent fix would be trim battens -- hey, it works for mobile homes, sorta.
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I think you are right on.
The "coverted porh is what clued me in. That struture lacks some detailing that would be sed for this in new construction.
Could have been avoided with isolation detailing though, like strapping under the SR.
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I've had the same thing happen, and used the same technique to fix it ( the caulk ).
I didn't get back to you about Zano's tool 'cause it turns out I didn't need it- I had all tapers with my rock.