Drywall joint crack

Use long strokes to smooth out the compound. Feather it out 5 to 6 inches beyond each side of the tape. Once again, let dry, and then scrape off or sand any dry particles before painting. Delving into why does drywall crack and narrowing down your particular cause can prevent the need for future repairs. Gather the proper tools, take your time, and that hairline fracture will be history!

Still not sure how to repair drywall cracks? Give the pros at Mr. Handyman a call today at or request an appointment online to handle drywall repair and more!

Repaired drywall is the perfect excuse to change the color of the entire room. Let our sister company, Five Star Painting, help with professional painting services. August 11, By Mr. By Room. By Area. Spread the spackling on the tape in a downward motion from the center. Then go back and add the rest of the spackling moving upward from the center of the tape. Make the width of the new coat be two inches to the right and 2 inches left of the center of the tape.

Then smooth out the spackling with your 6 inch drywall knife like you did in Step 2 always starting in the center and moving toward the ends. The key tip I have here is to apply slightly more pressure on the side of the knife that touches the drywall.

This pressure change will feather the Patch Plus Primer and blend it into the existing drywall. Depending on your skill and how perfect you want the wall you may have to apply a 3rd coat. For small drywall repair jobs I like to use a fine grit sanding sponge to feather the edges of spackling or joint compound. Lightly move the sanding sponge in a circular motion over the patched area.

Circular motions will help blend the patch into the drywall. Patch Plus Primer can be painted over after 30 minutes.

Internet down, I was trying to reply using a cellphone and my phone is convinced it knows-better what I should be saying.

Nothing against Egyptians. Thanks Dan. I am not sure what Egyptian Board base is but will Google. Had a fire in in another part of the house and wondered if there may have been moisture in walls from where they hosed the house. Also added 4 piers about 4 years ago so may have movement from that.

I think I will get a home inspector to come look. My most complete advice that is more thorough than trying to make up an answer a new off the cuff is in the article above and others in this series so I hope that you will take a look. I do notice however that in your photo we've lost what looks like a skim coat on an gypsum board base. Or possiblywe are seeing the separation and peeling of painted-ove wallpaper that is no longer well-adhered to the gypsum board surface.

So it could be that the skim coating was not properly applied such as applying it over dust or dirt, or it could be that there's been a leak or moisture problem. Those are some things to look for. Typically I find and remove all of the loose material on the wall by feeling for bubbles or bulges, cutting around the damage with a drywall knife, removing the loose material, skim-coating with joint compund to fill the damaged areas, sanding smooth, priming, and painting.

Watch out : working on old homes with painted-over wallpaper I've sometimes found that it's hard to stop removing loose surface material; particularly when we wet the edges of the removed area by the application of joint compound, more painted-wallpaper loosens its grip on the wall surface below.

How to repair? Steve Thanks so much for the comment: hearing from pros in the field is particularly helpful to everyone. Before prescribing a repair or preventive measures for the ceiling-wall crack, if we can diagnose the cause with confidence we'll be more certain of the repair.

In particular this crack shows up between ceiling and wall of a wall that is close to the middle of a building and runs parallel to the front and rear walls or roof eaves, AND where the roof is supported by trusses.

That problem occurs because of differences in arching of the truss upper and lower components that in turn are because the truss bottom chord that supports the drywall ceiling is buried in insulation. The "fix" is to eliminate the screws or nails securing the drywall to the ceiling for a couple of feet on either side of that interior partition wall.

In bad cases where the drywall is sufficiently damaged as to justify demolition and re-work, there are special clips that are used to hold the drywall to the wall top instead of the truss bottoms near the building center.

None of that repair needs to be done from that cramped attic; Where I've fixed these cracks I either removed ceiling drywall screws that were into the truss bottom chord for a couple of feet on either side of the center partition wall or if nails were used, I use a punch to drive the nails all the way into the truss bottom, then patch the hole left in the ceiling and re-paint.

A second cause of cracking in the ceilling drywall may come from people or heavy storage over the area of damage - in particular when the ceiling is framed with minimal sized lumber; I've found this in cottages built in North America, the UK and Spain that date from the s and 50s. But those areas of damage are different: the damage occurs closer to the center of the span, not right over the middle partition wall.

And I'll be grateful if you can post a photo or if you have further comments, criticism, or suggestions. As a drywaller i see a lot of cracks on ceilings. That begin at a outside corner interior wall. And extend across most of the room's ceiling. I figure the cause is movement in ceiling rafters. Where one is extended across the entire distance of the exterior walls and the one next to it is supported by interior upper wall plates.

Because stiffeners were not put in place to keep bowing from occuring How can this problem be best corrected with minimul actic space to work in. Brad Thanks for an interesting and helpful question that I'd phrase as: Interior details to permit and cover drywall crack from cyclic building movement.

Given the location of the crasck and the surrounding framing deign, I don't assume this drywall cracking and wall movement are due to foundation settlement nor expansive soils etc. First: in my experience cracking at a location like the one shown in your photo - where there is an intersecting roof plane that can be difficult to tie to the main structure, and where there is a framed opening for a window where header connections are critical it's not a surprise to find evidence of movement.

The underlying problem could be inadequate header at the window, inadequate connections of the lower sloped-roof to the main structure, or a similar problem. Second: expansive clay soils can damage more than drywall, also moving and damaging foundations and in extreme cases, plumbing connections. So it is worth investigating whether a soil watering or de-watering system, such as commonly used under buildings with expensive clay soils, is necessary and would be helpful. Third : In the location shown in your photo, it would be easy to add wooden trim that is fastened only on one side of the moving wall.

That would cover the crack and allow movement without any visual evidence in the room. You'll need to extend the trim and include it in the interior design for it to make sense. If you are confident that there is no significant underlying structural concern, then a cosmetic approach is fine.

For areas of less total movement I've used reinforced mesh tape before taping over and repairing crack damage. In some locations indoors, such as at a wall-ceiling juncture, we use clips to carry the drywall so that the building can move without telegraphing that movement into drywall cracks. Those clips are described in our article that discusses cracks caused by rising roof trusses.

Poor quality workmanship in taping the drywall joints. Too much mud, too little mud, missing drywall tape, and drywall secured with internal stresses are some causes. It is important to note that while these cracks should be looked at more closely, these types of cracks may not be serious. Whether or not these cracks are serious is dependent on the particular circumstances.

The above items can be an indication that a structural issues may exist, depending on the location and severity. If so, some of these issues may need to be addressed to help keep the drywall cracks from coming back.

For the majority of cracks a painter would be the appropriate person to seal and cover the cracks. At times, a drywall contractor or a skilled handyman who can tape and mud joints may be needed.

There are many products that can be used such as mesh tape, mesh patch kits, drywall mud and caulking. In some instances depending on the type of texture on the wall, it may be difficult for the homeowner to properly match the existing texture pattern.

In this case an experienced drywall contractor is recommended although the majority of small cracks can be filled and repainted such that they cannot be noticed easily. By using a mesh tape product the crack is less likely to show up again.