# family room drywall cracking at seams



## mayhem69 (Jan 15, 2011)

Hi, We had a family room addition put on about 8 yrs. ago. It measures 28'x15' and has a slight A-frame type ceiling with a joyce going across the middle, also 1 skylight on each side.
There are cracks all over at the seams of the drywall , especially the ceiling, and the corners. I asked the builder why is it doing this, and he responded he doesn't know, he never seen this before.
2 of the areas near the original house look like they possibly might have water damage at the seams also. They are parallel to eachother only about 2 ft. damage, then regular cracking to the skylight.
This really upsets me and i don't know what to do. I need some professional advice on this matter.


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## 2buckcanuck (Jul 9, 2010)

hi,read trough this thread here,this site must be becoming popular.for another HO came on for same reasons.this is a site where we shop talk etc,,,,,,,We always chase away DIY people,But I can also understand why new a home owner would seek our advice.so read this thread here http://www.drywalltalk.com/f2/need-pro-opinion-level-5-whats-expected-1700/ 
it should provide your answer


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## Workaholic (Dec 13, 2010)

Got pictures? Is your builder on board to fix this or is he dragging his feet? Have your builder call in another local reputable drywall guy and see if you can get a estimate and solution. 

With many of these deals it could be the foundation structure, the framing, ect, ect, ect.


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## Workaholic (Dec 13, 2010)

2buckcanuck said:


> hi,read trough this thread here,this site must be becoming popular.for another HO came on for same reasons.this is a site where we shop talk etc,,,,,,,We always chase away DIY people,But I can also understand why new a home owner would seek our advice.so read this thread here http://www.drywalltalk.com/f2/need-pro-opinion-level-5-whats-expected-1700/
> it should provide your answer


Jr. mod. :whistling2:


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## carpentaper (Feb 28, 2009)

hahahahahaha. the builder has NEVER seen this before. LMAO:thumbup:


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## mayhem69 (Jan 15, 2011)

sorry, i didn't realize this site is only for contractors.
Anyway, the guy that did the addition did everything, framing, drywall, etc. Can i just sand smooth, cut out bad spots and just tape over it?


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## Workaholic (Dec 13, 2010)

mayhem69 said:


> sorry, i didn't realize this site is only for contractors.
> Anyway, the guy that did the addition did everything, framing, drywall, etc. Can i just sand smooth, cut out bad spots and just tape over it?


Depends. 
Snap off a picture and post it here. If you need help posting the pic I can walk you through it.


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## smisner50s (Jan 6, 2011)

Yeah you can do that and it might stay good for the rest of your life...but might last a month and selfdestruct again....either way it it went bad for A reason..find the problem first..my advise to you.:thumbup:


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## Checkers (Jun 25, 2010)

mayhem69 said:


> sorry, i didn't realize this site is only for contractors.
> Anyway, the guy that did the addition did everything, framing, drywall, etc. Can i just sand smooth, cut out bad spots and just tape over it?


Call a pro, this site is for professional drywallers to discuss our profession, not to teach people how to tape and repair their own drywall. (Sorry if I'm coming off wrong. But this site was created to stay away from homeowners.)

Our professional opinion is to call a pro so it is repaired correctly.
Here is the search results for local drywallers in your area.

http://www.google.com/search?q=drywall+in+Gilbertsville%2C+Pa&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-USfficial&client=firefox-a


Good luck!


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## The_Texture_Guy (Dec 31, 2010)

Checkers said:


> Call a pro, this site is for professional drywallers to discuss our profession, not to teach people how to tape and repair their own drywall. (Sorry if I'm coming off wrong. But this site was created to stay away from homeowners.)
> 
> Our professional opinion is to call a pro so it is repaired correctly.
> Here is the search results for local drywallers in your area.
> ...


Harsh. i dont think he is hear to learn how to fix it. He is asking the pro;s why it might be doing this. I see no harm in that. I dont think he wants to fix it himself.

It could be the house settling. extreme temperature changes. or better yet a sink hole! More then likely it is the first thing i mentioned, second of course would be weather. I highly doubt you have sink hole. then again it could also be the deflection angles of the trusses. they are made with the porpose of shifting during weather changes and if they made them to shift to much, it could be the culprit!

I think that is the answer(s) he was looking for. not "take out the drywall and rehang yourself"


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## suncoast drywaller (Sep 4, 2009)

Checkers said:


> Call a pro, this site is for professional drywallers to discuss our profession, not to teach people how to tape and repair their own drywall. (Sorry if I'm coming off wrong. But this site was created to stay away from homeowners.)
> 
> Our professional opinion is to call a pro so it is repaired correctly.
> Here is the search results for local drywallers in your area.
> ...


Well said . :thumbsup:


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## VANMAN (Jan 14, 2011)

*Freddie*



The_Texture_Guy said:


> Harsh. i dont think he is hear to learn how to fix it. He is asking the pro;s why it might be doing this. I see no harm in that. I dont think he wants to fix it himself.
> 
> It could be the house settling. extreme temperature changes. or better yet a sink hole! More then likely it is the first thing i mentioned, second of course would be weather. I highly doubt you have sink hole. then again it could also be the deflection angles of the trusses. they are made with the porpose of shifting during weather changes and if they made them to shift to much, it could be the culprit!
> 
> I think that is the answer(s) he was looking for. not "take out the drywall and rehang yourself"


 Can ask u something? Are u Freddie Mercury??? I thought he was dead but ur picture looks dam like him


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## The_Texture_Guy (Dec 31, 2010)

VANMAN said:


> Can ask u something? Are u Freddie Mercury??? I thought he was dead but ur picture looks dam like him


I am talented with a computer. that is a shot of freddie at his one of his gayest moments ever. It did a photo capture from the dvd of live aid during radio gaga for that one i think. In fact i even made a pink tank top shirt and gave it to one of my friends to wear as a joke. he wore it once and his girlfriend swiped it from her and wore it quite a bit. she always got compliments on it too!


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## nickcruz (Sep 26, 2010)

The_Texture_Guy said:


> Harsh. i dont think he is hear to learn how to fix it. He is asking the pro;s why it might be doing this. I see no harm in that. I dont think he wants to fix it himself.
> 
> It could be the house settling. extreme temperature changes. or better yet a sink hole! More then likely it is the first thing i mentioned, second of course would be weather. I highly doubt you have sink hole. then again it could also be the deflection angles of the trusses. they are made with the porpose of shifting during weather changes and if they made them to shift to much, it could be the culprit!
> 
> I think that is the answer(s) he was looking for. not "take out the drywall and rehang yourself"


 I agree.I think taking down you cieling is the only thing you can do and know just what the problem is.If the walls are cracking also(god forbid) it could be a instalation problem but not likely,mabey not nuff nails in the framing corner L or no L at all,trusses are not screwed down to capplates,their could be a host of things that will cause cracks in walls and ceilings but you need to see it first.


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## mayhem69 (Jan 15, 2011)

Workaholic said:


> Got pictures? Is your builder on board to fix this or is he dragging his feet? Have your builder call in another local reputable drywall guy and see if you can get a estimate and solution.
> 
> With many of these deals it could be the foundation structure, the framing, ect, ect, ect.


Here are some pics. It's a hard room to take pics., with the 2 skylights.


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## M T Buckets Painting (Nov 27, 2010)

For one thing, the first pic where your paint is peeling off, it appears as though there wasn't a proper primer coat applied. There could quite possible be water causing the damage in this pic, although I see no signs of water stains. Maybe the paint was sprayed over wet joint compound?

In the other pics, looks like airborne tape or mesh tape.


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## mayhem69 (Jan 15, 2011)

I forgot to mention there is a 3 car garage addition attached on the other side of this room if that means anything.
Also, we do get alot of water under the main house when we get alot of rain, usually 3+ inches, i have 2 sump pump.
The land to the south of me declines right into my house. Maybe the cracks is just from settling , from the water? Don't know. I think i will call a professional to come out to get another opinion. My contractor said he doesn't know. 
Do you guys think he is responsible for fixing this? What would be reasonable for me to pay to fix this mess?
Also, is there a more flexible tape to use to prevent this after retape and mud?


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## Workaholic (Dec 13, 2010)

The first pic and the top of the third pic look like a moisture problem, not sure if it is a leak or not since like MT I do not see a stain but the moisture has caused failure, have you pushed on the spots to check and see if they are soft? They look soft. The other pics are harder for me to say but they are some pretty big cracks running down the wall and it could be due to settling, tape, or a problem with the mud mix or another problem altogether 

What kind of paint finish is on the ceiling? In pic #2 it looks like it has a pretty good sheen to it. If it is how it looks without the proper primer coat you will risk paint failure. 

If the drywall is not soft you could try the easier fix of cutting out the tape and redoing it, properly prime and paint. There is a good chance the problem may come back by going this route since the problem was not identified. The other option is to rip it out and determine what is causing the problem before you rehang. 

I would pay a local well reputable drywall guy to come in and trouble shoot the problem and offer you some solutions, you will then be able to show your GC your written out possible solution and estimate to repair to the GC and go from there. 

Keep in mind that my advise is from a painters perspective and that some of the other full time drywall guys might offer a better idea of your problem. 

Thanks for the pics though it gives you a higher probability of more accurate advise.

EDIT: To add since you posted while I was typing, It could of been a temperature problem if you have a 3 car garage connected to this room. Was the area heated while they were working in there?


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## mudslingr (Jul 18, 2010)

mayhem69 said:


> I forgot to mention there is a 3 car garage addition attached on the other side of this room if that means anything.


How long after did these cracks start to appear ? Do the garage walls opposite to your damaged room have proper insulation ? Not sure about all regions but in my city we do not install poly ( vapour barrier ) on the garage walls that have an interior room on the other side. This causes a lot of moisture problems.
Peel the tape off first and check to see what kind of screwing job was done. This might tell the whole story.


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## Titan Drywall (Feb 16, 2010)

Snow loads this winter have been bad across the US, also melting snow can cause water to drain in places it never has...just a thought


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## DSJOHN (Apr 5, 2010)

8 years ago! okay,since when did cracks appear? last year[2or 3 years ago]. The pictures appear to show tape and mud that wasnt given the right environment to cure in while being done. Winter time. no heat 24/7 minimum 60 degrees, was this the case? the tape coming away happens when the builder doesnt supply proper heat and drywaller or builder using wrong materials[probably taped with liteweight mud], Do all the screws show? Are they rusting? I didnt notice any discoloration[black ] to say mold] .


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## Workaholic (Dec 13, 2010)

DSJOHN said:


> 8 years ago! okay,since when did cracks appear?


 I missed that part.


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## DSJOHN (Apr 5, 2010)

The op should check out JLC drywall forum, the builders took the site over ,they luv to answer HO querries.


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## SlimPickins (Aug 10, 2010)

mayhem69 said:


> Here are some pics. It's a hard room to take pics., with the 2 skylights.





mayhem69 said:


> Here are some pics. It's a hard room to take pics., with the 2 skylights.


The 3rd and 4th photos show cracks that are not perfectly straight lines...this leads me to believe that they are settling/movement cracks....unless of course there was a huge gap that needed to be prefilled. The first pic led me to believe there was water damage. So, if you were to stand in the room, does it look like the cracks are all happening in a specific plane? For instance, are there cracks at sort of the same location in relation to framing? If you're having a lot of water build up in your basement, there's bound to be some settling in your foundation.....not good. It sounds like some site work needs to be done before any attempts are made to repair the drywall.


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## mayhem69 (Jan 15, 2011)

DSJOHN said:


> 8 years ago! okay,since when did cracks appear? last year[2or 3 years ago]. The pictures appear to show tape and mud that wasnt given the right environment to cure in while being done. Winter time. no heat 24/7 minimum 60 degrees, was this the case? the tape coming away happens when the builder doesnt supply proper heat and drywaller or builder using wrong materials[probably taped with liteweight mud], Do all the screws show? Are they rusting? I didnt notice any discoloration[black ] to say mold] .


Actually when they did this room it was winter and i remember them having a heater in there for drying purposes. The garage side wall is not insulated, should it be? Alot of the cracks are parallel to eachother also, in the same spots. I agree, the first picture i think was from a very bad rain storm.


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