Our house is built over a basement. The great room with its high walls has settled considerably. On one wall there is a hairline crack completely around a whole sheet of drywall. On the opposite wall there is an area between the breakfast bar and closet that the drywall has compressed and buckled ( about 1/2 inch wide, 30 inches long) due to settling. Inaddition the corner beading above the bar is heavily cracked on both sides. the one side is the textured soffet (part of the mud has separated from the beading) what is the best way to repair the hairline cracks? what is the best way to remove and repair the buckled area? what is the best way to fix the crack down the length of the corner beading (this side is painted)? what is the best way to fix the soffet side (this area is not painted, just some kind of very white mud)?

I'm planning to install 1x furring strips to the inside of my plaster-covered, cement block walls and on top of that mount a 3/4" sheet of rigid insulation and a 1/2" layer of sheetrock. Most of the walls in question are above crawlspace, so the subflooring is made of wood and the only code relevant to me is the '97 UBC. Also it should be noted that I am in the desert, where we get an average of 9.32" of rain, a year. This is part of a major renovation and though I realize that I can ask at the town hall; Thus far, I haven't always gotten a "correct" answer from the person who answers the phone and because I'll be applying for a homeowner's electrical and plumbing license when I get my permit; I'd prefer to have as many bases covered and my plans most of the way, code-compliant before I walk in the door. With that said, I have a few code(ish) questions, if you would be so kind... My list may appear daunting, I'm thinking that several of my questions may be easy to combine into a shorter response; Though, I'll welcome any answer in whatever form to any part of this query... 1) It appears from looking at an older copy of the code that I have the option of installing the furring strips, either 16" or 24" oc and because I will be mounting the sheetrock/foam with screws, my screw-spacing should be at least 16" if I go with the 16"oc studs, or 12" if I decide upon 24" oc; First of all, am I reading/understanding this correctly and because my 50+ year old walls are rock solid are there any opinions as to which spacing, I should choose? 2) I am a bit confused as to whether or not I should use pressure-treated or moisture-resistant wood; I can find in the code book that if I were actually framing a wall from scratch and if I was installing on cement floor, I would need to put pt along the bottom. But I'm primarily installing above a wooden floor and there would be no sill plate(?) because of my use of furring; Does anyone know, whether or not the national code calls for moisture-resistant furring or a vapor barrier between the furring and the plaster-covered block? 3) As I mentioned earlier, I have found spacing requirement for fastening the sheetrock to the furring, but I can find no code as to what kind of spacing might be required for the tapcons, I will use to fasten the furring to the walls; Is there any code on this, or does anybody have any suggestions as to what would give me the best hold? Minus code, I am thinking of putting them 24" oc; Any opinions? And are there any suggestions as to the length of tapcon, I should purchase for this project? I assume that the block in my plaster and stucco-covered wall is the same as was used to construct the wall which surrounds my property; Or at least, I see no reason not to assume as much... These hollow-core blocks have 1 1/2" of cement as the "frame" and once again, I will be using the tapcons to put a 1x (3/4) over them. 4) Also, I started sounding this project-out with the idea of using 1x2's, but as I got into the electrical stuff and sounded some of my other thoughts out in other forums; People kept assuming that I'll be using a 1x4; Is there any argument, other than having more room to work that I should consider when I'm selecting the strip size? What would you recommend or what is code? 4) And finally (for this post, anyway :D); I am going to need to run emt conduit in the void between the foambard and the block on some of these walls; This was worked-out in the electrical forum, so it meets their code; But, if I wanted to run the conduit horizontally, it would be a lot easier, if I were to cut the furring so that there is an actual gap just large enough for the emt; Once again, because I didn't find a lot of relevant code on my last trip to the library; Does this sound like it might pass inspection and/or would it be up to the ahj whether or not he passes it? Or is there a specific thing in code that would forbid these 3/4" gaps for electrical? I apologize for the length, but most anyone will tell you that I'm pretty intent on communicating as much about my situation/questions as I can in my initial posts on a subject and that my follow-ups do actually get shorter and shorter; But I guess, no one would ever accuse me of being a man of few words; Thanks in Advance; R