Hello,
Would appreciate some expertise advice here. My family moved into a trilevel house 2 years ago. The house is 29 years old. At that time, there was a small crack on the ceiling by the kitchen light (photo to follow). First winter was rough. Had condensation on all windows except the living room about 4 to 5 times. Typical summer for Chicago land. Second winter we had condensation 1 times on the windows. Now this past spring I noticed the crack by the kitchen light was growing longer, and there appeared to be another crack by the stairwell leading to the upper level. Now we are just wrapping up summer, and there are cracks in the kitchen, the stairwell, and the master bedroom (which is on upper level). There is also what appears to be a slight indentation, like right before the crack appears in the other 2 bedrooms (both on the upper level) and the living room (main level).

Is this a humidity and/or moisture issue? All of the cracks on the ceiling appear to be on drywall seams.

Here are some pictures. I apologize in advance for the poor photo quality. If you need other pictures or angles, please let me know.


When you walk into my house, you go down the hallway and are in the kitchen. To the slight left is a staircase going up for the bedrooms and going down for the family on the lower level.


That is the crack by the eat-in kitchen light. Now it has extended to either side of the light.


Here is the crack that is on the kitchen ceiling right before you go up the stairs.


Here is a almost spider web like crack on the ceiling where the two stairwell walls meet.


Here is the master bedroom crack. It runs almost the length of the room. This one has just happened in the last couple of weeks. It is pretty much hairline at this point.

Then there is the issue with the walls. Almost all of the cracks on the walls look like a piece of tape was put at the edge and now that is cracking. It is happening in the opening to the lower level from the kitchen and also in the stairwell. Here are some pictures.


Here is the opening into the lower level. I am in the family room looking up into the kitchen. You can see the crack is about an inch away from the edge of the wall.


It goes from the ceiling of the lower level to the floor of the kitchen.


Also on the ceiling of the lower level, about an inch fom the edge is another crack with nail pops. This crack runs the length of the ceiling for the cutout or pass-through.


Here is the stairwell. On the one wall it looks like the other wall cracks, about an inch away from the edge. But on the left side of the crack, it looks like an outline of tape? Maybe?


Then in the corner of the stairwell where the walls meet, a crack has formed. Same for the other side.

So we do have an attic and a crawlspace. We had the furnace replaced when we moved in 2 years ago and had a humifier put on the furnace.

Thank you very much for your time and hopefully your reply. My husband and I have differing opinions as to what is going on, and I really need some professional opinions. I would hate to bring someone in here if I can fix this myself.

Sincerely,

MommaK

 

Welcome to the forums!

The cracks next to the outside corner is at the edge of the corner bead. It's hard to say what caused the crack but the most likely scenario is either moisture or heavy objects bumping into it. It is also possible that the corner bead wasn't adequately nailed to start with.

The bulge/crack in the middle of the wall/ceiling is likely at a drywall seam. It's really difficult to say from here if it's settlement or moisture. A lot of moisture usually leaves a stain but that doesn't rule out moisture and joint compound is water soluble.

 

Now days tapers will put mesh or paper tape over the edge (not the corner) of the corner bead to prevent what is happening to your corner bead. Fairly easy to fix for a taper, a DIY can do it but it takes some skill, and maybe a lot of sanding.

 

Welcome.
Living in California, I deal with these stress cracks often.
I have never found a permanent solution, but here's what I do and it works pretty good:

For walls and ceiling, cut the crack wider in a V shape. Fill with hot mud and texture to match. This usually lasts for a few years before cracks reappear, and some may never reappear. It also helps to coat the inside of the V with shellac or a shellac based primer before applying mud.

For the corners, you might want to remove them and redo. It's a pain to remove the corner beads, but will give better results when applied properly.

 

Give the corner beads a little wiggle. I have found that often it is just a matter of the drywall finishers skimping on nails to hold the bead in place. Some just crimp the bead into place and don't use any nails at all. It that is the case, you will see movement when you apply pressure to the corner.

 

Thank you for all of the replies. I gave the corner bead a wiggle, and it does not move. Does anyone know if the cracks in the ceiling could be a moisture or humidity issue? And if so, what can be done about it? Thank you so much for your help!

 

Personally unless I saw real signs of water damage, I'd just repair as needed and keep an eye on it.

 

No signs of water damage. I'm assuming that the cracks in the ceiling are tape that has cracked. So I need to cut open the Crack and replace the tape, correct?

 

That usually works best. On the crack where the wall/ceiling meet I'd cheat and just caulk it.