Homeowner here, this is the second time this crack showed up. no HVAC running at the moment, but from when the drywall guys put the mud down, to now, the temps went from around 70-80 to around 40-50 degrees both times.
Now I would blame the temp swings the first time, but this is the second time this has happened. And now I realize that the crack is happening along the areas where that blocking is at. Part of my thinking is that because that block isn’t secured to the joists, the drywall is free to move at that point which is what is causing the crack. The crack is happening right along that seam, I can see day light in the attic through the seams
I have insulation coming in the next week or two so I have some time to figure this out.
Replies
Does that crack run along or close to what looks like a beam that 2x4’s are fastened to?
How are they fastened? I see mini joist hangers, are they well fastened to both the beam and the the 2x4’s?
If a beam, what’s its makeup?
How long the span?
Is this an addition?
Give all the info you can and more pics. That site looks a long way from Ohio…..
Cant get more pics not there today.
The drywall crack is happening where the seams of the drywall meet, not directly under the beam. If you look at the ceiling picture, the big beam is on the left side of the crack and the ceiling joists are on the right.
The joist hangers are Simpson strong tie face mount hangers for 2x4's. This area is part of an addition in a wall....we added on living space here so we pulled a wall further out.
The beam is a APB 7.5" x 24" x 32'. The beam is secured on both ends using 16 gauge straps that wraps around the top of the beam and nailed to the sides of the beam and to the wall studs right under them. Along with a myriad of other bracing.
Looking at the picture of the ceiling, the far wall has a stud pack under it, i think 5 or six studs nailed together under.
I am standing in the rough opening where the other end of the beam sits. The rough opening is around 3' wide maybe...and it has a 2x12 sandwhich with a piece of plywood in between, with i think 4 or 5 trimmer studs on each side of the rough opening carrying the 2x12
Here is rough opening before drywall.
Thanks for the quick reply.
How far is the edge of the beam from the edge of the sheets of the drywall run on the left?
The loose paper tape looks like the bedding dried b/4 the tape or was too thin. Another reason could be that the tape is not anywhere near centered on the seam. That edge of tape is not adhered to the board. This should have showed up fairly quickly. However, if it didn’t show then the spray and knockdown would have dampened it enough to have caused the release.
So would any drastic change in the conditions during normal drying time.
How long between taping and knockdown?
Anybody walking around up there? I take it that massive beam was engineered for the span and load.
Is there solid blocking all along the seam?
What are the drywaller telling you? Or is there warranty “till the taillights dim on the horizon?
It’s a piss’r redoing that with knockdown.
So thats my thing, that picture where I am inside the attic, you can see a wood block sitting on top of where 3 seams meet. That block is not secured to the ceiling joists, so the block isnt secured to the joists but the drywall edges are secured to that block.
I was monkeying around in the attic this weekend i noticed a faint crack after I was done inside the attic. Mind you, I can not walk over that area because the roof line comes down super tight. I was up in the attic none the less.
So the crack first came about last tuesday, they came back and fixed it that thursday (warm) morning, and the texture was applied friday (warm) Saturday comes around and I see everything is good when i got there.
It obviously was still drying, I went and did my thing in the attic (mostly all day) and I noticed a pretty decent crack forming. A cold front was rolling through, it went from 70 degreees to 50 degrees in a matter of a few hours. Came back the following day and the crack damn near doubled in size. It seemed like something was shrinking maybe the mud.
But to answer your question, there is no solid blocking along the seams which I think is the issue. My drywall guy will return tomorrow to look at it.
And yes the beams were spec'd by a framing PE.
But between the mud being applied and the texture being applied at this one given area, id say it was 24 hours maybe.
It looks like there is no blocking between joist where the seam is located. I would start with adding that...
that is my thought as well. The blocking that is there now aint doing squat.
You mentioned the block is at the joining of a long seam and 2 corners? Because of the change in joist layout from either side of the beam?
To late to know now maybe, but did they fasten the dw to the beam or let it float over it?
From the picture showing the delam’d tape, that is one long continuous crack between sheets.
I will hazard a guess that the ceiling joists are moving in relation to the beam, and that the drywall along the crack is fastened to different parts. (one to the beam, the other to the joists) It also could be that the other end of the drywall is snug to joists on the other side of he beam, and that is where things are moving.
That blocking only keeps the edges of the drywall in the same plane at the joint. I do not think there is much chance focusing on the drywall joint alone will cure this issue.
to fix this, you have to secure the joists to the beam (or across the beam to each other) so they no longer move
That seam was too long, should have used tapered edge (for thicker mud).
Seam should be in middle of beam, too close to hangers
Drywall was not staggered.