Walls and paint

What Causes Drywall Cracks, and When to Worry

Why cracks show up over doors, along seams and on ceilings, and how to tell normal settling from a bigger problem.

A crack in your wall can look alarming, but most drywall cracks are cosmetic. Houses move a little with heat, humidity and time. The trick is knowing which cracks are just part of living in a house and which ones are a sign of something bigger.

Common Causes of Drywall Cracks

Normal settling and seasonal movement

Wood framing swells and shrinks with moisture. Here in Georgia, the swing from humid summers to drier winter air with the heat running can make framing shift just enough to crack a seam. New houses also go through a settling period as lumber dries.

Weak spots around doors and windows

The corners of door and window openings are where stress collects. Thin diagonal cracks running up from a door corner toward the ceiling are some of the most common cracks we see.

Poor taping at the seams

Drywall is hung in sheets, and the joints are covered with tape and compound. If there wasn't enough compound under the tape, it can lose its grip. That shows up as a straight crack along a seam, or tape that bubbles or peels.

Ceiling cracks

Ceilings crack along seams for the same reasons walls do. Attic heat, roof loads and truss movement can all play a part. Some homes have trusses that lift slightly in winter, which pulls the ceiling up from the wall and leaves a crack along the corner.

Water damage

A crack with brown staining, bubbling paint or soft drywall around it usually means water. That could be a roof leak, a plumbing leak or condensation. Fix the source first.

Foundation or framing movement

Less common, but more serious. Large cracks, cracks that keep getting wider, and cracks that show up along with other signs can mean the house is moving more than normal.

How to Read a Crack

Here's a rough guide to what you're looking at:

• Hairline, straight along a seam: Usually a taping issue or minor movement. Cosmetic.
• Thin diagonal crack from a door or window corner: Common and usually cosmetic. Keep an eye on it.
• Crack at the wall-ceiling corner that opens and closes with the seasons: Often truss movement. Annoying, but usually not structural.
• Wider than about a quarter inch, or getting wider: Get it checked.
• Stair-step or jagged cracks, plus doors that stick and floors that slope: Talk to a structural engineer or foundation specialist.
• Crack with staining or soft drywall: Water. Find the leak before anything else.

A Simple Way to Track a Crack

If you're not sure whether a crack is growing:

1. Put a small pencil mark at each end of the crack.
2. Write the date next to it.
3. Take a photo with a ruler or tape measure held against it.
4. Check it again in a month or two. If it's passed your marks or gotten wider, it's moving.

Fixing a Cosmetic Crack the Right Way

Smearing spackle over a crack usually doesn't last. The joint moves and the crack comes right back. A better fix:

1. Use a utility knife to open the crack slightly into a shallow V so compound has something to grab.
2. Remove any loose tape or crumbled compound.
3. Embed paper or mesh tape over the crack in a thin coat of joint compound.
4. Let it dry, then apply two more thin, wider coats, feathering the edges.
5. Sand smooth, prime, and paint.

For inside corners, paper tape folded down the middle is easier to get straight. For a crack at the wall-ceiling joint that opens and closes, some people use a flexible caulk or a strip of crown molding to hide the movement instead of re-taping.

If you've got smaller holes to deal with at the same time, our guide on how to patch a small drywall hole walks through that.

Older Homes Crack Differently

Many homes in Hogansville, LaGrange and West Point are older and some still have plaster walls instead of drywall. Plaster cracks can mean the plaster is pulling away from the wood lath behind it. That needs a different repair than drywall. Our older home repairs guide talks more about what to expect.

When to Call Us, and When to Call Someone Else

We handle drywall repair for cosmetic cracks, failed tape joints, water-damaged sections after the leak is fixed, and full re-finishing of a wall. If we come out and see signs of real structural movement, we'll tell you straight. That's a job for a foundation specialist or structural engineer, and patching over it would just waste your money.

If the cracks are from a leak in a pipe inside the wall, call a licensed plumber first. Once the water is stopped and things dry out, we can repair the wall and get it ready for interior painting.

Get a Second Set of Eyes

Not sure what you're looking at? Text a photo of the crack to (706) 594-5049 and we'll give you our honest take. You can also request a free estimate through our estimate form.