I have owned an apt in an older building for the past 10 years. Currently the unit is vacant as I have moved abroad. When I went back for a short visit I stayed in my apt and noticed that in the living area there is a large gapping crack that is the length of my living room and is not crawling down my wall. I have contacted the unit above me to see if they had recently done renovations etc... and they answered no. Has anyone ever experienced this or know what may cause this to happen?

How old is the building? Plaster or drywall? If you have had the heat turned off, you may have some shrinkage cracking but a large crack is not normal. Does the apt. above or below have the same issues?

A crack across the ceiling and down a wall indicates foundation movement. Please try to answer ma0641's questions too. Ask everyone in the building if they have new cracks too, it isn't likely isolated to just you

I have actually called about 5 of the other owners and they all said that they were not experiencing the same problems. Building is about 40 years old. I have had the heat set at a regulated tempature.

I thought that it may have been caused when they changed their flooring... but the council told me that there is a sub floor with a space between the units so there is no way that they caused this. None of the other owners are experiencing the same.

I had a crack like this years ago in an apartment, from snow melt over the flashing on the chimney. It didn't water stain the drywall; it just went along a taped and compounded seam that was perpendicular to the joists. Since I was living there, I could see the water dripping at the end of the crack.

The condo corp did just inform us that they would be fixing the roof and that we would be expected to pay an assessment fee. My portion was $1800.00! Would it be worth it to have an engineer inspect my unit?

On another note... my building only contains three floors and my unit is located on the 2nd floor. The unit above me has not experienced the same problems as I seem too.

OK I better understand your situation. Your ceiling is a suspended ceiling not connected directly to the floor above you. You have used the terms condo and council so I am leaning toward somewhere in the UK, right? Most condos have an association in the USA and maybe this is your council. Check over the condo papers carefully to see who pays for common area repairs, it may not be you. If the council says it is you that pays then ask them to show you the paragrapghs in the paperwork that say that, do not take their word forr it.

Engineer, no. Basic building contractor or even just a drywaller, yes, for free. You can save money and guessing by taking out some drywall with a knife at the beginning of the crack.

You will have to pay the 1800, and I doubt they will cover this problem in your unit. You could try, if it turns out to be water from the roof.

It's possible that water came down an outer wall, or inner wall around a chimney, and bypassed the third floor. That's what happened in my case. Some sort of stop, even just a block of wood, in the framing that kept the water from just dripping all the way to the basement.

Sorry I am actually in Vancouver BC. I presented my problem to the condominium council or the members of our Strata committee. They told me that I was responsible for any damamge within my unit. Only today did they tell me there was a space

Between the unit above's floor and my ceiling. I would have thought that they were connected. I will have to check into the rules, regulations and bylaws to see exactly what it says regarding repairs.

I am thinking, based on my condo regulations, the failure happened in a space considered to be common area, the inside strutcure of the building. Yes you would be responsible for problems inside your unit but this problem is likely caused by the way the building was built, not decorated or outfitted.