[STG]

Hi-

I have a finished ceiling - it's drywall - that has two straight hairline cracks in it. The cracks begin at the corners of walls and are nearly completely straight. One is about 10' long - the other is the width of the hallway - about three feet long.

Again, they both start at the corner of a wall and go directly straight across to the opposite wall. Neither is more than the width of a knife blade. I pulled up the carpet below both cracks - there's no foundation damage - no cracking or anything - and I checked for several feet on both sides of each crack. These are interior walls on a slab-on-grade foundation in San Antonio, Texas.

Now for my questions:

Is this a big deal?

Is it possible that the contract just did a poor job on the tape and float work?

What's the best way to repair these and make them go away for good?

[hkstroud]

Drive drywall screws on both sides of crack about every foot, sink screws below surface but do not break paper. Tape and finish with joint compound. Just cracks that happens sometimes. May be that drywall hanger did not drive enough nails. Not to worry.

[STG]

Great!

That's more or less what I did. I sanded down the cracks with my oscillating sander and some drywall sandpaper. I then slapped a good amount of Dap's "Crackshot" spackling compound on top of that area. This was followed by application of paper drywall tape, which was pressed onto the spackling compound and then smoothed.

The stuff is drying right now... it's taking a while, but I chalk that up to using a higher quality spackling compound... and then I'll skim it with patching plaster when it is all done. A bit more sanding and paint to match will follow.

[hkstroud]

Forget the spackling. To hard to sand. Just top or skim coat with drywall mud (joint compound). Feather out about 5" on each side. Sand lightly. Can be sanded with large wet sponge to avoid dust if you want to. Takes longer but you don't have the dust. Squeese out and rinse sponge often.

[Flying Blue Eagle]

STG - Most often these cracks that are not related to foundation problems is caused by the movement of the materials, what I am talking about is ;; All materials will ( EXPAND AND CONTRACT due to temperature changes;; say you have had a hot day , that night you hear , moning and poping,and souynds like something cracking , that is caused by what I said above about TEMPTURE CHANGES:: And sometimes it leaves its calling card - cracks ECT. > Hk. Gave you some good advise, AND I also recommend that you use the ( JOINT COMPOUND< WHEN ever I seen someone use the { SPACKLING< IT IS VERY HARD TO COVER UP WITH PAINT <IT WILL LEAVE A SPOT THAT IS PRETTY GLAREY & SHINNY, More so the rest of the paint on the ceiling or walls ;;; GOOD LUCK AND GOD BLESS ::: F.B.E.