# Crack across garage ceiling and expansion joint.



## DeanV (Apr 18, 2007)

I have a customer with a reoccurring crack across the garage ceiling. I was wondering if I could cut it open and put in an expansion joint now, or do they have to be installed at the same time as the board is hung?


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## timhag (Sep 30, 2007)

DeanV said:


> I have a customer with a reoccurring crack across the garage ceiling. I was wondering if I could cut it open and put in an expansion joint now, or do they have to be installed at the same time as the board is hung?


I may be wrong, but i never heard off an expansion joint going between board. Clean the crack out and use mess tape with a few coats of mud.


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## DeanV (Apr 18, 2007)

I have already done that and told them it would be back (mesh tape and setting mud).

Garage seams just to do not hold up well in colder climates. I think it is how hot garages can get in the summer, then how cold they get in the winter. Just too much movement. I have seen a new garage ceiling where the center of the ceiling had a metal "trough" expansion joint that was supposed to keep that joint from cracking and at least for a few years it did.


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## Bender (Aug 10, 2008)

Nail a few studs in and screw to them?


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## Workaholic (Apr 17, 2007)

I say cut the failing tape out and retape and mud.


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## DeanV (Apr 18, 2007)

I am not sure if there is access to the attic space above the garage ceiling, but if there is that the stud idea might be an option to help hold everything together. I can look into that.

I could tape and mud again, but that would be at least the third time that approach has been taken on this seam.


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## boman47k (May 10, 2008)

I think the crack will come back. Maybe a fake expose beam? If needed to balance things out, add a couple equally spaced.


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## CobraCDN (Jan 8, 2008)

Is the garage insulated and heated? Is there vapor barrier? If all is okay that way it should not be cracking. We see up to 70 degree temp diffs up here, and a properly built garage will not have cracks. Is the floor cracked also?

I would say your best quick fix option:

Run a molding over the joint, I like MDF 1/2" thick about 4 " wide, router a bevel on the edges, glue the back and brad nail on dap and paint to match.

PS Fibre tape (mesh) does not hold things together any better then regular joint tape, just costs ya more.

Cheers


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## boman47k (May 10, 2008)

I would think that if the garage is built with the improperly for the span, it does not matter whether it is insulated or not. I knowof a house that has a recurring crack down the center of room. This house is insulated and heated and cooled. I assume it it has something to do with the constrution of the house. I suspect the same may be true here.


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## DeanV (Apr 18, 2007)

The garage is not heated. I do not know if the ceiling and walls were insulated before drywall or not (or vapor barrier).

Reoccurring cracks in garage seem to be a real common thing here. Even interior cracks can be bad (of course a lot are the usual places such as around doors or windows). One job had a crack above an entry door in a home running 5' or so to the cathedral ceiling that I fixed 3 times in a one week paint job because when I started the job it was in the 60's and fixed it. Then, temperature dropped into the 20-30's with a lot of snow and the crack opened up. I fixed it again. Then the temperature when up into the 60's again and the tape and patch was pushed out. I fixed it again.


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## boman47k (May 10, 2008)

boman47k said:


> I would think that if the garage is built with the improperly for the span, ....


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## Bender (Aug 10, 2008)

I also saw one crack return so many times they finally cut out the rock from joint to joint and replaced it with a piece of 1/2" plywood.


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## boman47k (May 10, 2008)

Bender said:


> I also saw one crack return so many times they finally cut out the rock from joint to joint and replaced it with a piece of 1/2" plywood.


And blended it with the rest of the rock?


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## Bender (Aug 10, 2008)

Yup.


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## [email protected] (Mar 1, 2008)

You see them in commercial application.


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## boman47k (May 10, 2008)

Interesting. Painted?


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## msmil (May 6, 2007)

Dean, do as bender says, nail in additional studs, if you have access, and screw to them then retape & mud. If not, the crack will continue to reappear.
I live south of you in the kalamazoo/portage area and see this all the time, in new homes and old. Trust me, don't just retape & mud. It will come back. What you fix in the garage in the summer will certainly be tested in the winter!!


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## Bender (Aug 10, 2008)

Also, if you have very expansive soil in the area (like bentonite) good luck...


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## plastermaster (Oct 5, 2015)

I know this is an old thread but I figured IF anyone comes here looking for answers to this problem = they will now find the REAL solution

if you want to stop/prevent the cracking of ceilings in ANY non heated/controlled environment - the way to do so is during the hanging process (although) it can be done later by cutting into the sheetrock but is much more of a chore

run a continuous butt joint every 8' (not staggered) and install EXPANSION bead in all of the joints (regular and butt joints)

Example = a 24x24' garage IF done correctly will have 2 expansion beads running continuously across the ceiling one way and 5 in the other direction (2 where all butt joints meet every 8' and 5 where all factory/common joints meet every 4') = see pic below showing bead pattern

------|------|------
------|------|------
------|------|------
------|------|------
------|------|------

this allows expansion and contraction of the ceiling without cracking

it's the same as an exterior stucco wall where we install expansion bead every 20 ft to prevent cracking but is more extreme for this problem/situation because it has to be

ALL other methods (taping, caulking, double taping, durabond, etc.) will fail

This IS a tried and true method in the commercial world

I've been in the trades since 1980 as a 16 yr old grunt starting out back then and now at 52 yrs old have since gained 2 journeymanships as both a commercial general trades carpenter AND plaster/stucco applicator who's now also owned and operated my own plaster/stucco and restoration business for the past 15 years.

I've seen/dealt with it ALL -- INcluding the above on 100s of occasions...


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## DeanV (Apr 18, 2007)

I did end up putting in a vinyl expansion joint the width of the garage. 7 years later and it still has not cracked again. Before that, it was an annual mud and retape.


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