Drywall Cracks at Ceilings
Causes
Many of the homes built over the last twenty to twenty-five years have roof trusses to support the roof structure. These trusses were manufactured out of 2×4’s, 2×6’s, and metal gusset plates. Trusses were a great addition to the home building industry allowing ceilings to span greater distances at a lower cost. However, when drywall installers fail to take into consideration that roof trusses were used, drywall cracking can occur.
Roof trusses contain structural members that cover the entire attic. The bottom cords support the drywall of the ceiling below and the top cords support the roof sheathing and roof material above. The conditions in the attic up near the roof can be quite different than those down by the Drywall Contractor Sacramento. Temperature and humidity levels can vary significantly from the lower to upper portion of the attic. Because of these differences, the roof truss members expand and contract at different rates. When this occurs, the bottom cord of the trusses can move upwards causing a condition commonly referred to as truss uplift. Truss uplift can create significant drywall cracking at the ceiling angles below. In the worst case scenarios, the cracks will open up between the wall and ceiling as much as 3/8 of an inch.
Drywall Crack Prevention
If you are building a new home with roof trusses, you will want to take extra precautions to minimize the affects of truss uplift. One option to prevent drywall cracking at ceilings is to have your wall board hangers leave the fasteners off of the ceiling drywall board within 16 inches of a wall. In doing so, the roof trusses will be able to move, without pulling the drywall with it. So the Drywall Contractor Sacramento will stay attached to the wall instead of the truss that is moving. In essence, the ceiling drywall flexes and bends as the truss moves.
Drywall panels are used to cover inner walls and ceilings of home. Drywall panel consists of a sheet of gypsum in between two heavy paper facings. If drywall installation is done appropriately it adds to the beauty of the house and is useful for insulation.
A poorly installed drywall can be identified by inspecting the corners of the drywall. If you observe carefully you could find lift marks or holes in the surrounding area. This happens because finishing the corners is a tough job. You can always take additional care to help make finishing better.
Never apply too much or too little compound under the tape because it may cause problems later. Using longer sheets of drywall is a good idea as it reduces the number of joints and takes much lesser time to install. Installing drywall horizontally helps make the wall stronger. Putting the tape when the joint compound is wet is good as when you press the tape lightly over the mud, the excess mud flows out. Wet compound can damage the wall so make sure that the compound dries completely. You can always hide the hole on drywall so there is nothing to worry about it, if you see one. You can do this by coating the surface of drywall with a layer of wet joint compound. Scrape out the mud from the tape. As the mud dries, you can observe that the hole will disappear.
Drywall installation requires a blend of good hand-eye coordination and proper tools. Also the use of joint compound is important and so it is very essential to have joint compound of the right consistency to get desired finishing of the joints.