Horizontal cracks in ceiling/wall joints?

Question

We bought a house this past February. In the living room and kitchen for the most part there were horizontal cracks in the corners where the wall and ceiling meet. We had the whole home inspection done, and the foundation and everything about the house came out fine...no foundation problems. The cracks that were there, and there were some vertical cracks where two walls meet as well, were fixed by the seller. Now, it being really hot and humid outside, the cracks in the kitchen, where the wall and ceiling meet came back. How can i fix them? Is this something to worry about, even though the foundation check out fine.

Answer 1

This sometimes happens, particularly in new construction or where there are heat/humidity extremes.  Primarily where walls/ceiling intersect or the corners of perpendicular walls.

If it occurs on our projects, we use an acrylic latex caulk in the corners and then paint.  It seems to have enough elasticity that it does not become a visible crack again.  I feel sure that you don't have any structural issues.

Answer 2

if the foundation has been inspected and pass. then it may not be your foundation sinking if that is your worry.  you can double check yourself if by inspecting to see if there is any cracks, leaks or fissures in your foundation. if you have a basement do the samething and check the walls

usually houses contract and expand with the change in temperature when it hot or cold. that sounds like the problem you may be dealing with.  joints in your drywall will crack if they are not taped properly or have not been taped at all.

the quick fix and cheap is to fill the cracks with compound crack filler. if you want to prevent them from happening you could check to see if there is drywall tape in your joints and seems of your walls and ceilings.

you can correct this problem if you tape and putty up all your joints and seems.

in the long run you may want to check if your house has enough venting to circulate air from the upper floors and attic.

Answer 3

Humidity can be cause a lot of problems.

The key to keeping humidity from being a big problem is to control it in your home.

It's very tempting when you've had a very hot summer day- and then an approaching cool front cools things down in the evening, so---------you say let's open the windows tonight.

Yes, you save on the a/c but you are letting that old humidity back into your house again. The a/c worked all day to get it out-now you just let it all back in.

Humidity can make hardwood floors,doors,window, swell up like a  lip with a bee sting. And the reverse happens a lot when a house is trimmed out when the humidity is high. The wood trim,doors,floors are installed without the a/c on. Then as the house gets closer to completion the builder turns on the new a/c and guess what. Within 1 week, joints open up in all the doortrim,basemold, etc.

Your problem may be  helped by installing more insulation in the attic. It may be that the moisture and heat in the attic is precipitating down through the ceiling and causing the framing lumber to shrink/swell .

When it's really humid out - don't be tempted to open the windows in the cool of the night- keep that humidity outside not inside.

Answer 4

If they are small cracks just paint over them.Larger will probably require tapeing and floating then painting.Was the foundation inspected by a "home inspector" or a true foundation repair person(they have special level measureing tools)