Cross post from the home improvement board since I didn't get any replies there...

Has anyone had any issues with their drywall cracking? I live a multi-unit townhome in Houston (we have neighbors on both sides that we share walls with). Recently, several of the seams between drywall panels have recently been splitting and cracking the paint. Most of them have been on exterior walls, but we just noticed one between our house and our neighbors. I'm guessing it's happening due to humidity or the house settling (albeit 16 years later...). Should I be alarmed? Is it mostly a cosmetic issue or could it be structural? If structural, is there anything than can really even be done? Should I get a drywall contractor or someone else to come out and take a look, or just use spackle and repaint? TIA

Are they large cracks or small cracks where it was tape an floated?

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Most of them have been on exterior walls,

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do you mean interior walls?

When you mention seeing cracking between the two townhomes, I assume that's in the hardiplank?

Drywall cracks along the joints aren't that uncommon, but cracks in your hardi isn't a good sign.

Sorry if it wasn't clear. The cracks have all been inside the home...nothing exterior (brick facade on front). What I meant was the cracks are on the walls that are exposed to the outdoors on the other side. The most recent cracks are in the walls that are shared between units (no windows).

And yes, most of the cracks are seams where the panels have been floated. However, there are some diagonal cracks from the corners of a few windows too.

it's not that out of the norm to start seeing some cracks in a home of that age. Deflections become more pronounced the higher up you go in my experience.

Might be worth getting an engineer to come look at it but if these are hairline cracks and you're not noticing any other issues related to settling, it doesn't sound like a huge deal.

The Houston cycle of drought and flood is tough on the soil, which is already crap here.

Diggity said:

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it's not that out of the norm to start seeing some cracks in a home of that age. Deflections become more pronounced the higher up you go in my experience.

Might be worth getting an engineer to come look at it but if these are hairline cracks and you're not noticing any other issues related to settling, it doesn't sound like a huge deal.

The Houston cycle of drought and flood is tough on the soil, which is already crap here.

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That's what I have been hearing as well. However, the sudden onset of all the cracks is slightly concerning. Within the last eight months (initially noticed a few months after Harvey) about three or four cracks appeared. And within the last two months about eight to ten more have shown up. I have a strong feeling it's related to the moisture within the building materials and the soil conditions. If that's all it is, then I'm less concerned.

I do want to make sure any repair work done will prevent it from happening again (as much as possible). I don't want to have to call in a drywall contractor (or do it myself) to fix our walls every several months.

What Diggity said. Jericho Foundation Repair will take a look (no charge) and let you know if any work needs to be done and give you a free estimate. They're good people

If it's settling, which is what it sounds like, any repair will be temporary by its nature. You'll likely see more hairline cracks pop up in a year or two. The soil is always going to expand and contract.

You can do thing to mitigate this, like add a soaker hose to go around your foundation, but you're always going to have some movement.

If you're concerned about possible foundation issues, you can find somebody to come out and take a look for free or a minimal charge.

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I do want to make sure any repair work done will prevent it from happening again (as much as possible). I don't want to have to call in a drywall contractor (or do it myself) to fix our walls every several months.

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It sounds like most of your repairs can be done with a little spackle, a puddy knife, and touch up paint. When we were prepping our old house to put on the market, we had a few cracks in the walls from settling, and I just used nail filler and let it dry. After a light sanding (kept rough to mimic texture) and painting, once the paint was good and dry, it was hard to tell where the crack was.

aTm2004 said:

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If you're concerned about possible foundation issues, you can find somebody to come out and take a look for free or a minimal charge.

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I do want to make sure any repair work done will prevent it from happening again (as much as possible). I don't want to have to call in a drywall contractor (or do it myself) to fix our walls every several months.

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It sounds like most of your repairs can be done with a little spackle, a puddy knife, and touch up paint. When we were prepping our old house to put on the market, we had a few cracks in the walls from settling, and I just used nail filler and let it dry. After a light sanding (kept rough to mimic texture) and painting, once the paint was good and dry, it was hard to tell where the crack was.

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I've done this on one of the older cracks, only to have it resurface a few months later unfortunately. I'd like to get them all fixed one time and not have to worry about them after.

If you are concerned about the foundation, pay a structural engineer ~$500 too look at it.

If you get a free estimate from someone who makes their living repairing foundations, what do you think it will say?

On both of my personal investment deals when my inspector said I needed to have someone check out the foundation, Jericho said "nah you're good".

Harvey we got 30-40 inches of rain and basically since then we have had 3 rain events of 2-3 inches and nothing else the rest of the year until the last 2 weeks.
Your soil goes from bone dry to soaked and back and it's going to get you where you are now unless you are using soaker hoses etc.

So it sounds like the cracks are happening due to the rain and house settling. Does anyone have any drywall repair contractors they would recommend? We reached out to a few, but it's always nice to have solid recommendations. Thanks.

Buy some spackle and a putty knife. Patch it up and paint it. Unless you have doors not shutting, it is most likely fine.

I do appreciate all the responses, I really do. My problem is I've repaired previous cracks and they have resurfaced with many more. I want a professional to fix them at this point. Does anyone have recommendations?

The cracks are reappearing not because a professional didn't make the repairs but rather because your foundation has further shifted, and will likely continue to shift. That's why people are recommending that you just patch it up instead of spending money to call someone because regardless of who does it, it will crack again when the soil moves. If you want a more permanent solution, you'll need to address the root cause and get a foundation guy to come out to take a look.

So your recommendation is to fix it myself. It would take me all weekend but I could do it. Or I call professional? I'm torn

Not necessarily - I'm just saying that as long as you don't solve the foundation/soil movement issue which is the root cause of your cracks, whatever repairs you or someone else make will be short-lived. If you just want a bandaid for now and need a good painter, give Mike Cotraine a call at 281-433-2406. Personally, I'd get several foundation guys out first to take a look so you understand the severity of any structural problems before making a decision on how to proceed.

this.

your problem isn't that you fixed them yourself before. your problem is the movement. get that figured out first before wasting and time/money on fixing the drywall.

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Jericho Foundation Repair

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Interesting name for a foundation repair company. I guess Nagasaki was taken already...

94chem said:

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Jericho Foundation Repair

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Interesting name for a foundation repair company. I guess Nagasaki was taken already...

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You're kind of an ass, flood or not.
Some are trying to help. You *****. Non-stop.

You should read Joshua 6:26. The more you know...

Never mind, here it is:

At that time Joshua pronounced this solemn oath: "Cursed before the LORD is the one who undertakes to rebuild this city, Jericho: "At the cost of his firstborn son he will lay its foundations; at the cost of his youngest he will set up its gates."

Now, I just started my 10th year of Bible Study Fellowship, BSF. My class meets at Kingwood FBC on Monday nights. It is non-denominational. You are welcome to attend. Interestingly, we just started with Joshua, but we haven't conquered Jericho...until next week.

Jericho Foundation Repair - no extra charge for the thread bump!

you are a strange cat

You should read Jericho's website. Their name has allowed them more opportunities to share their faith. That's pretty cool.

Edit. Please stop. Your attitude isn't attracting anyone to our faith. If anything it's turning people away from it.

sts7049 said:

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you are a strange cat

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Probably. There's only a few usernames on Texags that I even recognize. People call me out for stuff, and it's like they have been tailing me, and I have no idea who they are, or I get them confused with some other user. There's 2 people who both start with sch... and I always get them mixed up. The one thing I can say about texags is that I understand it way better than Facebook. Texags is such a random moshpit. I know I've seen your name before, but I have no clue which board you frequent. Are you on the Texas Rangers season thread?