Originally Posted By: Diana Reese This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
My house is 18 years old and recently, a thin, long crack that spans the length of the crested center point of my vaulted ceiling has appeared. And in the past month, there’s at least one place where part of the vaulted ceiling is ever so slightly separating from the kitchen wall.
Any ideas on what might be causing this? Is it just old drywall cracking and/or could the wooden attic beams have anything to do with this, such as shrinking? I am most concerned about the separating. Anyway to stop this from going further?
Originally Posted By: Diana Reese This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
I wish I had one to post for you. The drywall crack is hairline except for one area of about 3’ where it looks to be about 1/32". And at the “V” point in the kitchen where ceiling meets wall, the right side is separating from the wall about 1/32" as well. It has slowly crept up to 1/32," since I first noticed it as a hairline separation about a month ago.
Originally Posted By: dvalley This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
Diana,
Without pics, it sure is impossible to play the guessing game. Most drywall cracks are not an issue but you stated that ?one place where part of the vaulted ceiling is ever so slightly separating from the kitchen wall" and this may be an issue or it may turn out to be simple shrinkage cracks.
If you do not possess a digital camera, maybe a friend or neighbor will let you borrow theirs for a couple hours so you can post the pics here. Pics will usually give you a verdict on your issue.
Originally Posted By: rrushing This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
Diana,
You stated that your house was 18 years old. You have lived there... How long?
If you have lived there only a few years and this is the first you have noticed the cracks, my first thoughts are that the previous owners had some of the same symptoms of settlement and patched/ reworked the taped joints that have re-split. From the sizes and locations you have described, more than likely these would fall under the category of routine maintenance.
Now, had you posted that the cracks are developing at the corners of windows and doors in a diagonal fashion, that would put my line of thought of other issues developing.
Have you noticed any unusual weather coming through your area in the last year, say... a hurricane or two that might have caused minor uplift to the structure.
As I have no idea where you are located in relation to some of the bad weather that took place last year, I'd hazard a guess to say that any opening larger than a gnats behind had wind blowing at a pretty good clip, which could be the culprit.
Originally Posted By: rcloyd This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
Diana:
I note from your profile that you are located in Florida. Was your home exposed to any strong winds during the last hurricane season 
The drywall crack is hairline except for one area of about 3’ where it looks to be about 1/32". And at the “V” point in the kitchen where ceiling meets wall, the right side is separating from the wall about 1/32" as well. It has slowly crept up to 1/32," since I first noticed it as a hairline separation about a month ago.