# Crack in Wall



## rdockery_3 (Apr 28, 2016)

I noticed a huge vertical crack running about 3/4 of the way down the wall in a bedroom in my house. It looks like it's at a joint in the drywall. Pictures are below. I guess my question is could this be caused by just normal settling over time or is it indicative of a serious problem? I've looked at the subfloor underneath and all of it looks good from what I can't tell but I'm certainly no expert.


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## nealtw (Apr 28, 2016)

Welcome to the site. Have a look around the house foundation for cracks, and look at the doors inside the house. Do the sticker plats still line up is the crack around the door sides and top all look right. They don't have to be the same with each other but shouldn't tight at top and way loose on bottom etc.


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## rdockery_3 (Apr 28, 2016)

The door looks good as far as I can tell. There's maybe a little more room at the top on one side but just barely.


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## nealtw (Apr 28, 2016)

It is from the floor up?
Any repairs or new construction in the house in the last year?


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## rdockery_3 (Apr 28, 2016)

Yeah it's from the floor up. No repairs in the last year but there was a sun room built on to the back of house a couple years ago. And there was actually a hallway behind that wall at one point but a few years ago we actually closed the hallway off and new drywall was hung just right outside this room.


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## nealtw (Apr 28, 2016)

Something like this is a symptom of another problem. The trick is to figure out whether that problem is serious or not. Could just be a stud in the wall doing funky things or your on the road to another nightmare.

At this point I would go ahead and fix it but I would also put 2 pints on the wall and measure that distance you you can check in future if there is more movement. Check all doors and window on how well they fit and operate so you will now if things are changing in the future and do a good inspection of the foundation.


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## rdockery_3 (Apr 28, 2016)

On one side of the crack you can push the drywall and it moves some. The other side is solid. The side that moves is about an inch away from a stud. Could this be a sign of something wrong with that particular stud?


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## nealtw (Apr 28, 2016)

I can't imagine what a stud would have to do to cause that. What about drywall on other side of the wall or is this an exterior wall.


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## nealtw (Apr 28, 2016)

There is one other problem that causes a lot of damage to drywall, teenagers.


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## bud16415 (Apr 29, 2016)

Looks to me like the new drywall wasn&#8217;t done correctly and was never taped. Try picking at the edge of the crack and see if there is a split piece of drywall tape there and also if there is an edge of a sheet of drywall there. 

Then take a butter knife or a putty knife and slip it in the crack. You should be seeing a stud a half inch in from the surface of the wall.


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## nealtw (May 13, 2016)

bud16415 said:


> Looks to me like the new drywall wasnt done correctly and was never taped. Try picking at the edge of the crack and see if there is a split piece of drywall tape there and also if there is an edge of a sheet of drywall there.
> 
> Then take a butter knife or a putty knife and slip it in the crack. You should be seeing a stud a half inch in from the surface of the wall.



When drywall is install horizontally they lap it so they don't have 2 butt joints on the same stud. One of the reasons is because 4 ft that is not joined on a stud will help stop the stud from warping and that can be a problem when dry wall is stood up.


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## nealtw (May 20, 2016)

rdockery_3 said:


> On one side of the crack you can push the drywall and it moves some. The other side is solid. The side that moves is about an inch away from a stud. Could this be a sign of something wrong with that particular stud?



Any updates


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