The walls are gone, and the ceilings are cracking

Home Improvement

Plus, how to retain heat in a 1970s ranch with changing rooflines.

By Mark Philben — Globe Correspondent

March 6, 2024

Q. I am refurbishing a 130-plus-year-old summer house. The half-inch Sheetrock ceilings have cracked or buckled along the seams in several places, most notably on a 20-by-40-foot kitchen that used to be several rooms but was stripped to the studs and redone from scratch. The walls have not been cracked. People watching me work commented that I used an awful lot of screws, so I’m pretty sure I didn’t use too few. The cracks were out in the middle, where the joints were reasonably tight, not at the corners where the joints were wider and required substantial filling and longer drying times. An earlier ceiling (professionally installed) failed, with the joint tape loose and falling free. I thought there wasn’t enough compound, so I added a relatively heavy layer. I use paper tape with enough compound underneath that it squeezes out both sides when I press down on it. Another room (smaller) that I did six to eight years ago had the same problem, but there were no structural changes in that room. I think the house is moving a bit, given the age of the house and our work removing several walls and adding a beam across the middle. It was certainly sagging before I started, and I wasn’t able to change that much, if at all. The cracks bulge (they look more like wrinkled ridges than open cracks), as if compression, not tension, is the problem, and I can’t see how settling would cause compression. The house is not heated (or air conditioned), so it sees temperature and humidity extremes. It is in northern New York on Lake Ontario. What is causing this, and how can I fix it?

FRED

A. Fred, I am going to worry that you do indeed have a structural issue that is causing the cracking and blistering. You have a room that is very large by any standards, meaning longer spans. In addition, the space used to be broken up into smaller rooms, which means walls that once helped support the ceiling space are gone. Add to that the fact that it is unconditioned space, which means wild fluctuations in temperature and humidity; that means the wood is moving — a lot.

Regarding the technique for the joint compound work, mesh tape works better. Applying the joint compound on thick doesn’t help much; usually, thicker makes it more prone to cracking.

I hate to say this, but I think you will forever be chasing cracks and joint failures in the ceiling because of all the structural issues mentioned above. You could try a wood or composite tongue-and-groove ceiling. The composite will move less, so you can paint it. Wood material can have a clear coat of finish or light stain. This type of ceiling would “breathe” with the house, and although gaps will come and go between some of the boards seasonally, it will hold up much longer. With a 130-year-old house, this may also work aesthetically as well.

Q. I have a late 1970s ranch-style home with a typical sloped roof. The ceiling in the living room (at the front of the house) follows the height of the roofline, but at the center line of the house, it comes down to meet the regular-height ceiling in the kitchen and dining room (in the back of the house). I am losing heat where the apex of the ceiling comes down to meet the kitchen/dining room ceiling. The back side of it, constructed with 2-by-4s, is open attic. I’m thinking about reinsulating that section. Should I put 2-by-4 Fiberglas insulation and a vapor barrier between the studs, with twine crossing it to keep it in place, or should I put the Fiberglas between the studs, run strapping across the wall, and glue insulation board over it ? The latter seems as if it would be a snug fit that covers the 2-by-4s, too. I know spray insulation is an option, but getting someone to spray that area alone would be tough. I’m not ready to tackle the whole attic. Would the insulation board act as a vapor barrier, too?

BOB, Framingham

A. A couple of thoughts here, Bob. Is it possible to put a ceiling fan in the room? Ceiling fans in a cathedral space can help draw up the cooler air from below and circulate the warmer air that would normally get trapped at the ceiling. You would want to set the direction of the fan to draw air up instead of pushing it down. As I usually recommend to people, if you can get closed cell Icynene spray foam into those shallow bays, that would be better. You would be shocked at how tight a space a good insulation company can get for a tight seal. Closed cells would act as a vapor barrier as well.

Mark Philben is the project development manager at Charlie Allen Renovations in Cambridge. Send your questions to [email protected]. Questions are subject to editing.