# Cathedral ceiling ridge cracks



## Tinstaafl (Jan 6, 2008)

I spent a few years working for a GC who usually had his own guys do the drywall. One recurring problem I saw was that on a large percentage of the cathedral ceilings we did (new additions), the seam under the ridge beam would crack a few weeks or months after completion. Sometimes a single repair would take care of it; sometimes not.

I've been on my own for a while now, and the luck of the draw hasn't landed me one of those jobs yet--but I know it's coming sooner or later. What's the "proper" way to hang those top courses in order to avoid that happening?


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## woodmagman (Feb 17, 2007)

I glue the seam with PL premium, let it dry and then use a heavy vinyl reinforced tape. it looks like regualr paper tape on thicker and a little wider. Our supplier carrie's it on a regular bases, not sure who manufactures it!


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## genecarp (Mar 16, 2008)

That crack is difficult to avoid, we inform clients that it will happen, and after it does, we make the appropriate repair. the other option we offer is a special bead that gets installed by my rockers. it gives the joint a different appearance, but allows for movement. nothing else i have seen or heard of has worked. there are to many factors that contribute to this crack. building movement, wood drying, etc....


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## Tinstaafl (Jan 6, 2008)

I've poked around a couple of drywall supply sites, and ran across a couple of extra-wide tapes they claim are good for this application. One of them is actually two strips of paper-backed metal. 



genecarp said:


> the other option we offer is a special bead that gets installed by my rockers. it gives the joint a different appearance, but allows for movement.


Didn't run across this. I'll have to keep looking, I guess. On a few occasions I've been able to talk the client into using a stained or painted 1x up there to accomplish the same thing. That also helps with providing a horizontal surface for mounting lights and ceiling fans.

Does anyone recommend using a modified fastener pattern, leaving the adjoining edges loose from the framing so they can flex with each other rather than pulling apart? That's something I've read about for other situations, but never actually tried.


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## Brocktologist (Sep 16, 2008)

Haven't had a cathedral crack in over ten years! Hmm, I wonder why???:whistling


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## AtlanticWBConst (Mar 29, 2006)

Brocktologist said:


> Haven't had a cathedral crack in over ten years! Hmm, I wonder why???:whistling


Regardless of how wonderful you feel your drywall talent is, the fact of the matters is that, the causes are as *genecarp* stated. Cathedrals and potential cracking are a crap shoot. The common cracking has very little to do with the way it is sheetrocked. It's about the wood framing.


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## Tinstaafl (Jan 6, 2008)

Brocktologist said:


> Haven't had a cathedral crack in over ten years! Hmm, I wonder why???:whistling


Maybe because you've been too busy pretending to be a pro on the internet to actually do any? :laughing:

Just kidding. If you have a secret, I'd be tickled if you shared. You certainly have the right not to, but then why bother to hang out here? Just to leech? :whistling:

As has been said, all buildings flex and shift. It takes cooperation and communication between the trades to allow for such things while creating a good product. That's where these forums shine.


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## Tim0282 (Dec 11, 2007)

I think Trim Tex makes the bead the rockers install. It looks kinda funny after finished. The flex tapes help. Making sure the framing is correct sure helps. Those spots are probably the weakest in the house. so they crack, usually.


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## woodmagman (Feb 17, 2007)

Here is a product http://www.phillipsmfg.com/products/vbt/expansion_j.htm


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## Brocktologist (Sep 16, 2008)

Tinstaafl said:


> Maybe because you've been too busy pretending to be a pro on the internet to actually do any? :laughing:
> 
> Just kidding. If you have a secret, I'd be tickled if you shared. You certainly have the right not to, but then why bother to hang out here? Just to leech? :whistling:
> 
> As has been said, all buildings flex and shift. It takes cooperation and communication between the trades to allow for such things while creating a good product. That's where these forums shine.


Yep, just come here to leach. 
If you have searched and looked around the drywall section you would have read different methods to keep the ridge from cracking. Anyhow my favorite looks funny at first but it's better than cracking. 
http://www.trim-tex.com/catalog/expbeads.htm


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## Brocktologist (Sep 16, 2008)

woodmagman said:


> Here is a product http://www.phillipsmfg.com/products/vbt/expansion_j.htm


That is really for long straight commercial walls and not sure if that'll work in a cathedral.


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## Brocktologist (Sep 16, 2008)

Tim0282 said:


> I think Trim Tex makes the bead the rockers install. It looks kinda funny after finished. The flex tapes help. Making sure the framing is correct sure helps. Those spots are probably the weakest in the house. so they crack, usually.


What are you guy's using on the bottom of the cathedral where it turns into a ceiling? (You know, the metal off-angle/120 bead)
I've been using the metal backed paper bead but it's hard to get a straight line with it and I've been afraid to use metal and have it crack.:furious:


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## Frankawitz (Jun 17, 2006)

I had a customer a few years back, they had cathedral ceilings but it had two seams running down to the corners on one side of the room. She had three other companies come in and fix this crack, I used a product called StraightFlex fiber tape, and use Durabond 90(brown bag) two coats and finish with topping. should be good. I haven't heard from her so I guess it's still holding up. Good luck

www.frankawitz.net


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## IBEX Drywall (Oct 25, 2008)

woodmagman said:


> I glue the seam with PL premium, let it dry and then use a heavy vinyl reinforced tape. it looks like regualr paper tape on thicker and a little wider. Our supplier carrie's it on a regular bases, not sure who manufactures it!


Yes, this is the sure-fire way to do it. Glue and a wide vinyl tape product (straight-flex, no coat, etc)


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## Tinstaafl (Jan 6, 2008)

Aha! Yes, both the Trim-Tex and Phillips products look like they'd eliminate this particular source of callbacks. They also look odd enough that they might eliminate a call for the next job from a picky owner. <g>

Still, another trick in the toolbag. Thanks, guys!


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## Gene450 (Oct 24, 2008)

Use latex caulk in it
Not joint compound


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## Tinstaafl (Jan 6, 2008)

Brocktologist said:


> Yep, just come here to leach.


Hey, me too. 

I did do some rudimentary searching, but came up blank. Thanks for the link; apologies for the pricklies.


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## woodmagman (Feb 17, 2007)

Brocktologist said:


> That is really for long straight commercial walls and not sure if that'll work in a cathedral.


 There is a removable strip that I think will allow it to form to the slope. I have seen this product used on the underside of a hip, if not this exact one then one very similar.


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## oldrivers (May 6, 2007)

AtlanticWBConst said:


> Regardless of how wonderful you feel your drywall talent is, the fact of the matters is that, the causes are as *genecarp* stated. Cathedrals and potential cracking are a crap shoot. The common cracking has very little to do with the way it is sheetrocked. It's about the wood framing.


 
yep, ive seen 5/8ths sheetrock ripped right in in half long ways because some of the framing pulled apart slightly never break on a seam or on a beam or where framing meets if you can help it. but even so the rock can still compress or stretch apart. one reason you almost always see nail pops and seems in older stairways settling compression the joint pushes outward.


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## brutus17 (Dec 26, 2007)

the cracks will appear many months after drywall has been finished and painted.... therefore, it is a framing expansion or settlement issue... i have never seen it happen in commercial work, because most framing is metal... no expansion.....


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## Quality1st (Jul 24, 2008)

*Failsafe*

We,ve been installing expansion jpints on those ridges which is a fail safe method and allows it to do whatever it will.


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## Muddauber (Nov 2, 2007)

I used to work for a GC who wanted me to use an expansion bead, the one by USG that had the tearaway strip.Don't know how they held up over the years,but never had a callback.
Now I use straight flex,but if there's enough movement the edge of the tape will crack.


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## Muddauber (Nov 2, 2007)

Brocktologist said:


> What are you guy's using on the bottom of the cathedral where it turns into a ceiling? (You know, the metal off-angle/120 bead)
> I've been using the metal backed paper bead but it's hard to get a straight line with it and I've been afraid to use metal and have it crack.:furious:


I use straight flex, but it's impossible to hold a staight line if the framing is'nt perfect. We used 120 metal in the 70's & 80's. Sometimes the bead would twist. Impossible to repair because usually there was nohting to nail to.


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## Dan V. (Oct 16, 2008)

> The common cracking has very little to do with the way it is sheetrocked. It's about the wood framing.


I completely agree. Either inadequate (or too long) collar ties or, if they aren't used, inadequate structural support are the primary causes of cathedral ceiling movement and the resultant drywall cracking. Whenever I frame anything, I also use screws rather than nails. They just hold better, esp. here in the northeast where nail pops due to freeze/thaw cycles are very common.


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## Tradesman (Jun 22, 2007)

There is a product specifically designed for cathedral ceiling ridges, made by Strait-Flex, called X-Crack. It has the benefit of being able to straighten out framing irregularities (within limits, of course) as well as allowing the framing to move seasonally independent of the drywall, so the joint doesn't tear apart. Here is a link to the brochure on their website:

http://www.straitflex.com/downloads/literature/X_Crack_Brochure_WEB.pdf

Either the 4" Strait-Flex tape or No-Coat Ultraflex 450 is a good tape for the joint at the ridge. If your local supplier doesn't carry X-Crack, you can get it from:

http://www.onlinedrywall.com

Trim-Tex makes a product called Magic Corner that is designed to allow joint movement also. It has a rubber strip between two vinyl beads that you glue and staple to the drywall. I haven't personally used it, but many of those who have report good results. One comment that comes up though, is that it has a different appearance because of the rubber strip. 
Here is a link to the installation brochure:

http://www.trim-tex.com/installation/4325install.htm

If you set the X-Crack to a chalk line, you will wind up with a good straight joint even if the framing isn't perfect. Ditto for the Ultraflex; it is pretty ridgid and is easier to get a straight line. Both the Strait-Flex tapes and the No-Coat work well for the wall-ceiling joint on a cathedral, too.


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## oldrivers (May 6, 2007)

brutus17 said:


> the cracks will appear many months after drywall has been finished and painted.... therefore, it is a framing expansion or settlement issue... i have never seen it happen in commercial work, because most framing is metal... no expansion.....


----------------------
well thats a small part of it but the main reason you dont see it on commercial is because you have a structure that supports or is the the building and then you have a sub structure that the drywall attaches to that doesnt support any of the building weight therefore it its just floating . and the main structiure on commercial is usually spancrete i beams that will not move period you could probably get away with using wood in that case and not have any settling either.


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## oldrivers (May 6, 2007)

[ I also use screws rather than nails. They just hold better, esp. here in the northeast where nail pops due to freeze/thaw cycles are very common.[/quote]

good tip but id recommend using a good quality screw. cheap screws have a tendancy to shear the heads off if the framing starts pulling to hard . 
in the house i bought 1920s or so they didnt use joist hangers they just toe nailed them and the nails were pulling out shrinking etc, so i went out and bought some joist hangers and put them on unfinished basement, well the wood was so hard that i could barely get a nail in espessially a joist hanger nail so i used screws and at night i could here them shear off once in awhile.


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## kgphoto (May 9, 2006)

Here is another vote for X-Crack from Strait-Flex. Really good stuff!


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