so we just drywalled all walls in our bedroom. And now (~ 3 weeks later) one of the joints is cracking in the middle edge of the tape.
Summary:
- The house is concrete. Built 1970s.
- All drywall boards are glued onto mostly concrete walls (some of the lighter interior walls are made of very dense chipboard)
- All joints are taped, then spackled / mudded three coats, then sanded.
- Primer / sealer is applied.
The crack is in a joint where there's concrete walls behind.
It's more significant closer to the ceiling (that section is pictured below). And becomes less pronounces towards the floor. It stretches over about 1,5 meters.
Here's an image of the crack.
Do we apply new tape over the old one now. Or do we wait a year, let it settle and crack some more, then fix it?
EDIT: Thanks for all your replies so far.
EDIT 2: It turns out the crack took place in the edge of the tape, not in the center as stated before.
Best Answer
Cracks like that occur because of, 1) settlement, or 2) expansion/contraction.
1) If the House was built in 1970’s, then it has finished settling. Unless there is some underground work in the area, like new utilities, new piling, etc.
2) I suspect it’s expansion/contraction due to the joint compound being too wet.
There is no need to “wait for it to settle and crack more”. I’d redo it as Jimmy Fix-it has suggested.