More Snow and Fixing a Cracked Ceiling are on the Agenda for this Weekend

By Mark J. Donovan

More snow is on the way for tonight and tomorrow here in New Hampshire, and I’ve finally decided to fix the cracked ceiling in my family room, for good this time. I expect much of tomorrow to be split between snow blowing and shoveling, and installing trim along the roof peak in my family room.

The snow I’m all prepared for. The snowblower is in tip top shape, I’ve got plenty of gas and the deicing salt is ready to spread. It’s the cracked ceiling that I need a little more prep time, or at least enough time to make a few measurements and get to Home Depot and pick up some pre-primed 1-by lumber.

The crack ceiling runs along the entire length of the peak of my cathedral ceiling. The crack comes and goes with the seasons and with the amount of snow on the family room addition roof. I’m convinced it’s a framing issue that is the source of the recurring crack, and there is not much I can do about it at this point other than to hide the crack with a piece of wood trim. I’m convinced if I simply re-tape and mud it, it will reappear in short order. So my goal is to cut a narrow piece of 1-by lumber to length, and then cut the edges at the roof pitch angle to create a narrow flat surface along the peak of the cathedral ceiling. I’ll then paint it a flat white, as is the rest of the ceiling, and hopefully end my cracked ceiling woes for good. I’ll make sure to post some pictures pre and post the repair next week.

Have you experienced similar ceilings cracks due to the winter cold? If so, how did you go about fixing them?