Had a ceiling seam pop on a finished job in the middle of winter

This was on a house in the north part of town, finished the board and tape back in October. Got a call from the homeowner right after the new year, said a long seam in the living room ceiling just opened up, maybe a quarter inch wide. Walked in and sure enough, it was a clean split right down the middle of the joint. House was built in the 80s and they cranked the heat way up after we left, which I think dried everything out too fast combined with some old framing movement. Had to go back, cut out the bad section, re-tape, and re-texture the whole area to match. Cost me a day's work and a bucket of mud. Anyone else run into this kind of seasonal pop more often lately with how people are heating their homes?

2 comments

2 Comments

grant.jade5d ago

That old house probably had bigger problems than the heat.

hugo_singh5d ago

My buddy had a seam let go on a brand new house in December. The owners ran three space heaters in that room nonstop for a week. It just shows how much that sudden dry heat can pull things apart. He ended up doing the same fix you did.