Front Page Forum: Meaning of the Crack
Within a month or two of moving in to our house, we began noticing cracks in the paint along the molding along the stairs to the top floor. Our contractor at the time said it was no big deal — just a result of the stress of footsteps on the stairs. Although it sounds plausible,…
Within a month or two of moving in to our house, we began noticing cracks in the paint along the molding along the stairs to the top floor. Our contractor at the time said it was no big deal — just a result of the stress of footsteps on the stairs. Although it sounds plausible, we thought we’d see if there was anything less benign that could be at work. Has this happened in your house?
The crack is a problem with your plumbing. Use you common sense when dealing with your house. If your roof leaks hire a gardener. If I was you I would get the hell out of town and start a new blog called Cracker.com
Move now! That’s a sign of Freisberg’s Syndrome.
Typically this type of cracking occurs due to termites eating at the old caulk. They then leave droppings, which over time expands.
The linear cracking is a sign that the damage goes deep into the wall.
There is no way to repair it, short of removing the entire wall, and starting from scratch.
THe other solution would be to sell me your house.
I promise to give you a fair deal, considering the dangerous condition.
How about 45 cent on the dollar?
My contractor spent almost a year completely renovating my duplex apartment, including new molding around including base molding. A lot of the carpentry was done last summer. This winter cracks and spaces showed up everywhere, particularly at mitered joints and where a lot of plaster repair was done. Last week his guys came back and used 12 tubes of Alex caulking. I was pretty concerned at first, but an old hand builder told me that this is typical for all the reasons listed above and that for all new houses he builds, he routinely has someone in to caulk and deal with cracks after the house has settled and lived through a season change. Also noted by my contractor, I live above the A train which provides a steady if barely noticeable source of vibration.
So with a little caulking no big deal.
This crack should not be a problem as long as you don’t smoke it.
My advice to you is to sell now…as quickly as you can. Your home suffers from irreparable and ultimately catastrophic structural damage and you can either lose every penny you have sunk into your home or you can palm it off on some other unsuspecting chump.
live with it it’s nothing.
anonymous 3:30 is the kind of expert I’d want around no matter what. carpenters, amateur or otherwise, work with wood, not plaster and paint. Seems to me there’s some good helpful responses there, but since you’re the expert, why don’t you volunteer to monitor the forum from now on so we don’t get any more amateur advice? tia.
Jeez, all these solutions from amateur carpenters. You’d think this is something anyone could handle with 0.25*Brain and an Andrew Jack$on.
Lets get back to relevant, chop licking topics like the old days. Can I hear an Amen?
It looks to me like years ago, the baseboard started to seperate from the wall and the gap was filled in with spackle over and over again. Get rid of the old spakle, scrape the wood, and apply flexible spakle recessed a tad from the top of the baseboard.
Another approach, if you’re handy, is to place a new piece of molding -a scotia or cyma- on the baseboard that bridges the gap and looks like it was always a part of the baseboard. The added molding is the best solution, spakle will always crack.