Cracks where wall meets ceiling

Feb 16, 2015 1 Replies
Cracks where wall meets ceiling open original image
Cracks where wall meets ceiling open original image

I recently discovered these cracks in my wall, where the wall meets the ceiling along the stairs (see photos). Both cracks have gotten a little bigger over the last 2 or so weeks since I first noticed them. Some things I can tell you are that we do have a small foundation crack that we were told wasn't a huge concern (we are going to fix it in the spring) and that it has been an record cold winter here in Ottawa, Canada -- many days below -20 celsius.



Are these cracks something to worry about or are they just normal settling? If it is a concern, who do you call about this sort of problem? [IMG]

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They don't look like anything beyond settling or wood framing drying out, nothing TOO alarming in the pictures. However, you noticing their size increase and also know of a, possibly, corresponding or causing foundation crack COULD BE very alarming. Yes, the wall can just be easily shimmed back up from the basement. But, the basement crack isn't simply or cheap.

- The situation requires close monitoring to determine if everything comes to rest and that's it for permanent patching to proceed. Or, if there's growth of all cracks that just continue to widen. In that case, water may be getting to the foundation and eroding the soil or the basement floor in that area might need to come out to reinforce the foundation.

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