Cracks (?) or weakness in ceiling

[LRESA500]

In my living room I have noticed a long (about 3-4 feet) crack or weakness in the ceiling. It's not really a crack but there is definitely a weakness. It seems to be near a joist. An upstairs bath is above this area of the living room. Although I have never seen any leaks or water spots I wonder if there was a previous leak of some kind that may have damaged the subfloor. Or is it just a joist "settling" in this 20 year old house that we bought in 1999 ? What type of service person could help me determine exactly what the problem is ? Thanks

[Joe Bobst]

Structural engineer. Might be pricey, but if you need to sleep at night it would be worth it. The average "home inspector may not be anywhere near well qualified enougfh for this type of work. Good luck.

Joe

[Steve]

On 01 Nov 2004 07:35:10 GMT, [e-mail] (LRESA500) put together = some random words that came up with:

What type of ceiling construction? Probably drywall. It sounds like = your bathtub upstairs wasn't calked well and leaked. Drywall will sag = somewhat when it gets wet. There is probably nothing wrong with your subfloor. Have a drywall person take out part of the ceiling where it is cracked and see = what is going on there. It may be just that the drywall wasn't fastened onto the= joist and just needs better fastening. Once the ceiling is opened up, you can = see what is going on. If it is a leak, fix the leak first. Make sure the = bathtub or shower is calked properly (with silicone). Also, make sure there = isn't any mold up there. If there is, clean that out first. Then fix the drywall. =46ixing drywall isn't very expensive and shouldn't take long.

Steve =20