JulieL

I'm looking for ideas as to why my ceiling has cracked around my chimney. The fireplace sits in between the living room and dining room, so it's completely inside the house. I can't feel any dampness. I've posted pictures.

TxBuilder

Got any pics?

inspectorD

How old is the home, and what is the foundation made of,do you have a dirt basement or crawlspace.....and how much snow is on the roof? Pictures of the inside attic space would also help.

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oldognewtrick

Pics are in the repair and remodel gallery.

Julie looks like settling cracks or you have had some structure movement. The pics do not look to be moisture related. Has anyone been in the attic lately and stacked anything near the chimney or stepped off a ceiling joist?

nealtw

Do you have heated basement or cold crawl space? This looks a little like a frost thing. The footing for the chimney may not of been placed deep enough. If so you first problem will show up on the flashing between the roof and the chimney.

JulieL

It was built in 1973. Rambler with basement. Attic is filled with insulation (It's cold up there). My dad went up there yesterday and he didn't see any water coming in due to the snow on the roof. There isn't anything around the chimney except for the wood that the dry wall is anchored to. The chimney does go down to the basement, which is heated.

nealtw

something moved and it dosn't sound like the chimney, how much snow was on the roof when this happened? You will want to watch for leaks when the snow melts, and check the flashing then. Any other new drywall cracks around the exterior walls?

JulieL

Found something online about truss uplift, and it sounds like this could be a reasonable explanation.
Truss Uplift and Ceiling Cracks