Best way to fix cracked drywall seams in garage?

Looking for some guidance on the best way to fix a badly cracked drywall ceiling in my garage. The garage is not attached to the house. (Well, it is via a breeze way, but not attached to the house itself.)

The garage is not heated, which I know is mostly the issue. Any best practices for fixing these drywall seams? The entire drywall ceiling is showing cracks along the seams and some of the tape even looks like it is about to fall off. Help.

Thanks.




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I don't think the cold is responsible for the cracks. Maybe there's a little movement in the framing. Or maybe there's moisture above the ceiling. Check for sagging before you repair it. If the drywall is nailed in, use screws to support it. Remove and replace any taping that's loose.

Is the roof a truss system thats been used for storage?

I recently purchased the property, so not sure about the history and if the ceiling was used for storage. I will post a couple photos shortly.


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Were the cracks visible before you purchased the property? Or have they recently become visible?

is the garage foundation the best way to patch cracked sheet rock is with fibered/mesh sheet rock tape
http://www.usg.com/content/usgcom/e.../sheetrock-brand-fiberglass-drywall-tape.html

around here we have a lot of clay in the ground, swings in temp cause it to up heave/move keeping it wet keeps it stablle
i installed a sprinkler system,, it works.

If you have trusses they move up and down. Drywallers put up ceiling first but don't screw the edges and let the wall sheetrock hold it up. DIYers screw everything up tight and when the trusses move the tape breaks.

Many times in an unheated garage, the warm moist air --from wet ground/vehicle/lower siding (from splash-back) will rise to the ceiling from pressure/temperature differences of air in attic vs. garage air. The drywall may be 1/2" or 5/8" thick while the tape is paper thin with a thin coat of compound over it; very vapor permeable. So the moist air is going between the panels at the joints (especially the long ones-perpendicular to the framing) and depositing moisture on the tape/compound. The best way is to re-tape/re-coat using chemical-drying compound (rather than air-drying) which is way more resistant to moisture (similar to bathroom ceilings) and will last longer.

I doubt your problem is truss up-lift without the wet/dry of framing members required for that problem without any heat; http://www.buildingscience.com/documents/insights/bsi-023-wood-is-good-but-strange/ Plus, tape/drywall would lift on the interior walls connection- unless you have interior walls where the tape is failing/falling?

Too much moisture; FHA used to require a high/low vent in opposite exterior walls to exhaust vehicle fumes/moisture from garages, but no longer require that. I'm guessing a good exterior seal is on the garage door/man door and tape on fully covered drywall ceiling/walls? Nowhere for the moisture to go...
Gary