The drywall seam has formed a hairline crack and has been fixed 4 or 5 times now. It is right at a large opening on a load bearing wall. I laid some plywood in the attic to prevent the joists from moving in case they were and installed metal bracketing before I added blown in insulation, and the wall is directly over the steel beam in the basement. It's a ~6 foot span with a double 2x8 and plywood header, with about 3 studs on each end (Jack/King). I don't know what to do anymore other than tear it all open again, or to just laminate the whole wall with another layer of plywood. What options do I have?
>pic not related
>>934201
>another layer of drywall
If it keeps forming you really should investigate why rather than patching it up and ignoring it. There's obviously an underlying problem.
Are your exterior walls brick? Does that exterior wall show any signs of subsidence or cracking?
>>934205
It's an interior wall. The basement beam is fine. My only idea of what might be happening as that that one corner wasn't secured properly to the king studs, and it might be moving ever so slightly, enough to cause the crack to form since the seam is right near it.
>>934207
No no. You don't seem to understand. There is a bigger problem that you're not seeing. Plaster board doesn't just crack when it's fixed vertically under its own weight.
Something structural is shifting over time to cause it to happen.
Think about it, if you're patching it up and it re appeares, the patchwork isn't just vanishing, the gap is getting bigger.
Upon further investigation, the cause might be stupid... It seems that the joint might not have a stud behind it. Gonna cut a hole in the opposite wall and check it out and put something in.
>>934201
this is a sign of a foundation issue. that will cause cracks in drywall and plaster walls... not the attic joists
your house is settling somewhere which would lead to the foundation
