Why Your Garage Ceiling Is Cracking, and How It's Fixed

Garage ceilings crack more than other ceilings because garages are built to a lower finish standard and take more stress. The drywall is often hung across framing that's spaced farther apart, finished with less joint compound, and exposed to a hot attic above and an unconditioned space below. Most garage ceiling cracks are cosmetic and can be repaired so they don't come back as quickly.

Why garage ceilings crack

• Heat and humidity swings. A Florida garage can get far hotter than the rest of the house. Drywall, tape and framing expand and contract with every swing, and the seams take the strain.
• Truss movement. Roof trusses flex as the attic heats and cools, pulling on the ceiling drywall. Cracks along the seams or where the ceiling meets the walls often open and close with the seasons.
• Wider framing and lighter finishing. Garage ceilings are often finished with tape and a single coat of compound. With less compound over the joints, the tape cracks or lifts sooner.
• Weight stored above. Boxes and bins stored in the attic over the garage can make the ceiling sag between framing members, and the drywall cracks along the sag.
• Roof leaks. A crack with a brown stain around it usually means water is getting in. The leak needs to be fixed before the ceiling is repaired.

How garage ceiling cracks are repaired

Loose drywall is screwed back to the framing first, so the ceiling is solid. Cracked or lifting tape is cut out, new tape is bedded in joint compound, and the seam gets enough coats to be properly feathered out. Then the ceiling is textured to match and painted. Cracks at the ceiling line that keep moving with the trusses are repaired with flexible corner tape instead of rigid compound alone. See why drywall corners crack.

The ceiling between a garage and the living space above it is often fire-rated drywall, and repairs there should use the same type.

When a crack is worth a closer look

A ceiling that's visibly sagging, a crack that keeps getting wider, or cracks with water stains point to something beyond the drywall. Find the cause first, then repair the ceiling. See whether ceiling cracks are a sign of a bigger problem.

Garage ceiling repair in Orlando

New Ceilings repairs cracked, sagging and water-damaged garage ceilings across Orlando and Central Florida, then textures and paints them to match. Every job starts with a free written quote. See drywall and ceiling repair.