Repairing Cracks in Your Basement Ceiling
Posted By Houston Decorator on March 16, 2010
If the finished ceiling in your basement is cracked, first you want to see if you can figure out what is making the cracks appear. Frequently it is simply the house settling, and as tiny foundation shifts occur in the house, the walls and ceilings are prone to cracking. The problem with not understanding what is causing the crack is that after you make the repair, you may simply get another crack. So try to identify the cause, and make sure that it is not going to occur on a regular basis. Most cracks can be fixed easily with a few, simple techniques.
Be Safe
Any time you are doing any type of home repair, you always want to consider your safety. If your home was built more than twenty-five years ago and you have a textured ceiling, it is possible that you may have asbestos in your ceiling. Before you begin to make any repairs, you need to take a small sample of your ceiling material and have it tested. There are kits that you can use to send in your own sample for analysis, or you can call a professional in to make the assessment for you. Do not disrupt any of your ceiling material before making sure that it is free of asbestos.
Simple Repair Techniques
Once that you are certain that you do not have asbestos present in your ceiling, then you can begin repairing your cracks. Again, with safety in mind, make sure to wear glasses or safety glasses when doing your repair. Since you are working overhead, you will have debris falling on you, and the last thing you need is plaster in your eye. So wear protective eye gear as you are performing your repair. If the ceiling is textured you will need to remove the textured layer so that you are working with a smooth surface. Use a putty knife to scrape away texture material until you arrive at the flat drywall. Then use a sanding sponge or sandpaper to sand the area perfectly smooth.
After the area is perfectly smooth, and all debris is removed from the area, you can use a mud trowel to fill any small cracks in the wall with drywall compound. If you have larger cracks in the wall, you will probably want to tape over them with drywall tape first. Then apply several thin layers of drywall compound over the tape making sure that the compound completely dries in between each layer. Once the repair is complete, you can sand it smooth. If your ceiling has texture, then you will want to add texture back to your space and again let it thoroughly dry. After all repairs and textures are completely dry, you can prime the area and paint it to match the rest of the ceiling.
Other Fixes
Along with cracks you may also see damage in your drywall ceiling like exposed screws or nails. To fix either of these problems, tighten or reset the screws or nails, and then fill the area with a little drywall compound. You can repair nicks and gouges the same way. For larger damaged areas, you may need to cut out a piece of the wall and replace it with new drywall. Then simply tape the seams and add a couple of thin layers of drywall compound to complete the repair.
While looking for an opportunity in decorating Angela Glancy found herself working with American Artisan Art where she developed her own unique style for design and remodeling.
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