Discussions

I had a garage built this past summer and the drywall mud is cracked and bulging at the beveled joints. What could cause this? I’ve drywalled rec rooms, bathrooms and bedrooms in the past with no problems, but this was my first attempt at drywalling a garage. What went wrong?  
 
The garage is 23 X 24 with 10 ft walls. Walls are insulated, but the ceiling didn’t get insulated. The short butt end joints are not cracking, just the long beveled joints.  
 
What could cause this? There’s no sense repairing this, if it’s going to split again because something else is incorrect.  
 
Thanks in advance!

Expansion and contraction with the warm freeze cycle. Plus, you could have shifting joists.

I was wondering if I could prevent this by accessing the attic and placing blocking between the rafters where the drywall joints are? Fairly easy to do while there’s no insulation.

The vapour barrier was installed but my contractor forgot to install vents. The garage is not heated yet.

Insulate the ceiling

Vent and insulate.

It is an uninsulated garage.

And the ceiling was supposed to be insulated in the fall, but my contractor didn’t get that done either. From the responses above, I would guess that my problems are due to a lack of vents and insulation.  
 
I will insulate once I install vents, then I’ll redo the drywall. Good times! Thanks for the replies!

Sent you a pm.  
 
Seen this before and out of curiosity do find this very interesting.

I would have never installed drywall until everything was properly insulated and vented. I actually wouldn’t even drywall right away until you see how much shifting the building will do in the first year.  
 
This winter seems to be hard on things. It’s dryer than usual and these extreme cold plus wind is really moving things around.  
 
Hopefully it’s not too much work to get it all fixed up

Search truss uplift on google. May have some answers for you.

mikestang said "I was wondering if I could prevent this by accessing the attic and placing blocking between the rafters where the drywall joints are? Fairly easy to do while there’s no insulation. "

Are blaming the lack of insulation as the culprit. I really don't think that's an issue unless the tape finish was done during cold/freezing weather. If the tape/ finish was done before the cold weather, then it should be alright. Too many unknown factors to pinpoint the issue directly. However, I agree with "mikestang" that blocking between the rafters and tying the drywall to the blocks with screws 8 to 10 inches apart would likely solve his issues once the tape repairs completed.

the garage is likley on concrete slab rather than plies, so is more suseptable to soil movement with freeze ground.  
 
as it is not heated or insulated the lack of roof venting should not effect it. besides which if you used vented metal soffits vents, it half vented anyway.  
 
I think it has more to do with the freeze thaw on the drywall than anything.  
 
blocking in the attic will certianly do the job, but then you are remudding and painting, maybe even needing to retape if some is loose, which is quite likley. PLus blocking inj the attic is going to be a real bear to get at.  
 
since it is a garage and not your living room why not just take 1 x 4 and nail them length ways over all the beveled joints, full length of garage. you'll need 14 pces 1x4 x 12 long, give it a coat of paint and your done, now you have something solid you can screw stuff to as well.  
14 pces will be enough to do the 90 degree corners where the cieling meets the wall, just to make it look even.  
 
cheaper than blocking and way less work.