Help with hairline cracks in ceiling/water leak?

[RobertAtFox]

Good afternoon, all -

Seeking advice on this matter. My house was built in 2000, and I've lived here about 2 years; entire interior was repainted when I moved in including ceilings by a professional painting company.

This week I discovered this hairline crack in the ceiling. Here it is seen from directly below -

Untitled

• RobertAtFox
• 31 Dec 2014
• 1

And here it is seen from the north side of the room. The crack is almost invisible from the south.

Untitled

• RobertAtFox
• 31 Dec 2014
• 1

Note in the second picture, you can see a 'halo' or 'shadow' around the crack. This disappears from other angles.

Does this appear to be water damage, does it look to any of you like this is caused by a leak? There is nothing other than an attic crawlspace over this spot of the ceiling; we have a one story home so there is no plumbing or the like above this spot.

Thanks in advance everyone![/img]

 

[misterhelpful]

Personally, I can't see a 'halo', but that may just be my eyes/screen. It does just look like a typical repair to the drywall boards made with jointing compound, and possibly no tape, which is why it has cracked. The raised areas around the crack seem to be consistent with this type of repair, but I could be wrong.

 

[stef99]

get some ladders and feel the surface if you think it's water related.

you can try digging the crack out with a Stanley knife, and then re-filling it and sanding it. but this will create a lot of dust.

However, I would be more interested in finding the cause of the problem.

Since the crack looks entirely straight. I would suspect the plasterboard above it is not screwed to the ceiling properly.

In this case you're gonna have problems.
You can try driving new screw deep into the ceiling and then filling it and sanding it.

but really it depends on the situation (And I can't tell you from my computer).

another cause can be where 2 plasterboard meet and they haven't used any jointing tapes on the joints.

the deep screw idea will be your best bet. Otherwise, It could mean a totally new ceiling (which will be expensive)

 

[Bosswhite]

Basically expansion /contraction ceiling plasterboard joins, and eveness of joins how they were originally fixed, filled, taped feathered off.

A bit of filler in the cracks next time you redecorate ceiling.