Crack In Wall

[heydude]

I have a crack in my living room wall near the window. It starts at the floor running vertically up almost to the ceiling ending at the corner. Here it turns horizontal and then stops at the top of the window.

What do I do?

Can I leave it?

I thought once I pained again, in maybe 5 years, then I could have them fix it.

[redfox]

What kind of wall is it? Sheetrock, lathe & plaster, concrete, etc.? That will determine part of the fix. Also, you will need to determine if foundation problems are causing the wall to crack, due to uneven settling. What kind of framing is the house?

[Miss Cellane]

How old is the house? That's important because a newer house might have foundation issues. How long have you been in the house? Was the crack there when you moved in, or is it a new crack?

[catherine]

Hey, forget about it. According to redfox's autosignature, that's how the Light gets in! :)

[redfox]

Hey, forget about it. According to redfox's autosignature, that's how the Light gets in! :)

HAHAHA! Nice.

[heydude]

um, it is an apartment type thing that is now a condo. so, it is that wall that has the bumps all over it that most apartments have. the building is old but the place was remodeled a few years ago with new spattering on the walls and paint. crack is new.

[redfox]

That's called a knockdown finish; it's typically used over sheetrock.

[Rogar]

I have a fifties house and cracks in the old homes in my neighborhood are common just due to time and settling. Assuming it's not a big foundation or unstable ground issue, it should be easy to fix. I open up cracks with a scraper, fill them with dry wall mud, cover with fiberglass tape, texture and paint. You can buy stuff in a spray can that looks like a knock down finish for small areas. Probably easier to hire a handyman to get it looking right. Of course, you can just paint over it, but the fix will last longer the other way.

If it's a wide crack or something due to unstable ground or foundation problems, it' sort of out of my field.