Expert: Bruce E. Johnson - 2/8/2011

Question
The interior of my 15 year old house is showing signs of of concern. The sheet rock at every 24 inches under all of the rafters is bulging about 1/4 inch. There are cracks across the pitch of the great room and cracks down the 2 walls. there are other cracks at other places also on the ceiling and walls. Only the great room seems to be affected 1/2 the house. The other 1/2 of the house is a 2 story. Is there someone that i can call in my area to take a look?

Answer
Hi adelmomondragon, You never said where you live so I'm not sure what factors may be involved in your dilemma . If you live in an area of expansive or unstable soil conditions it may have an affect on your foundation which will in turn affect your ceiling and wall drywall.  Extreme moisture conditions or lack of air conditioning during damp rainy seasons will cause drywall to sag.  Improperly installed roof trusses or improperly built rafters or trusses will sag over time.  If you live in an area that has recently had a large snow load applied to your roof, your roof system may have begun to fail worst case or temporarily deflected best case scenario.  A framing or drywall contractor can handle the cosmetic and some structural reinforcement but it wouldn't hurt to have a PE "professional engineer" determine what is causing the problem so he can design a fix to keep the problem from recurring.  If the problem is the result of external forces your insurance company should be contacted immediately as well..Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner and please feel free to write again regarding this or other matters, sincerely bruce e johnson..bejohnsonconsulting.com