Ceiling Plaster Crack

Ceiling plaster cracks can be caused from your house settling with age or movement as temperatures fluctuate between hot and cold. Hot and cold temperatures can make some building materials expand and contract. Over time this can develop cracks in your walls and ceilings.

Home Repair Tip: There is very little that you can do, to prevent a plaster ceiling from cracking. If it's going to crack, there is nothing you can do to avoid this. However, these cracks can easily be repaired using

Fiberglas drywall tape and finishing it with drywall joint compound.

I have probably made this repair sound easier than it is, but there is another alternative. You could fill the crack with a good paintable caulking. Make sure that the caulking you use is paintable, some silicone-based caulking aren't paintable. If the caulking can be painted over, it will save paintable on the tube of caulking.

If you choose to use the caulking or repair the ceiling crack with drywall tape and joint compound, the crack could always come back. If this is the case, maybe there's a structural problem within the house and a contractor should be contacted to examine the ceiling.