Fixing gaps in the ceiling?

[Viking]

We have plywood ceilings in our house and there is of course cracks, small gaps in the joints between the boards.

Now when we are going to repaint it, I wanna try to make sure these cracks don't come back again, anytime soon.

What is the best method?

A soft joint with a flexible material or using fiberglass tape strips and then cover with putty?

[jimeve]

1 minute ago, Viking said:

We have plywood ceilings in our house and there is of course cracks, small gaps in the joints between the boards.

Now when we are going to repaint it, I wanna try to make sure these cracks don't come back again, anytime soon.

What is the best method?

A soft joint with a flexible material or using fiberglass tape strips and then cover with putty?

No matter what you do cracks will re-appear in the ceiling. But you can use this. silicone sealant ABC paintable gap filler flexible water based.

We used something like it in the UK. (Trade) If the cracks are large you might have to use the fiberglass tape strips then use wall putty.

[OnMyWay]

I had the same when we moved in here 6 years ago.  For some reason many don't care to hide the cracks.  I also had old central air vents that were removed and patched.

I initially had them use putty and sand it, but could tell that the seam areas would be very obvious after painting.  Sorry, not sure which putty they used but it was a common one.  Taping was not an option as they had no real experience with tape.

So I decided to texture the ceiling.  They were familiar with that and I just bought some sandy stuff to mix in the paint.  It evens everything out and hides all the imperfections.  Still looks good after 6.5 years.

[Mike J]

I hated those cracks!  Go to the local lumber yard and have them cut 8 foot bats 2 inch wide and 1/2 inch thick.  Tell them it needs to have a smooth finish.  Use finish nails to place them over the cracks, I included one in the middle of each 4x8 ceiling panel.  You can paint to match the ceiling, prepaint a complementing color, or leave natural.   Mine are mahogany and I love the look.  Here is a picture of the bedroom ceiling.  Each of "squares" is 4x4 feet.  Those cracks will never show their ugly face again, 

 

[Viking]

54 minutes ago, Mike J said:

I hated those cracks!  Go to the local lumber yard and have them cut 8 foot bats 2 inch wide and 1/2 inch thick.  Tell them it needs to have a smooth finish.  Use finish nails to place them over the cracks, I included one in the middle of each 4x8 ceiling panel.  You can paint to match the ceiling, prepaint a complementing color, or leave natural.   Mine are mahogany and I love the look.  Here is a picture of the bedroom ceiling.  Each of "squares" is 4x4 feet.  Those cracks will never show their ugly face again, 

 

I was thinking about this, but I'm not sure if it will annoy me, since all the "squares" won't be the same size?

One thing for sure, it will definitely cover the cracks! 👍

[Mike J]

2 minutes ago, Viking said:

I was thinking about this, but I'm not sure if it will annoy me, since all the "squares" won't be the same size?

Agree, it would depend on how your ceiling was done.  We replaced our ceiling due to water damage from the typhoon.  It is 4x8 sheets of 1/2 marine plywood.  Workers new the plan ahead of time and worked from the center of the room using full sheets.   The wife says she likes it but does not want the same treatment in the living room which is being done now.  Workers here use fibre tape and polyester body filler to cover the cracks then sand smooth.  I guess we will see how it works in the long term.  In the US I always used fibre tape and drywall "mud".   Here drywall compound would not work due to the humidity so they use the body filler.  May also be called wall putty as @jimeve stated in his post?

[OnMyWay]

2 hours ago, Mike J said:

body filler

Yes, I think that is what they used on mine when I said I could not remember.

[Viking]

3 hours ago, Mike J said:

Agree, it would depend on how your ceiling was done.  We replaced our ceiling due to water damage from the typhoon.  It is 4x8 sheets of 1/2 marine plywood.  Workers new the plan ahead of time and worked from the center of the room using full sheets.   The wife says she likes it but does not want the same treatment in the living room which is being done now.  Workers here use fibre tape and polyester body filler to cover the cracks then sand smooth.  I guess we will see how it works in the long term.  In the US I always used fibre tape and drywall "mud".   Here drywall compound would not work due to the humidity so they use the body filler.  May also be called wall putty as @jimeve stated in his post?

In our bedroom, there will be no "problem" since the joints line up in a good pattern for being covered with wood strips 👍. The living room is much larger and the joints in there, will not line up very well for this method.

I am not really familiar with ceilings made out of plywood. In Sweden it's mostly made out of concrete or drywall and drywall joints are always done with paper or fiber tape and putty.

I suppose that plywood ceilings are more prone to getting cracks but I am not sure. Also more exposed to ants and termites.

Curious to know why you choose plywood instead of drywall when you replaced your ceilings? What is the benefits of it?

[OnMyWay]

We been looking at new houses (just browsing) and some have some really nice "wood" accents on the ceilings.  Not sure if it fits your decor but I love the wood look.  This is an example of the material, not how you would use them.  I think they are PVC.

[hk blues]

It's very, very difficult to cover cracks well enough to make them go away without leaving an unsightly seam.  And, it's almost certain they will come back if they are a result of natural movement rather than a specific incident.

Our developer used Hardiflex and then scored rectangles into it which should mean cracks only appear on the seams and thus are easily disguised.  For some reason, they didn't do it on our ceilings but I'm glad they didn't as it looks very old fashioned IMO.

I think OMW's suggestion is the best as long as you can get a textured paint with enough texture.  I don't know but I wonder if you could simply add fine sand to normal paint and give it a good mix to add additional texture?