Why Can I See Lines on My Ceiling?

If you were to remove the sheetrock portion of your ceiling, exposing the skeleton of your roof framework, you would see a series of boards, like a rib cage, running across the overhead to a center, supporting beam, also known as a hanging beam, often accompanied by a strutting beam.

When dust and moisture settle on your ceiling, they often accumulate in the least insulated areas. Those areas are where your joists are, running across to the central beam. There is no insulation between them and the sheetrock of the ceiling and that moisture settling forms visible lines.

It’s a fairly common process and all you are seeing is the accumulation of moisture and perhaps a little dust along the joists running across your ceiling. It’s like taking a Sharpie and outlining an underlying structure in a drawing. These are also known as ghost lines.

Is it Normal to See Drywall Seams in the Ceiling?

If it’s ghosting, then it’s completely normal and this is the case nine times out of ten in a home that is less than 40 years old. In older homes, you may be able to see lines in your ceiling if the house has undergone decades of settling.

Keep in mind, that there is a difference between seeing lines in your ceiling and the actual joists starting to bulge out. The latter is not a line but is a clear sign of sagging in your ceiling.

Just seeing lines up there is not something that you should be overly concerned about. However, it does mean that the moisture (humidity) level in your home is higher than it should be and it’s something that you need to correct.

In a case where your home is settling, fixing it is a much more involved and potentially expensive process.

If you are only seeing a single line in your ceiling, it’s probably a matter of two sheetrock panels, butted together, and not properly sealed together with tape and mud. Fortunately, this is also repairable.

How to Get Rid of Moisture Ghost Lines In Your Ceiling?

If the humidity is too high in your home, you have to figure out a way to bring it down. Not only will it cause the ghost lines that you see in your ceiling, but it’s also creating an environment that is friendly to mold and mildew.

Invest in dehumidifiers
Check your exterior window and door seals
Check the attic for leaks
Improve ventilation in your bathrooms
Check your gas heater flue (if applicable)

If you live in a coastal region, high humidity is just another part of life. To tamp it down within your home, you need to invest in some dehumidifiers and place them near areas in the house where moisture is the most prevalent, such as outside of bathrooms or near the kitchen.

Poor seals in your windows and doors are excellent infiltration points for outside humidity to make its way inside your home. If you’re having trouble with high humidity and it’s a recent thing, this is something you should check. You should also check the attic for leaks, along with the basement or cellar (if applicable).

Moisture from showers, baths, and sinks stays in the house if they aren’t properly ventilated. If the ventilation fans in your bathrooms aren’t pulling air out, then you may need to replace them.

Gas furnaces create water vapor as a result of combustion. In most circumstances, this excess water vapor makes it’s way up and out through the flue. A potential clog in the flue or a gas heater that lacks a flue could be the culprit.

How to Get Rid of Ceiling Lines from a Settling Home

There is only one way to get rid of the settling lines caused by the joists above your ceiling. You have to apply a skim coat, which is also called a level 5 drywall finish. Applying a skim coat is completely doable by an inexperienced hand but it’s not an easy job either.

The process is the same whether you have a standard, smooth ceiling or a popcorn ceiling. What a skim coat does is fill in the gaps between the joists. The only problem with a skim coat is that if your house is still settling, the joists may press down a little more.

Then you will end up with the same problem that you had before you applied the skim coat. The material for a skim coat typically costs about $1.25 per square foot. It’s also a very messy process. You will want to either remove or thoroughly cover everything in the room, including the floors.

Mix your joint compound together thoroughly
Apply the first layer with a heavy roller
Go through and smooth out high areas with a wide scraper
Apply a second skim coat
Wait for the skim coat to completely dry
Paint your ceiling according to your own, personal aesthetic choice

Applying a skim coat is more difficult than it looks because the joint compound is a lot heavier than paint and the stuff just gets everywhere. So you will want to get your shoulders prepared for a heck of a workout.

If you have a popcorn ceiling, the process is exactly the same. You don’t have to go through and remove the popcorn from the ceiling. Since applying the joint compound is designed to fill in spots anyway, it will cover up the popcorn texture of the ceiling and you will finish it up with a second coat.

If you have one of those heavily popcorned ceilings, feel free to go through with a scraper and bring it down a notch before applying the compound.

All Things Considered

In most cases, the lines across your ceiling are caused by excess moisture in the home, settling on the least insulated portion of your ceiling, which is where the joists are laid out. In more severe cases, it’s the result of settling.

Either way, it’s a fixable issue and doesn’t necessitate removing and replacing your entire ceiling, so breathe a sign of relief and get to work.

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Why Can I See Lines on My Ceiling?