I have an inside door that has a wall crack all the way around the
door frame. I tried to find some info on this on the net, but the
assumption seems to be that cracks are extending out from the corners
of the door frame. That's not what's happened here. The door frame
is framed, if you will, by a crack all the way around. I know how to
fix cracks, but I'm concerned about whether this could be indicative
of bigger problems. What's your thinking?

"Jo Ann" wrote in message
...
I have an inside door that has a wall crack all the way around the
door frame. I tried to find some info on this on the net, but the
assumption seems to be that cracks are extending out from the corners
of the door frame. That's not what's happened here. The door frame
is framed, if you will, by a crack all the way around. I know how to
fix cracks, but I'm concerned about whether this could be indicative
of bigger problems. What's your thinking?

It sounds like the problem is embedded under whatever your wall is made of,
like the door size was reduced, and/or poorly rebuilt at some time, or an
old, wider molding was covered up, or? Had any earthquakes lately?

Jo Ann wrote:
I have an inside door that has a wall crack all the way around the
door frame. I tried to find some info on this on the net, but the
assumption seems to be that cracks are extending out from the corners
of the door frame. That's not what's happened here. The door frame
is framed, if you will, by a crack all the way around. I know how to
fix cracks, but I'm concerned about whether this could be indicative
of bigger problems. What's your thinking?

On both faces (sides) of the doorway, or just one side? My first thought
would be that the door is not solid in the rough opening, and/or the
casing was nailed too tight, putting stress on the drywall. If the jamb
is one of the self-adjusting ones, aka a split jamb, and the wall is
thicker than normal, perhaps it is squeezing the edges of the drywall.
Or maybe just a sloppy drywall job, and the opening in the drywall was
just too big for the trim they used, and they tried to fake it with
drywall mud. If the rough opening was too big, and the door is screwed
through a stack of shims, the unsupported drywall or mud over the gap
will crack if you look at it wrong.

I'd start by carefully uninstalling the door and frame, and checking
everything with a framing square and Mark I eyeball. Zero cost other
than labor, and you will likely need to pull the door and frame at some
point in any repair process anyway. If the door is square in the opening
and operates well, and no other windows and doors are having problems, I
doubt it is anything serious like the house settling or anything. Once
you open it up, the problem should be obvious. May just need to be
remudded properly, or you may need to cut the drywall back and re-rock
that part of the wall on one or both sides. Bottom line is that material
cost to repair will be low, but there will be labor. If you are brave,
this is not a difficult DIY project, and you can learn how to shim and
install doors, and patch and mud drywall.

Some pictures would help a bunch, if you can post some somewhere with a
link back here.

--
aem sends...

"Jo Ann" wrote in message
...
I have an inside door that has a wall crack all the way around the
door frame. I tried to find some info on this on the net, but the
assumption seems to be that cracks are extending out from the corners
of the door frame. That's not what's happened here. The door frame
is framed, if you will, by a crack all the way around. I know how to
fix cracks, but I'm concerned about whether this could be indicative
of bigger problems. What's your thinking?


Sounds like the door opening was framed to big or the builder ordered the
wrong sized doors and framing was added when they went to install the doors
and it was patched after the drywall was already done..If that is the case I
bet the other interior doors were too and just haven't cracked YET if they
are all the same size....Hard to tell from here if either the extra framing
wasn't attached good or just the door being opened and closed is cracking
it..Only one way to really tell and you know what that means...I would try
cutting out a V where the crack is and use Durabond to tape it to see if it
holds.....HTH...