Does a house ever stop settling?

Question

My house was built in the 60's and I have lived in it for 14 years. I noticed that over time I still see cracks above the doors and the molding around the ceiling get's cracks. Will it ever stop settling?

Answer 1

It has probably stopped settling now but what you might be experiencing is the expansion and contraction of the materials used to build it. The weather and seasons can affect the materials... humidity or lack of it makes things shrink, expand, etc.
This can happen every year or for every significant shift in the environment.

Answer 2

The house will continue to settle forever its just weather the settling will be even and that is up to what the house was built on your house might be built on part rocky soil and part clay think about the leaning tower of Pisa its been quite a long time since that was built and its still settling.
The cracks should however stay minor if they do become large cracks or obvious large amounts of settling happens have it checked out to make sure the house is properly supported and theres no problems.

Answer 3

6kidsanda is right, unless your house was built on the edge of a cliff or swamp. you may need to run a humidifier during the winter months and a dehumidifier during the summer ones. most houses have stopped settling after five years, since the materials will have dried out and shrunk as much as they are going to by then. you could have some bad seams in the drywall near stress points, just sand and re putty and tape them when you paint the rooms next time. good luck, hope this helps.

Answer 4

My house is 56 years old and every so often I can tell it is settling. Stress cracks above the door frames, door frames slightly out of alighment and cracks in the brick are my signs.

Answer 5

NO I DON'T THINK IT WILL EVER STOP SETTLING