Last year I had my garage converted into a finished garage gym. As part of the project, my contractor modified two existing exterior openings.

The large opening shown in the wide photos was originally the garage door and was converted to the large retractable glass door. The window next to it was originally a standard entry door into the garage. The contractor removed that door, framed down the opening, installed the window, and finished the surrounding wall.

The cracks in the close-up photos are around that converted window opening.

Earlier this year, a crack developed along the lower/right portion of the wall next to the window. I submitted a warranty claim, and the contractor came back in May and repaired it. Within a few months, that crack returned.

I’m now also getting additional cracking above the window, including cracks extending from the upper corners/area of the opening.

I’m still within the contractor’s warranty period and plan to have them address it again. Before I do, I’d like some opinions from contractors about what should actually be inspected so this doesn’t turn into another patch, texture, and paint repair that cracks again a few months later.

I understand that some drywall cracking can occur from normal movement, settling, temperature changes, etc. The contractor previously mentioned foundation movement as a possible explanation. What concerns me is that the original crack returned after being repaired and additional cracks are now developing around the same opening that they reframed.

There are also two other existing windows in the garage that have not developed comparable cracking.

Based on the crack locations and the fact that this was formerly a door opening, I have some questions for your consideration:

**Would you initially suspect a drywall finishing/tape issue, or would this pattern make you want to inspect the framing behind the drywall?**

**Is there anything specific about converting a door opening to a smaller window that should be checked, such as the header, king/jack studs, blocking, window attachment, or how the new framing was tied into the existing framing?**

**Would the drywall layout itself matter here? For example, joints/seams terminating at or near the corners of the window opening?**

**Since the previous warranty repair already failed, would it be reasonable to ask the contractor to open up enough of the wall to determine why it keeps cracking before repairing it again?**

**How would you communicate this to the contractor so that he takes this seriously/knows I’ve done my research and doesn’t try to convince me it’s a small problem (if it’s actually a big problem)?**

Contractor converted an exterior garage door opening to a window. Cracks returned after warranty repair and are now forming above it. What should be inspected?