Repair Crack in Porch Ceiling
 

Is this a do-it-yourself job or time to hire a professional?
I fix 95% of problems but not sure how to address this.

Your crack would appear to be along the joint line of two (or more) sheets of drywall. Simply filling the crack with mud and repainting will not fix it. Most likely, the crack has opened up due to movement in the structural framing above the sheetrock. To properly address this, the entire area along the crack should be opened up, and find what is "loose" up above. Once that is addressed, new sheetrock can be installed, properly attached to secure framing members, re-taped, textured, and painted. This is not a job for the faint of heart...i.e., might be time to hire a good drywall pro.

That is a very common problem. I agree that filling the crack and painting will not fix it, and the ceiling texture will not match. One simple solution is the cover the crack with a piece of vinyl trim painted to match the ceiling. I would not attempt to mess with the structural framing unless the crack gets much larger.

Consider cost.
As fault is not dangerous and just cosmetic, I would suggest something like image.
Cheap and aesthetic.

Attachment 93476

Plastic T Sections are made from external grade PVC and are suited to many applications such as gap covers, joint filler and edge strips.

The problem is that the builders are too cheap to use the correct drywall product. It is called soffit board. It is resistant to temperature/humidity changes found on a lanai, garage ceiling, or an exposed soffit.

It's an easy fix with mesh, but consider the location and you on a ladder in "that position". :ohdear:

Absolutely no one who knows what they are doing is going to recommend removing Sheetrock to fix a crack. If it were falling off the ceiling then maybe

I had the same issue. I bought 1/4-in x 3/4-in unfinished wood strips, painted them and screwed them to the ceiling covering the cracks. Looks fine.

Call Investment Painters and get it done properly. They are the best and most reasonable.

Call “Hole in the wall” drywall 407 283 1069

This is a very common problem. If you look hard enough you will see hairline cracks in every Lanai ceiling unless they have been insulated and even then you may see some cracks. Another solution that may last a while is to use an elastomer type caulking. Get water based and carefully fill in the crack and re-paint if necessary. You can get this at any big box store or Sherwin Williams.

If you do enough research the common thinking is the cracks are caused because the lanai ceiling is not insulated so you can get super heated air on one side of the sheetrock causing more movemet than normal. Also i agree doesn't look like the proper tape was used when finishing the drywall.

Repair crack in Lanai ceiling
 

We are considering covering the ceiling with vinyl soffit but not sure who to contact.

Another TOTV tread I will save just in case. Thanks good idea.

It seems to have a stucco or thin-set plaster finish, so that is definitely NOT “an easy fix with mesh.” The good news is that the OP can just leave it. It’s not hurting anything. If it actually is stucco, then it’s probably a planned expansion joint, given that it’s straight. It’s not a structural problem you need to deal with unless conditioned air is escaping that way, like a window that isn’t properly sealed. If that’s the problem, a narrow bead of a compressible white caulk—kept only in the crack and not troweled at all, even if there is a slip—might seal it and make the crack less noticeable. If it’s drywall or backer board, it may be that one piece was properly screwed to wood backing and the other wasn’t.

It's not stucco. It is just a textured painted finish similar to the ceilings inside the house. But, the ceiling finish is applied with a machine and is difficult to match by hand, unlike the textured wall finish.