Cracks appearing in new plaster, any advice ?
The house we have is approx 60 years old, ive just stripped a room back to bare walls. The walls were cement rendered then skimmed, the plaster has been allowed to dry out naturally for approx 3-4 weeks with no heat source in the room whatsoever.
Now we have a few cracks appearing, some are quite decent sized cracks. One of the cracks runs right along the width of the chimney breast. I can't start painting as these will show up, why should new plaster crack in this way especially after you have gone back to bare walls and had it rendered and skimmed ? A few pics of the cracks http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a2...eva/crack1.jpg http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a2...eva/crack2.jpg http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a2...eva/crack3.jpg |
Hi Rob
I'm not in the trade so cant help you at all, but wasnt this the room where you had a damp issue after the plastering? Could the added moisture in the room cause this? |
Originally Posted by fitzscoob
(Post 9580348)
Hi Rob
I'm not in the trade so cant help you at all, but wasnt this the room where you had a damp issue after the plastering? Could the added moisture in the room cause this? He drilled the outer walls and found no evidence of damp. The cracks arn't on that wall, they are on theother walls. The main cracks are on the chimney breast, the original small area of damp on the floor was under the window. |
Not an expert but perhaps the plaster shrinks as it dries thus causing the cracks. Maybe when you are sure all the cracks have appeared you will have to fill and rub down the cracks with Polyfilla or some equivalent.
Les |
As Les says the best bet is probably just to fill and sand the cracks. I suspect the issue is down to how well the surface was sealed before plastering over, depending on the absorbency of the surface being plastered onto a good few coats of diluted PVA may be needed before it stops soaking in. Even then there is not guarantee that it won't crack somewhere.
If you went back to the brick work why did you decide to go for render and skim? I'd have had it dry-lined, much less likely to crack, and should give a better finish generally. |
Originally Posted by Coffin Dodger
(Post 9580394)
If you went back to the brick work why did you decide to go for render and skim? I'd have had it dry-lined, much less likely to crack, and should give a better finish generally.
I took advice on here and the common consensus was to cement render the bare walls above the 3ft of plaster then have it skimmed. |
Houses move, plaster cracks its a fact of life.
Websense dictates that I cannot see the hosted pictures unfortunately. You can "V" out the crack and use filler before painting. |
My guess is the rendering wasn't sealed enough before skimming.
Just one of those things, nothing a little bit of filler wont solve. :) |
Originally Posted by cookstar
(Post 9580629)
My guess is the rendering wasn't sealed enough before skimming.
Just one of those things, nothing a little bit of filler wont solve. :) Would using backing paper be an option when i get it decorated, i wanted painted walls. Would you see any of the joins if a decorator used backing paper than painted over the top ? I'm considering all options as i don't want to paint it and more cracks appear, a few have appeared already and you would thing because a few have a appeared already then more may appear once painted. |
Have you rang the guy that plastered it for you? Surely he can advise or sort the problem for you?
I remember reading your original thread where two scoobynetters were arguing about the two methods. I bet the guy who was defending dot and dab will be along shortly to gloat :D |
Originally Posted by mamoon2
(Post 9580808)
Have you rang the guy that plastered it for you? Surely he can advise or sort the problem for you?
Whats the best way forward with these cracks as their are a few appearing ? If you got a decorator to put backing paper then painted the walls would you notice the joins on the paper or would they be invisible ? |
BEING A DECORATOR.
They look like drying out cracks to me. Whats your plans for the walls? painting? get a wash coat on... a very thin coat of emulsion... rake out cracks and fill with FILLER, then sand smooth. then Re paint with two/three coats of emuslion, ease each coat as not to put it staright on out the tin (use TRADE paint not retail) if you're worried you can always use a fibre lining paper.. like WALLROCK. http://www.erfurtmav.com/index.php?o...d=59&Itemid=46 youcan get it from Crown Decorator Centres (about £8-£10 a roll) this an then be painted over nd will hold off the slight cracking. |
Firstly:
Originally Posted by Coffin Dodger
(Post 9580394)
I'd have had it dry-lined, much less likely to crack, and should give a better finish generally.
Anyways, your cracking is nothing to worry about as long as the plaster doesn't sound hollow when you tap the backs of your fingers against it. If it DOES sound hollow, then its not stuck against the base layer of render and would need to come back off. Assuming it is stuck to the wall ok, follow the advice above regards painting and filler and you'll not see it after. In fact, you'd be amazed what a couple of coats of good paint can cover up! |
sounds (looks) like the plasterer renderded the wall in one thick coat, he should have scrath coat (base coat) it first let it dry a bit then 2nd coat it , then leave for a day then skim, if you put render on in 1 coat to thick it will crack when it drys.
Render done right is much better than dry lineing >> dot and dab :D |
No chance this is the Plasterers fault or anything to do with the render he was applying it to ffs.
Think about how a skim goes on and the consecutive lines. |
No chance this is the Plasterers fault or anything to do with the render he was applying it to ffs.
Think about how a skim goes on and the consecutive lines. |
Originally Posted by alanbell
(Post 9582829)
sounds (looks) like the plasterer renderded the wall in one thick coat, he should have scrath coat (base coat) it first let it dry a bit then 2nd coat it , then leave for a day then skim, if you put render on in 1 coat to thick it will crack when it drys.
Render done right is much better than dry lineing >> dot and dab :D Sand cement is a **** and if not applied right or the right mix you get what you have :) I have just done 2 rooms for someone today and it used to be original solid plaster but I have dot and dabbed the walls and it is just a quality job as the walls are warmer to the touch and its just a better job. Getting someone to render internal walls on a property is madness as there is no need for such archaic materials. Those cracks are really bad and I bet if you tap on the wall it will have a hollow sound which will definately mean its down to application ;) My house is a 30's house and its all solid plaster and its full of cracks :( I have tried to repair the cracks and it cracks alongside of the repair. All the work I have boarded over is excellent and its getting to the point where I'm just thinking of stripping the walls and boarding over the rest. I have just thought aren't you the person that was asking about what to do with the room about a month ago??? As far as I could tell you stripped the plaster off brickwork and told the plaster he had to sand and cemet?? Brickwork walls that have been stripped will have the least suction possible and getting a render coat to apply properly will be a nightmare as you can plainly see. Most of the blame for the cracking will be on you and your decision. |
Originally Posted by stevebt
(Post 9582865)
I have just thought aren't you the person that was asking about what to do with the room about a month ago??? As far as I could tell you stripped the plaster off brickwork and told the plaster he had to sand and cemet?? Brickwork walls that have been stripped will have the least suction possible and getting a render coat to apply properly will be a nightmare as you can plainly see. Most of the blame for the cracking will be on you and your decision.
Ive tapped the area where the main cracking is on the chimney breast and it feels solid, it doesn't feel hollow. The cracking is above the grey plaster area so its where fresh cement render and skim went on. Here are the pics from before. http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a2...a/plaster3.jpg http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a2...a/plaster2.jpg |
Those cracks aren't along the line of the original plaster as if they were they would be straight, but the plaster at the bottom doesn't have anything to do with damp etc as if it did it would have holes drilled in every few inches. If the consensus was to do it in icing sugar would you do it :) It was your decision and it was a bad call.
|
Originally Posted by stevebt
(Post 9582950)
If the consensus was to do it in icing sugar would you do it :) It was your decision and it was a bad call.
It just seems to me like your here on a gloating trip with a reply like that because you suggested dot n dab previously against the majority which said rendering was the best option rather than offering any advice to move forward, obviously with no experience of this i'm going to go with the majority of opinions because wouldn't you do in an area your not familiar with when your asking for advice ? I just want advice to sort the cracks, not whether the method was wrong or right. Nobody can say 100% that cracks wouldn't appear in dot n dab as well, i'm sure they do! From my research a lot of factors can cause cracking in plaster. |
Steve, I know you are a Plasterer et alibi, hard to say I know if you can not see directly, obviously.
But, Plasterer fault? |
Steve, I know you are a Plasterer et alibi, hard to say I know if you can not see directly, obviously.
But, Plasterer fault? |
Originally Posted by stevebt
(Post 9582950)
Those cracks aren't along the line of the original plaster as if they were they would be straight
I'll have to double check tomorow but the lines follow a similar shape to that grey plaster on the chimney breast and the crack could just be above it or in a direct line with that grey plaster line. |
Originally Posted by Rob_Impreza99
(Post 9582962)
It just seems to me like your here on a gloating trip with the reply above ,,
Trade guys don't take anything lightly, to do with their Trade... |
Paint it, leave it for 6 months, fix all the cracks and paint it properly. I would go with alanbell's view on the finish. Dot'n'dab is always a low cost low quality option. Whatever you do, don't consider lining paper.
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pva the chimney breast fit thinwall beads over corners scrim over the cracks, skim full breast, steve,s wrong im right, :D (morning steve:luxhello:)
|
just to add dry lineing , dot & dab came out to replace light weight plaster on new builds
and is not used any were near damp condisions , the first time i used this is about 35 years ago , Its ok in the right place , (DRY) |
Originally Posted by alanbell
(Post 9583138)
just to add dry lineing , dot & dab came out to replace light weight plaster on new builds
and is not used any were near damp condisions , the first time i used this is about 35 years ago , Its ok in the right place , (DRY) And derader is right Im not here to gloat just explain possible causes as its only the plastered who can put it right and to determine how bad the cracks are from a couple of pictures is really hard but what you can see is that they are really bad to show up on camera like that! |
Steve, thanks for your input. I can see from your last reply that you wasn't gloating.
Ive had a good look round the walls today and their are more cracks than i realised, some are not as bad as others. Some are fine cracks that go all over the place, the concern i have is that if they have appeared now what will it be like in 6 to 12 months time. Those hair line cracks could become full blown cracks, the worse one is on the chimney breast which i posted in pics above. Its very difficult to see but ive highlighted in pencil on the walls at least 7 that are showing up, their could be more. In your opinion is this likely to get a lot worse seeing so many have appeared in just approx 4 weeks since it was plastered. I wanted to get on with the room by putting coving and skirting board on but the walls concern me, i certainly can't have it painted just yet. Is it something that i should repair myself or is it a case of things will only get worse where i repair one and others start to appear, how do you go about repairing cracks in new plaster ? I had a look on youtube and a couple of vids said that you channel the cracks it with something like a blunt, thin screwdriver and fill them and put some kind oc crack tape over the top ? |
You should not have to repair cracks in new plaster, these cannot be repaired by yourself and I would get the plasterer involved as if he has pride in his work he will sort it out! If I had to guess I would say a strong mix of say 3-1 which although most people say to do it it doesn't work well. Im really curious on how he prepe'd the walls 1st as I know what I would do but I don't know what he did?
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