Hi,
Just been looking up at the ceiling in the kitchen and the mist coat is showing a long straight-ish hairline crack. Probably on the join of two PB panels.
That's to be expected I suppose - it's been cold and I expect something has shrunk.
Anyway - I usually use Dulux Rich Matt for ceilings. Is it worth using something else for this - something with some forgiveness of slight cracks?
Otherwise my default action will be to paint neat PVA along the crack and proceed as normal...
Ta
Tim
Tim W wibbled on Friday 06 November 2009 00:24
Anyone? :-O
They could be all queuing for their Euro Lottery tickets ... it's a £90,000,000 roll over this week ....
Ash
If the joint hasn't been scrimmed it will always crack.
moisture in woodwork will cause enough movement for that.
Use decorator's caulk, a sort of very thick PVA/emulsion paint type material to fill, and hope, but don't expect, that it will last.
Well, as there's no football tonight..... Depends on the crack. If thick paint won't cover it, try fine filler. Can't see that pva is going to do anything though
The Natural Philosopher wibbled on Friday 06 November 2009 20:02
OK - I've heard of caulk, but never knew what it was, or was for.
Many thanks,
Tim
I'd say caulk was more for larger gaps between plaster and woodwork, too coarse for cracks. IME you will have a job hiding the repair if you use anything other than paint or a very fine filler and, if the latter, try and keep it off the adjoining area. The difference in texture when it's rubbed down can show up as much as the problem it was supposed to fix.
I had a couple of these hairline cracks appear after I skimmed over the rough artex in the lounge.
They re-appeared after filling.
Is the ceiling flat?
As my ceiling was flat (after skimming), I bit the bullet and papered with 1000 gauge lining paper. Quite a bit of work but no cracks after 2
1/2 years.SteveE
Lining paper is surprisingly strong.
Steve wibbled on Saturday 07 November 2009 09:12
Fairly.
That's why I was wondering about a drop of PVA to bind the edges together and reduce future movement. The cracks are *extremely* fine - only just feel them with a fingernail.
The paint will cover them no probs, but if the cracks move again, it may appear through the paint, which would be a shame...
The Natural Philosopher wibbled on Saturday 07 November 2009 09:21
I'm trying to avoid paper on the ceilings, especially kitchen as IME it has a nasty tendency to fall off when hot with steam periodically...
Then you paint them again :-)
I understand your reservations about papering the ceiling in a steamy room, but lining paper can be stuck up with PVA which, once painted, should offer more resistance to peeling.
SteveE
I think that the cracks will come back quite quickly.
I tried wiping diluted filler into the cracks after painting them with PVA. That failed. I then gouged the cracks and filled again. That failed too. They look OK after painting but give it a while and the cracks will be back :-(
SteveE
which will beat up on any studwork the plasterboard is attached to and almost certainly cause a crack..
there's a hole in my bucket...;-)
really, unless you gouge and use flexible caulk, you have to add tensile strength to the join. The 'correct' solution is glass scrim tape under the skim. The after market solution is lining paper
The Natural Philosopher wibbled on Saturday 07 November 2009 10:56
I meant hit, not hot :-)
Stupide laptop keyboard...
Anyway, it's a kitchen, so there will be steam. But not 100% of the time. The studwork are floor joists above.
I wouldn't fancy papering a ceiling with pva glue. Difficult enough with ordinary paste.
I must admit that I have not needed to use PVA type glue on a ceiling yet but I have used it on walls without any problem.
SWMBO wanted this really posh heavy Italian vinyl paper (£16/roll) for the lounge in our old property and the instructions said to use special glue. We got this special glue from the same decorators shop as the paper. It came in tubs at a special price. It looked like PVA and smelt like PVA.
I thought to myself "this is going to be a nightmare", but surprisingly the job turned out to be nearly as easy as wallpapering with normal paste. Paper was easy to slide into exact position and to smooth down. It was a bit more difficult to work the paste when pasting the paper but that just meant each strip took a bit longer. I do not know whether there were any additives to assist sliding or to retard the drying process but I suspect not.
As for ceilings, they are really not much more difficult than walls provided one has a helper. Otherwise they can be a pain!
SteveE
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