Advice on cracked plaster in the ceiling

Hi, Just about to start DIY painting the living / dining room. Understand prep very important. I have a crack in the plaster running right accross the ceiling.

I took a few shots here

formatting link
ideas how I tackle this, I dont want to do it again in a few months! Thanks

Reply to
rob m
Loading thread data ...

I rake out the crack to remove any lose plaster then use flexible decorating filler then emulsion over and it's been fine.

Reply to
Professor Strabismus

harry ( snipped-for-privacy@aol.com) wibbled on Monday 10 January 2011 08:30:

Yeah - but let's be practical here harry - are *you* going to use a belt sander on plaster in an occupied house? I wouldn't. It was bad enough in building-site mode...

Reply to
Tim Watts

The guy next door to us is having great fun. He moved in about 5 months ago. He's replaced all the plasterboard (walls and ceiling), then plastered everything himself. Then sanded down all the lumps and bumps where his plastering was not the best. This has been going on since September.

Yesterday he was playing with an angle grinder, and covered both of our front porches and doors with some sort of plaster/concrete dust. Of course it's me who suffers the most, getting it in the neck from 'er indoors, who goes out, making a point of noisily scrubbing the front path and doorstep down.

I'm all for DIY - but sometimes, it's a bit much.

Reply to
JW

Someone else said that they had not been 'taped' but you guessed it i dont want to sand it. I was thinking polyfiller flexible gap.

Reply to
rob m

I wouldnt follow any of the suggestions so far, they're much more work than needed. Just get some filler and wipe it along the crack with your finger, remove any excess, job done. Its so fast.

Flexible filler flexes so little that practically speaking its pointless.

NT

Reply to
Tabby

In article , rob m writes

This should do the job:

formatting link
'd fill the crack first with Polyfilla fine crack filler, finish it really smooth (removing all dust with a damp cloth) then apply the repair tape. It is flexible and will cover the crack if it opens again. You overpaint it and blends in reasonably well, certainly better looking than a crack. It would probably show up more on dark colours but should be fine on your white.

I should say that it is an absolute b'trd to use, v sticky and stretchy (by necessity) so it is very easy for it to go on wrong (and it wont come off).

Reply to
fred

Putting repair tape over the crack will make it look far worse. IT has a rough surface and shows up dirt badly after a while. Such tape is a bodge pure & simple.

NT

Reply to
Tabby

IYNSHO

Reply to
fred

I'd agree with that, with the proviso that I'd run a bit of sandpaper along it first to remove any loose or proud material, and lightly hand sand again after filling and before painting.

I've done this myself, and a similar repair done two years ago still looks fine.

Cheers Richard

Reply to
geraldthehamster

Sounds fair enough. The reality is that we can't know what caused the original crack, and how much it will move in future. The reality is that houses all move a little, due to temperature and humidity changes. Some move a lot, for a variety of reasons, without reaching a stage where there is a structural problem.

In my own experience, some times you are lucky, and the crack is pretty well invisible for years. Sometimes it returns, but you probably notice it more, because you know about it. I discovered one such yesterday :-(

Chris

Reply to
Chris J Dixon

ob

Well, I've used the stuff since 2003 in a few different places, and all 3 have gotten dirty while the rest of the wall looked fine. I presume it would last longer on the ceiling, but its still going to get grotty well before the rest needs a repaint.

There are also the facts that the surface on this tape is not smooth, and its noticeable, and the fact that here and there its started to peel off, and finally if you overpaint a couple of times then remove the tape, you're left with 3 dimensional edges to deal with, so all in all I'd give it a miss in most situations.

NT

Reply to
Tabby

Doesn't take long to do it again, though ;-)

Cheers Richard

Reply to
geraldthehamster

In article , Tabby writes

I wouldn't use it on a wall and that's not what's intended here, it's a ceiling application. I've used it on a Victorian lath and plaster ceiling over some delicate linear mouldings that are subject to movement and it has worked well to control at least the visible effects of hairline cracking (5yrs).

I know it's hairy and visibility worried me at the time but ISTR smoothing it over after the first coat of wet emulsion and to all intents (and on an 11' ceiling) it was virtually invisible. That's using white matt emulsion as it appears to be on the o/p's app btw.

I don't view it as a bodge but as a pragmatic approach where a full fix would be impractical or involve a disproportionate amount of work.

You'll note I recommended filling and smoothing the crack before adding the tape for longevity. I'll be using it again but only on ceilings and probably only when they're painted matt white.

Reply to
fred

Yes, agreed. I've just concluded after my experiences that most cracks are readily and happily and better done with filler.

Reply to
Tabby

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.