Is anyone on here a plasterer/builder/plasterboard'ist ...

On my lounge ceiling there are a couple of a nasty cracks running the width of the room - about 10 feet - and a couple of hairline cracks that run the length of the room - about 17 feet.When we first moved in 3 years ago - it wasn’t particularly noticable - but Mr Landlord must have known about it because he’d painted over it when decorating (i.e. he can’t blame us for any damage).

The last time he came around to “check everything was still okay” we mentioned that the crack was starting to look a bit bigger and he said that if we knew anybody who’d be able to fix it then get them around to quote it … now we didn’t know anybody … so didn’t bother getting a quote :stuck_out_tongue:

An hour or so ago however - a chip of paint/plaster fell on Mrs-C’s head :w00t: so I’ve come on here and see if anyone is in the know with a rough idea of what would be involved to fix - or indeed - is anyone in the trade (or know someone who is) and want to come round and quote how much it costs to fix so I can give Mr Landlord a call and say “lumps are falling off on top of us - it’ll cost this much to fix”. Located in N1 if that makes a difference.

Cheers all :slight_smile:

C

That is no ordinary crack…the alien Cyborg are on the other side, waiting to break through and assimilate you :w00t:

Better move out and find a better place to live :slight_smile:

Can’t you use the Plasterer Navigation System™ to find one? :smiley:

Do you know if it’s a plasterboard ceiling or lathe and plaster?

If you don’t, how old is the house?

If you press the ceiling near the crack does the ceiling feel a bit soft and slightly springy?

There’s a whole lot of difference in sorting out cracks like that between the two ceiling types.

(Looking at the photo, I’d guess it’s lathe and plaster, cracks in plasterboard ceilings teng to be pretty much straight lines where the boards have moved and the joint between teo boards cracks out.)

The ceiling isn’t soft or springy in the slightest - so I think you are probably right in saying that it is plaster - although - both the hairline and the nasty crack are pretty much straight - insofar as they don’t spider off or at angles to each other (so it could a split where the boards have moved?). The nasty one is about 4 feet from the wall with the kitchen door and runs parallel to it. The hairline one is about 3 feet from the wall that joins us with next door and runs parallel to it.Not sure how old the block is - I think it’s a pretty safe bet to say post WW2 though - low rise (5 floors) ex council property.

pm me if youd like a chat. i’d be happy to give you advice. i’ve been achippy for 25 years and have plasterboarded many dodgey ceilings. do you have access to the ceiling above? ie a loft. you’ll be able to see if its plasterboard or lathe and plaster. if its plasterboard it don t need replacing unless its had water coming thru it. could just be general movement with the building. its hard to tell from the crack in the photo. It would just require the crack gouging out with a scraper and re filling. if it lathe and plaster it is a mare of a job. it is near impossible to replace one bit. once you start chipping away it all falls off! happened to me last week:D

The “4 foot” bit and "post WWII mean it’s almost certainly polasterboard and probably the nail fixings beginning to fail. (Pretty common.)

It needs stitch screwing up, one screw either side of the crack at about 12" centres using plasterboard screws. (Cheaper than chips and have a bugle head designed just for pb.) If it’s just a single thickness of board, 3.5 X 38 mm screws should do. Drive the heads just under the finish, rake out the crack and paint with white (PVA) glue and dab the screw heads, then Polyfiller/sand/redecorate.

It’s a DIY job if your handy, if not you need a builder and I’ve been no use to you.

Oh, if the ceiling moves up with the screws, the whole thing is probably loose and needs screwing in place throughout the room. Takes about 120 screws for a 10ft x 10 ft room so a decent power screw driver is highly recommended.

Worst case, 1 full days work plus redecoration.

How do I know all this, well, I’ve done the full room jobs twice since Christmas on my own crumbling pile.

Lathe and plaster ceilings aint worth repairing but you don’t drop them either unless there is no choice. Just overlay with 9.5 mm plasterboard, screwed up, with at least 50 mm screws, and then skim over them. Yup, done that four time since I bought this wreck.

Don’t start me on moulded cornices…