Cracks in the plaster throughout my home

[arjunb 12]

Hi all,

As above, really. My home was fully refurbished in 2017 by a developer and there are now cracks showing through the plaster & paint on the walls throughout the house. In some cases, there are cracks in the ceilings too...

To be clear, these are hairline cracks, not massive gaping ones. Was wondering what the solution would be & how much £ are we talking about? Can I get some to fill these cracks, or do I need to do a full redecorate job? & can I leave it for a while and do it when the problems get a bit worse, or do I need to get on with it soon (stitch in time saves nine)?

A bit disappointing from a refurb that was done just a few years ago I think. I'm fairly sure that the developer used low to average quality materials and definitely did the job on a budget.

Looking forward to hearing from all you Hubbers!

Cheers,

Arjun

[julia urquhart 123]

Hairline cracks are probably just cracks in the plaster. Get some decorators caulk and fill with that. Bigger and growing cracks are more worrisome and need watching.

[alastairkennedy 17]

When you say fully refurbished including plaster - were the walls taken back to brick with new bonding plaster + skim or plasterboard dry linings with skim or taped joints - or was the existing plaster just skimmed ? 

If the later with skim upon the existing plaster - skim is only going to be as good as the underlying layer it relies upon.  

If the former back to brick, I’d expect shrinkage (drying out) cracks within the year - further widespread cracking following full renewal may indicate underlying issue  

 

[dennis hughes 59]

8 hours ago, julia urquhart said:

Hairline cracks are probably just cracks in the plaster. Get some decorators caulk and fill with that. Bigger and growing cracks are more worrisome and need watching.

No, not caulk. Wrong product in this instance. Cracks should be widened and then filled with a proper powder or ready mix filler, sanded back and re-decorated.

 

[arjunb 12]

17 hours ago, alastairkennedy said:

When you say fully refurbished including plaster - were the walls taken back to brick with new bonding plaster + skim or plasterboard dry linings with skim or taped joints - or was the existing plaster just skimmed ? 

If the later with skim upon the existing plaster - skim is only going to be as good as the underlying layer it relies upon.  

If the former back to brick, I’d expect shrinkage (drying out) cracks within the year - further widespread cracking following full renewal may indicate underlying issue  

 

Thanks Alastair. What I understood from the builder was that it was back to brick. Perhaps he was lying, or the job was simply shoddy.

[julia urquhart 123]

13 hours ago, dennis hughes said:

No, not caulk. Wrong product in this instance. Cracks should be widened and then filled with a proper powder or ready mix filler, sanded back and re-decorated.

 

I have used Polyfilla previously and watched the cracks reappear because there is some movement. Caulk is flexible so I guess it depends on the circumstance of the crack.