are these plaster cracks or is it a suspected structural issue?

[johnhenstock83]

hi all,

 

long story short, we moved into our first house nearly 2 years ago. the house had been vacant for around 4-5 months before we bought it. prior to that, the previous owners gave it a full revamp, but a cheap one, for a quick sale. everything was "new" (doors, kitchen, bathroom, carpet etc.), but the actual render/plastering was the old one. they painted over wallpaper in some rooms, they replastered the old plasterboard (house is a 1950s terrace).

 

fast forward to today and we started getting some hair cracks in the ceiling (most rooms), following horizontal/vertical lines that in my opinion are the shapes of the plasterboard.

 

in the kitchen, however, there's a "bigger" crack, see photos. the plaster there is quite thick, you can feel it by running over it with your fingers.

 

the crack doesn't stretch all the way to the other side and it definitely doesn't continue on the wall. there is also nothing directly above it, not even close, never was. upstairs is just a bedroom with a bed in it, nothing else.

 

can I assume these are plaster cracks as a result of a quick and cheap job without changing the old plasterboard or can it be something structural? how do I find out?

 

thanks

 

Edited February 9, 2023 by johnhenstock83

[Carrerahill]

In this situation it is unlikely to be structural. It can of course indicate issues but these just look like shrinkage/small movement cracks, daft question these days, but are you heating your house well enough? 

 

Years ago after we renovated a house we went on holiday in November and I left the heating on tick-over, well, that was not good enough, almost all rooms had cracks form around new plaster work and all sorts. As soon as we got real heat back into the house it was OK, but some needed catching on the new decoration. 

 

Our extension was quite different. Timber frame was up and dry all summer, it dried out well, was left till nearly December before it was boarded, and plastered in January not a single crack in 3 years. 

[markc]

Agree with the above

[johnhenstock83]

not a daft question at all, we do heat up the house, it's constant at 20 deg during the day, 19 deg during at night. maybe I should bring that up to 21 constantly.

[Carrerahill]

7 minutes ago, johnhenstock83 said:

not a daft question at all, we do heat up the house, it's constant at 20 deg during the day, 19 deg during at night. maybe I should bring that up to 21 constantly.

No that should be fine, if it was sitting cold - we had problems at 12°C -  then that could cause it. 

 

What is above this ceiling?

[johnhenstock83]

a bedroom. used twice a week, usually, otherwise empty. there's a double bed, two bedside tables and a chest of drawers, almost empty.

 

the kitchen had a dividing wall before, but it is non load bearing, as the joists run in the direction of the crack. it was also removed many years ago, so I'm guessing if that was the cause, we'd know.

[Carrerahill]

22 minutes ago, johnhenstock83 said:

a bedroom. used twice a week, usually, otherwise empty. there's a double bed, two bedside tables and a chest of drawers, almost empty.

 

the kitchen had a dividing wall before, but it is non load bearing, as the joists run in the direction of the crack. it was also removed many years ago, so I'm guessing if that was the cause, we'd know.

I am sure there is a joke there... I won't go there.

 

I think it is just the PB/plaster shrinking, maybe a little flex in some timber that has caused the plaster to crack at the natural position for plaster to crack - along the joint. Can you detect any scrim tape in the joint? If it was done cheap they maybe just slapped on a skim coat with no scrim. Could also be that they did the works, then it sat about unheated, then you bought it, got some heat and the final dry out has now occurred - it can take a year or so for the fabric to fully dry out and settle. 

 

Stand and look at the crack and have someone jump a bit, as near to as, directly above it as you can - see if you can see any deflection - every SE's first "test" when it comes to checking an existing floor it would appear! 

Edited February 9, 2023 by Carrerahill

[Paul Violet]

If I can jump on the tail of this topic:

Had a couple of ceilings over skimmed that were maybe 30 years old with no visible signs of cracking. Just the rest of the house had been updated most of it re-boarded and new stud walls etc so thought these might as well be "freshened up".

This was about 5 months ago house has been stood empty while work ongoing.

The over skimmed ceilings were primed with SBR before being plastered. They have now started to crack in a few place one all the way across a bedroom but not in the direction of the joists but right angle to them.

Any thoughts before I maybe resort to putting a false ceiling in???

TIA