As I'm at the decorating stage, got a question for you guys. 

 

I have a hefty steel beam, with a small, maybe 2 inch section of plasterboard and skim above it and then the ceiling. Although this joint is fine currently, I'd imagine the house is still settling and thus the join will likely crack, no doubt as soon as I'm finished decorating. 

 

Would it be an advantage to mist coat, then go along the wall/ceiling join with decorators caulk before my final coats of paint? In my mind this will add a flexible joint in that section that will crack if it's just skim. 

 

Any opinions?

It won’t make any difference 

wait 12 months 

Get that 'orrible beam(s) covered up asap I would. 

Keep the beam exposed so the Kevin mccloud can comment on how authoritarian it looks …

Edited December 17, 20241 yr by Pocster

1 minute ago, Pocster said:

Keep the beam exposed so the Kevin mccloud can comment on how authatarian it looks …

 

Does Kevin often use words that don't exist then?

12 minutes ago, Onoff said:

 

Does Kevin often use words that don't exist then?

I would appear spell check does !

Was that previously a railway bridge. What a lot of bolts...but I like it.

Is it/ Does it need to be fire protected?

It's almost heavy enough that it doesn't  but not a lot of people know that.

50 minutes ago, saveasteading said:

Was that previously a railway bridge. What a lot of bolts...but I like it.

Is it/ Does it need to be fire protected?

It's almost heavy enough that it doesn't  but not a lot of people know that.

Thats how my mega steel was like … 

yeah its an absolute beast, 305x305. What can ya do, the engineers calculations came back with that and i aint gunna argue as we love it and everyone who sees it says how mad it is, a great talking point. Its marked "British Steel", id imagine it sat as surplus from a car park before it ended up in my house. Yeah it needs fire protecting, thats a christmas job.

 

Anyways, so caulking the corners is not something to do? i'll just leave it then and caulk in the future when/if it cracks.

I caulk . Then when it cracks find the smallest narrowest trim I can and stick that up 

3 hours ago, nod said:

It won’t make any difference 

wait 12 months 

Exactly this. I even used flexible repair tape over the areas I knew would crack and they still cracked. While the temptation to repair them again is strong my intention is to leave it until the summer and do it then. We have very few cracks in the plaster generally though. 

1 minute ago, Super_Paulie said:

yeah its an absolute beast, 305x305. What can ya do, the engineers calculations came back with that and i aint gunna argue as we love it and everyone who sees it says how mad it is, a great talking point. Its marked "British Steel", id imagine it sat as surplus from a car park before it ended up in my house. Yeah it needs fire protecting, thats a christmas job.

 

Anyways, so caulking the corners is not something to do? i'll just leave it then and caulk in the future when/if it cracks.

It’s not just the settlement is the drying out. A new building holds a lot of moisture and can take a long time to dry out. I’ve read on here it can be a year or more. I caulked a door frame join using plenty of caulk and made a nice neat job of it. It was a waste of time as it cracked the full length of the join. 

probably just keep an eye on it then and repair in the future if necessary. Fully expect it to crack at this point but onwards and upwards!

On 17/12/2024 at 07:38, Onoff said:

Get that 'orrible beam(s) covered up asap I would. 

I was just thinking how nice it looked, and how little the Fire Officer would like it... Edit: And then I saw  the other posts below! Sorry! Been there; done that.

Edited December 20, 20241 yr by Redbeard