Anyway to actually get rid of hairline cracks without replastering?

Idonex

Hi,

We live in a 1900s odd victorian terrace and every room has loads of hairline cracks, from a few inches to some 3 or 4 foot long.

Is there anyway to actually be rid of them without hacking back to brick and starting again? If you tap the crack it sounds hollow (and some sound really bad, like you're tapping a boiled egg shell - best way i can describe it!)

In my daughters room i had a go at fixing them as we wanted to paint her room. So i used Polyfilla Hairline Crack filler and filled in all the cracks. Worked it in with my fingers and a brush to try and make sure it got in fairly deep. Then sanded, and painted and it looked great....For about a month and now all the cracks are back in exactly the same place

Someone mentioned using mastic or caulk to fill the cracks instead of filler, is this ok? Not sure about mastic as i don't even know if matt paint will stick to it when we repaint?

Will using paint with plasticisiers in help stop the cracks coming back so quickly? (or at least showing through the paint so easily)

Also we had our spare room replastered about 4 weeks ago (combination of skimmed and bonded then skimmed). On our fireplace wall which was bonded then skimmed there are now 2 3ft hairline cracks I don't think this is normal, so i'll be speaking to the plasterer, but is it likely it wasn't set properly or something? It sounds hollow if you tap it.

Thanks!

Treadway1

Caulk would probably be a little better than polyfilla and it has a little more elasticity to it and wont crack as easily. Definitely DO NOT use silicone/mastic because, as you've correctly pointed out, you wouldn't be able to paint over it.

As for the hollow sounding plaster, I'm having the same problem with my place which was built in 1910. There's very little you can do for this but take it all off right back to the brickwork and start again, although as Im sure you know, this would be mega expensive. As long as the plaster isn't crumbling and falling off when you touch it though, then I wouldnt worry too much about it. My walls have been like that for about 6 years now!!!! :eek:

Sorry if that wasn't what you wanted to hear though

Norma_Desmond

We have the same problem in our 200 year old house - I just cover up the worst of the cracks with paintings.

martinthebandit

Decorators caulk is the answer, but there is no guarantee that the cracks won't come back whatever you use.

If it was me I would view them as part of the character of the place

jcb208

You can buy crack repair tape which you stick over the crack then fill over the top to hide the tape such as this .Using caulk will not work well as it will show when painted as you cant rub it down .Also it will still crack again,only solution whch will last is tapeing the crack

aboard_epsilon

Hollow plaster ..someone must have come up with a solution for this ..

i don't know the solution ..havnt found it

is there one ?

My mind says... its something like drilling hundreds of tiny holes and injecting something that goes solid in the gap and glues it back on to the wall.

some sort of pva perhaps

all the best.markj

jcb208

If the plaster is blown it will crack whatever you fill it with,at least when taped you have half a chance it will last a while

Treadway1

aboard_epsilon wrote: »

Hollow plaster ..someone must have come up with a solution for this ..

i don't know the solution ..havnt found it

is there one ?

My mind says... its something like drilling hundreds of tiny holes and injecting something that goes solid in the gap and glues it back on to the wall.

some sort of pva perhaps

all the best.markj

Unfortauntely this wouldn't work because as soon as you go anywhere near the wall with a drill the plaster would no doubt crumble away.

Thinking about it though, I guess you could always lining paper over it. The only possible issue with this is the paper not sticking back properly and peeling at the edges as the walls are clearly very porous. You should be ok if you make sure to unibond (That is a watered down PVA glue solution) all the walls thoroughly though (at least 2 or 3 times, allowing a good few hours between coats for the glue to settle in) and then paste and paper over them.

Just a thought though as Im sure the more hardcore professional builder/decorator types on here will have a heart attack reading this, but personally I think it depends on your ability and means. If you can't afford to rip all the plaster off and start again (and let's be honest, who would want to go to that expense if they didn't have to) then I think this is a perfectly adequate alternative.

Idonex

Thanks all. I might try caulk and tape, see which works best! I think i might have to give in and get at least one wall in our hall done because the crack is actually quite large, and is not even on both sides (like one side has come away to cause the crack and the others stayed put).

Not really that bothered by them all, but we're repainting the whole house so wanted to at least give fixing them up a go.

Also regarding caulk, i thought you could paint over it ok, you just had to be careful to remove any excess before it sets as it was a nightmare to sand.

sgoode

jcb208 wrote: »

You can buy crack repair tape which you stick over the crack then fill over the top to hide the tape such as this .Using caulk will not work well as it will show when painted as you cant rub it down .Also it will still crack again,only solution whch will last is tapeing the crack

So can you just paint straight over this tape, and the tape won't show through? Is it that fine? I always thought that the tape would need skimming over? I have a few fine cracks too that I would like to get rid of.

cubegame

With blown plaster you can fill behind it with PVA. You need a syringe and needle which you insert at various points along the crack starting at the top. It worked for me.