How to fix blown tape to ceilings and cracks

Lgas

Hi, i've got a newbuild house, built last year, and have been living here since March. Just before we moved in the developers noted any minor defects and the 'blown tape' in a couple of the rooms around the edge of the ceiling, which they rectified before we got our keys, but since then it's reoccurred and gotten worse. They said if it gets to the stage where you can fit a pound coin in it, they will come and fix it (we're covered for 2 years for any house faults etc). But i'd like to know if a) I can sort this out myself and prevent it getting worse and b) what I can do to prevent it. Every room has trickle vents in the windows which are left open and the room where it's worst (unused spare room) I tend to leave the window open as much as I can, as they advised.

The 2 upstairs bedrooms are affected, no other rooms that i've noticed.

Also i've noticed a thin crack going all the way up the stairs, along the skirting board, is it just a case of using filler and repainting? It's not bad enough to worry about at the moment, I realise the house is still 'drying out' and so i'm not surprised. Having never lived in a brand new house however I want to make sure i'm treating it right!

nickj_2

i would get the builders back to sort it out, and keep getting them back if it reoccurs

Leif

If the gap is between the skirting board and the wall, then the filler used is decorators caulk. It is easily applied. But as the other person says, get the builders to make good if possible. I have no idea what blown tape is. Do you mean the tape between plaster boards and beneath plaster skim has come lose?

MRSTITTLEMOUSE

I dn't understand the blown tape thing but as far as the stairs is concerned when we moved into a brand new house it took about five years before things "settled" and we stopped having to get the filler out.
You'll probably have a lot of little cracks and things appear for a while yet.

Ionkontrol

Newbuild = poor workmanship., built to a price.

Leif

Ionkontrol wrote: »

Newbuild = poor workmanship., built to a price.

I suspect all houses have a degree of settling and shrinkage of wooden structures. Skirting boards, window boards etc may change their moisture content as they reach equilibrium with the inside atmosphere and hence they will shrink or expand a bit. My late 60's build bungalow had horrendous cracks under and around window boards, and in wall plaster, especially the plaster near the ceiling. I've had builders repair the worst bits and I've patched with Easifill, and I can only hope the worst is over.

There is of course variation in build quality between houses regardless of age. Mine had some very poor finishing. My late mother's bungalow (built late 80's) was much better. Modern houses use materials such as plasterboard and MDF much more which allows a superficially better finish e.g. flat walls, not wavy like mine.

Lgas

Thanks, I don't understand what blown tape is either, it's just what the developers kept describing it as.

Here are some pics, first one is the crack slong the stairs, the others are some examples of the so-called 'blown tape'.

jcb208

The blown tape should be classed as a defect so the builder should repair that,the tapes needs removing and a new piece bedded in ,stair cracking is very common in new build and just needs racking out and filled with decorators caulk.
The tape between the ceiling and wall edge is loose due to either shrinkage or not being bedded very well when first applied,the reason its taped is to prevent cracking between ceiling and wall junction

Lgas

Thank you very much jcb208! As for the stairs, can you explain what 'racking out' means please?

jcb208

Lgas wrote: »

Thank you very much jcb208! As for the stairs, can you explain what 'racking out' means please?

Cut out any of the old mastic which is loose with a stanley knife to leave a clean gap before caulk is applied again

Leif

Lgas wrote: »

Thank you very much jcb208! As for the stairs, can you explain what 'racking out' means please?

I assume he meant 'raking out', possibly a typo.